Barotrauma
Easily one of my favorite games in recent memory. Rewards thoroughness, careful planning and knowledge of game systems (which some have quite a learning curve especially when starting out).
This game is a lovecraftian mesh of QWOP, SS13, FTL, and more combined. Easily moddable, and the Submarine editor could be an entirely separate game in and of itself and i’d be fun to build.
While the crews (AI) you can hire are generally OK, there is a lot you really do need other human players to do for exploration and combat outside of the submarine which hopefully gets rectified in the AI overhaul.
– Real player with 255.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Multiplayer Survival Games.
the game has a bit of everything in it, can be amogus, sea of thieves and has terraria-like combat and is well designed for pve and pvp, and the micromanagement (for the lack of a better word) when operating a sub with a crew allows everyone of all roles in the sub to have an equal amount of engagement, normally i go bunga when making a review but this game is so well designed for what it intends to achieve and that it appeals alot to what i like to see in these sort of games that i just had to commend it here.
– Real player with 54.4 hrs in game
Dangerous Waters
You bought this game hoping you could renact scenes from Tom Clancy’s Hunt for The Red October. You get into a single mission where you have to stalk merchant shipping without being detected. The learning curve is steep, you go full speed ahead and begin to cavitate. An enemy torpedo quickly finds its way towards you, swiftly sending your sub 10,000 feet to the bottom of the pacfic. You ragequit and stay clear of the game for a day, thinking of refunding it. But something inside you, the elite sub captain trapped within pulls you back into the game. You read the games manuals and quickly learn how sonar and detection equipment works. feeling brave, you try the mission again and manage to complete it flawlessly. fast forward a few weeks of gameplay, and you have completely mastered the game. You are a fearsome captain, makeing your name infamous with your enemies. politicans adore you, ladies swoon over you. You are a ledgend.
– Real player with 70.6 hrs in game
Dangerous Waters is a very serious naval warfare simulator with a primary focus on submarines, although other platforms are also controllable, such as the MH-60R and the Oliver Hazard Perry. The game’s complexity arises not from navigating within your submarine or from having to press a million buttons – indeed, these mechanics don’t even exist. Instead, the game’s interface is surprisingly simple for the most part as you move instantly from one screen to the next, and the graphics are rather bland, even on the highest settings, which is a bit understandable considering the game came out about a decade ago (as of this review year). Instead, the difficulties for the new player will be conceptual, and the learning curve for that will probably feel rather high at first.
– Real player with 68.3 hrs in game
Silent Hunter 5®: Battle of the Atlantic
So, Just to preface my positive review, you MUST get the Wolves of Steel mega-modset for this game off of the Subsim(dot)com for it to work right. A quick google search will direct you to the forum to find it.
With the modset, the game is amazing. Manually inputting info into the TDC, customizing the game-play to the level of realism you want (within reason), and sinking tonnage. There is nothing more satisfying than sneaking a volley of torpedoes through a destroyer screen to sink a Queen Elizabeth-class Battleship, and get away with it, or hit a 7km torpedo shot because you did the proper calculations and they never even knew you were there. (personal experiences, yours may vary) There are still a few bugs here and there in the modset, but once you recognize them, a quick save and reload will fix them up.
– Real player with 267.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Multiplayer World War II Games.
This game had so much promise. You can get around the hell of Uplay, but the game is really really, really buggy. And the fact that most mods dont work with the steam version, your just sol. The game is visually beautiful, and there is something inertly great about being stealthy in the sea and then evaiding capture, but the bugs will have you ripping your hair out. Radar contacts sometimes dont work, and you’ll be searching for multiple hours real time waiting to run into someone. AA gunners wont attack planes that are VERY relentless, let alone actually kill them. 6/10 times they wont even shoot at the plane when you have the gun armed, manned and ready; and when they do attack, 8/10 times even an experienced gunner wont bring them down.
– Real player with 239.6 hrs in game
Wolfpack
As a sub sim enthusiast since 688 attack sub (1989) I can tell you that Wolfpack is the next sub sim you’re going to want to play and will probably continue to play for years to come. This game is truly a profound experience!
To those with some familiarity with this genre you can expect this title to fall on the opposite end of the spectrum that the recent release UBOAT is on. Uboat is a crew management simulation. For perspective, Silent Hunter III would fall somewhere in the middle, as there is time compression and crew management but the player orders their crew to perform the individual functions on the boat.
– Real player with 266.1 hrs in game
First off, if you are looking for single player experience, go back and grab yourself SH5 and The wolves of steel modpack.
That is, in my opinion, the best submarine simulator there is.
That being said, Wolfpack has unique hands on approach with controlling the boat itself, and it really is the best aspect of the whole game, that and the ability to play with other people.
After all the good things (two things) to say about this “sim”, I would NOT recommend the game for anybody. Not on the regular price at the very least. The game is really buggy (graphic glitches, sound bugs of massive forest fire starting on your boat, being able to drive too deep with diesel engines running, AI only caring about the boat that has done the most damage. to mention a few)
– Real player with 180.2 hrs in game
Legacies
In Legacies you are a team of eco-vigilantes who are trying to do good with what they got. Choose from an assortment of tech filled submarines, investigate distress beacons and gather evidence to discover what caused the cry for help. But beware, dangers lurk above and below the water.
Distress beacons can vary from ecological, exploitation or even natural disasters. It’s up to your team to work together to discover the cause, log the evidence required, and choose whether it’s time to fight or flight. Your team could turn in your evidence for money, or face the problem head on for an even larger reward.
Trailmakers
this is a great game for people who want to build ethire simple or complex vehicles and is super fun
– Real player with 450.7 hrs in game
Play the game
– Real player with 390.1 hrs in game
We Need To Go Deeper
1. Amazing soundtrack that fits the atmosphere of the game completely. Which counts for battle and management of the ship into starting and or in between a adventure.
2. Anything game-breaking is immediately fixed usually by the awesome developers who spend so much of their time burning their eyes on the screen just to hear everyones suggestions and reports out.
3. Active developers in the community speaking and having conversation with the community in which they take ideas on from. (not that they need to, they’re not obligated to always respond or do work for everyone)
– Real player with 392.3 hrs in game
This game is so much fun. When you have even one other human to play it with, it is a comedy of errors as you try to manipulate your ship (which steers like a cow at the best of times, and a rock most of the time) into the depths of the Living Infinite, discovering all sorts of crazy new weapons and costumes along the way.
When you have even one other human.
It SAYS it’s playable single player, but that’s absolutely laughable. You can fill your submarine with a crew of bots that will nominally do things like slam their weakest wrenches against the holes in your ship or fire at every small enemy on your screen (even if it’s something you SHOULDN’T BE FIRING AT, like the totem that will spawn a ghost if you shoot at it but is perfectly safe if you steam gently past it)… but they won’t help you if you want a turn on the shooty shooty guns and want someone else to steer your yellow submarine. Nor will they help you bust through walls in your caving adventures if you happened to be holding an item that does not damage walls (like the chemistry set).
– Real player with 214.0 hrs in game
Crush Depth: U-Boat Simulator
Disclaimer 26.04.2021 the reviewed game is subject to heavy changes and will soon be outdated because Crush depth receives everyday small updates and every thursday a larger one.
The Crush Depth: Tech-Demo currently just a tech demonstration and exactly only that this tech demo is not for the mainstream user who expect to have instant action and a quick gameplay. The game is in its very early construction and lets you see how a game gets developed from the bare bone up and you will get all updates and the finished game if you buy it this demo.
– Real player with 30.5 hrs in game
“He who wants to be victorious on the sea must always attack!” - From The Submarine Commander’s Handbook, 1943.
Though there is much, much left to be done, and heavy optimization that needs to be done with what is already in play(the frames on modern hardware are not great), nonetheless what is already here should prove to be quite interesting for anyone who takes the risk and plunges in, as I did.
Crush Depth is not a game that holds your hand: It is a game that expects you to learn how to operate a U-boat, and to do so properly and effectively. I was under the false impression that the U-boat was not currently able to move–I was proven wrong a little while ago when a kind fellow of the community showed me how the engine worked in the museum exhibit that you can train on. I had to learn myself how to work the electric engine by looking at the valves that existed and doing what I thought was the way, and sure enough it was.
– Real player with 26.4 hrs in game
IronWolf VR
Ironwolf really nails the idea of being a VR game. Everything (apart from the menus) is controlled by wheels and switches that you have to pull or turn or require other physical tasks. It makes the game much more immersive, yet it doesn’t make the game more annoying or tedious.
The game can be played as singleplayer, but it’s much more fun to play together. Up to 4 players can play together, and the more players are playing, the more fun the game gets. Sadly right now It can be hard to find a full lobby, however it isn’t too hard to find at least 1 player to play with. The community itself is extremely nice too, I didn’t encounter even one player who was toxic, yelled at others or insulted anyone, and mistakes were often forgiven, even if they caused the mission to fail.
– Real player with 98.3 hrs in game
First off, love the game, and I am using a Samsung Odyssey Mixed Reality headset and controller - which isn’t listed in the supported headsets, but works great. Controls all work and are where they should be.
The graphics in this game are, in my opinion, not phenominal, but definitely good enough to be a highly immersive experience putting you in a WWII era submarine. I bought a space ship SIM based on a highly popular sci-fi franchise the same day as this one, and while the graphics in that one are very nice and polished, I don’t think it is anywhere near as fun as this game is.
– Real player with 82.0 hrs in game
Silent Hunter® III
Silent Hunter III …. a 2005 game but….. Remember what i already tell you before…..
Old but gold…
SH III is the best of the series….. !
Why ?? I will tell you why.
Because Silent Hunter III is very close to whats happen in 39 45 under the water…..
Yeah i am a big u-boat fan, i live close to the sea in a place where still WW II Bunker.
88 Canon, S Boot base and more………
I collect WW I and WW II insignia, u-boat insignia, badge, eitterkreuz, bayonet bullet….
This dont make me a nazist x)
– Real player with 238.3 hrs in game
SH3 is one of those games that you need to invest time in. It is a perfect example of a “Dad game,” as Yahtzee Crowshaw once put it. It’s meticulously detailed, and you must learn all of the different eccentricities of the sub to be a great captain.
It uses the real-life technological limitations from WWII to define the gameplay. Want to fire off a torpedo? A standard gas-powered torpedo leaves a trail of bubbles in the water, which ships can detect in advance and will swerve to avoid your torpedo. You can fire an electric torpedo, but you’ll need to be close, or else the battery in the torpedo will die and it won’t reach your target. SH3 is filled with these sorts of tactical nuances that really make it satisfying to play.
– Real player with 201.3 hrs in game