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Two classics one dud

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: March 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Nuclear submarine sims are not thick on the ground, to say the least. So it's thankful that we a comprehensive and above all realistic simulation of the Los Angeles nuclear attack submarine have Jan'e 688(I) Hunter Killer. (Incidentally that's nuclear as in nuclear powered, not nuclear armed) However be aware that this is not a simulation that you can just pick up and play. Even if you played earlier, simpler,nuclear sub sims such as Red Storm Rising you may not be prepared for the detail the sim goes into. As the developers actually design simulators for the US Navy you can be assured that this is heavyweight simulation. I should say too that some concepts would be impossible to deduce without reading the manual (such as the Demon waterfall) However the sim is quite easy to get into thanks to well designed tutorials.

Some of the stations covered in the sim are;

-Control room, with depth and speed gauges etc.
_Radar room. Used to find surface contacts naturally.
-ESM and Radio. ESM passively listens for a vessels radar emissions and the radio will recieve messages from your superiors.
-Sonar control. Undoubtedly the heart of the sim. There are stations for Active sonar, broadband passive sonar (which is what you would use most of the time to listen for contacts) narrowband passive, which is used to identify contacts by class, and the oddly titled Demon waterfall,(Demon standing for demodulated noise)
-Periscope. If you think modern submarine warfare is about tracking ships through a periscope and yelling "Fire Torpedoes 2 and 3!" then you'll be disappointed. The periscope is largely redundant in modern submarine warfare, and getting close enough to an enemy vessel to be able to see it through the periscope is almost suicidally foolhardy.
-Weapons control- Where you can set weapon parameters and launch countermeasures
-The TMA or Target Motion Analysis. This is where a targets speed, course, and range can be deduced but accuracy can only be obtained through lengthy sonar readings.
Sea conditions- Determines where the all important thermal layer may be
Map- Used for navigating naturally
Reference- Need to know the capablities of an enemy vessel? Then here's where to look.

The simulation is very comprehensive and holds up to repeated play. However it is what I might think of as a "slow burner" as the pace is frequently slow. But often that's no bad thing. It allows tension to grow as the encounter proceeds. Has he detected you? Should you risk increasing speed? Should you take evasive action if a torpedo has been launched at you or sit tight and hope it passes by? There are plenty of tough choices to be made in every encounter.

There are a few flaws. Graphically it's nothing special. There is a 3D mode , but it's software only and all vessels are unrealistcally grey with red keels. Most of the time though you'll be staring at CRT displays so it's no big loss that the 3D is poor.
There is also no sea ice modelled in the game and as usually you're pitted against Russian vessels this omission is somewhat odd.

Of the other two games. Sub Command is largely an improved version of 688(I) made by the same developers and featuring almsot identical stations. This sim includes sea ice an also lets you command the Russian sub the Akula.
Fleet Command unfortunately is the dud of this trio. Supposedly simulating modern carrier warfare gameplay is too remiscent of early 1980s arcade games. There are some nice visual touches but it's unsatisfying as a strategy game.

XP remake of old titles is fun but not as good as the original

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you had any of the three games in the pack on Windows 95/98 it was better than these. The games play just as well but a lot of things are missing in the set up as well as there is no instructions packed with them. There may be instructions on the disk but because I already have them I didn't need instructions. But in any case these great games are now playable on Windows XP and were not before.

Best naval sim pack ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been waiting for years for Fleet Command to be in Windows XP. And with so many mods online for all 3 games, you'll have these games on your computer for years to come.

My opinion

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

well rounded games with moderate difficulty and good accuracy as far as time period assets. Game is fun and I enjoy it a lot

Review Page: 1 

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