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Silent Hunter 4 - Wolves of the Pacific

Earning Your Stars

Submarine School consists of four missions, each covering a specific aspect of the game. Each one builds on the previous mission, until cumulatively the basics of navigation, defense and attack are covered. Again, more direction would be appreciated but after completing all of the Submarine School tasks I had enough confidence to move on. Before doing so, I ventured to the Gameplay Settings menu; here, settings which affect realism can be found. Each gameplay setting is weighted using a percentage, meaning that realism begins at 100 percent and decreases as options are turned off.

Full-on realism or action film stunts? The choice is yours.

Diving into the game (pardon the pun) is quick and easy.

At 100 percent realism, the game behaves as a true simulation, and as the value decreases the simulation aspect becomes less important. For instance, selecting the Manual Targeting System option requires that the necessary information be entered into the Torpedo Data Computer (TDC) to fire a torpedo at a target. With this option deselected, simply pointing the Torpedo Bearing Transmitter (TBT) binocular at a target feeds information to the TDC. By default, the navigation map will show the location of both hydrophone and visual contacts; selecting the No Map Contact Update option turns off this tracking, and ships must be manually tracked on the map. Members of the "omniscient-camera-be-damned" clan may elect to disable the External View, which means the view is restricted to inside the sub. In this case, the only views outside a submerged sub are via the tools available to a real sub captain - the periscopes.

As the name implies, the Quick Mission game mode is the fastest way to get into the action in SH4. These are loosely based on historical events, from the familiar - such as the Battle of Midway in 1942 to the more obscure - for instance, intercepting a Japanese convoy travelling from Tokyo to Saipan in 1944. Each Quick Mission has a predefined primary objective, but achieving that objective may be done in any way you see fit, using any submarine you choose - as long as it was available to the American military at the time. Completing a couple Quick Missions is a great way to get a feel for how the various aspects of the game meld into a cohesive experience. The action is immediate, and there's no aimless wandering or excessive waiting for potential enemy contact. Mastering the basics, such as navigation and using the TBT and TDC to fire a torpedo, is best done in a Quick Mission.

At the other end of the game mode spectrum is Career mode. This is the open-ended campaign mode that is heavy on realism and light on forgiveness. Fail to make sufficient progress, and as a captain you’ll face reprisal, up to and including an early dismissal (which is why Quick Missions are the place to make mistakes). I was immediately overwhelmed by the vastness of the simulation in Career mode. From the minutiae of individual crew members' health to the sheer size of the Pacific Theater, there’s enough gameplay to last for weeks. The patrols can seem futile at times, but thankfully action is punctuated randomly with various objectives and enemy encounters. The monotony of a patrol can be mitigated by increasing the Time Compression variable and speeding up time; the action will return to real-time when an enemy is encountered. Progress in the Career is determined by Renown, which is used in conjunction with the Realism percentage to determine Renown Credit. As a captain, you'll either gain Renown for actions - such as sinking an enemy ship - or lose Renown - by taking damage to your submarine. This system adds up to an effective gameplay mechanic, pushing the dedicated captain further in the game with progressive accolades and promotions.

For those not ready to enter a full Career, SH4 offers five Single Patrols. More involved than a Quick Mission, a Single Patrol has the open-endedness of a Career, but without the necessary time commitment. I was relieved of my command in Career mode more times that I care to admit, and I wish the manual did a better job of explaining crew management and boat management. More often than not, I would overwork my crew, or have crew at the wrong stations for too long. Chalk this up to the follies of an inexperienced captain, but other new captains take note: your men need rest, and they don't work effectively when at Battle Stations for days without sleep. I learned the hard way that having men die on your watch from exhaustion doesn’t put you on the fast track to promotion.

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