1996 · Simulation · Strategy

Silent Hunter

S. Fleet Submarine Combat Simulator. S. submarine in the Pacific Theatre, from Pearl Harbor to the end of the war, you have a variety of submarines from which to choose and your task is simple, sink as much enemy tonnage as possible.

Released: 1996
Platforms: MS-DOS Windows
Genres: Simulation Strategy Submarine simulator World War II
Developers: —
Publishers: Strategic Simulations
Series: Silent Hunter
Modes: Single-player
Themes: Action Historical Stealth Warfare
Country: United States
Age ratings: ESRB E

About

Silent Hunter is a World War II submarine combat simulation for MS-DOS, developed by Aeon Electronic Entertainment and published by Strategic Simulations in 1996. The game takes place in the Pacific War during World War II, the player commanding a submarine of the United States Navy. Most contemporary US submarines and Japanese warships are featured along with some generic merchant ships.

Keywords

world war ii - ww2
korean war
submarine
fascism
naval warfare

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

A single encounter generator is available. The standard mode of play is the career mode, where the player must take their boat to patrol far behind enemy lines, to search for and destroy any enemy shipping. For best success, the player should concentrate their search on shipping lanes, which may be deduced from contact reports.

There are special missions which may be assigned to a boat, such as beach reconnaissance, involving photographing potential landing beaches through the periscope, and the rescue of downed airmen. Both missions were performed by the fleet submarines of World War II. The boat is commanded by crewing stations in first person, which is common in the genre. No crew are visible, but their voices are heard.

Reception

The game received "favorable" reviews according to video game review aggregator GameRankings. Silent Hunter II developer Shawn Storc stated in an interview that Silent Hunter was a commercial success with 300,000 sold units. By 1999, global sales had reached 350,000 copies. Bruce Geryk of GameSpot considered it a noteworthy hit in the simulation genre, a genre whose "era had passed" in his view.

Silent Hunter was nominated as Computer Games Strategy Plus's 1996 simulation of the year, although it lost to Jane's AH-64D Longbow. The game was a finalist for Computer Gaming World's 1996 "Simulation Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Jane's AH-64D Longbow.