Zenicetus
03-30-2007, 00:44
What a load of... wait, let me calm down.
First, this is from the perspective of someone who played and enjoyed SHIII. A quick summary of my first impression is that if you're only mildly interested in this type of game, and not a hardcore subsim fan, you should wait a while. Given enough time, it will probably be patched and modded to the point where it's enjoyable for the non-hardcore simulation gamer. Right now, only the hardcore should buy it, and even then, not if you have high blood pressure and a quick temper. The core of the game works... it's playable, but there are so many bugs and missing pieces that it takes a strong suspension of disbelief, plus workarounds, to get through a mission.
First the bad, and the ugly:
* Graphics are a mixed bag, mostly negative. There is an interesting "painterly" texture option and the water looks very nice (both over and under the surface). But the 3D part of the game runs at a fixed 1024x768 resolution, so textures can look a bit blocky on a higher res monitor. And there is no anti-aliasing, so guy wires on the sub look like dots and dashes instead of a straight line. Ubi might be working on this. On the positive side, when it does look good it looks really good... little details like rust stains and bolts on your sub look great.
* There are effectively only two difficulty/realism settings: easy and hardcore. There is no middle ground, because they removed the WSO officer (I used him for range and speed of target, and did everything else manually in SHIII). I'm using the dummy mode because the targeting is completely different, and I can't figure it out. Even if I can figure it out, I'm not sure how I can crunch the speed and range fast enough in the middle of hot and heavy convoy action. Sub skippers never did all of that by themselves. OTOH, I don't like the "lock and fire" dummy mode either. I hope Ubi brings back the WSO.
* There is even less ability to move around or look at your sub's interiors than in SHIII, and the crew members are no longer interactive (can't click on them to give orders). That doesn't bother me much... I can deal with an icon and hotkey driven interface, but it's bothering others who want more immersion.
* The documentation is awful. The manual is sketchy, and there isn't enough in-game help to know how vast areas of the sim are supposed to work. I doubt Ubi will release a new manual, so we'll probably have to wait for a user-generated Wiki to know how to do some things.
* In a case of realism gone too far, you can't start a career at the beginning of WWII and follow through to the end. The game retires you (mothballed) after a certain number of patrols. This is historically accurate -- successful skippers went to Groton to teach the newbies, different from the German practice. But that's gotta be frustrating for a lot of players.
Now a few good words:
* They're not using Starforce and I haven't had any trouble so far with the CP, but a few people have reported issues.
* There is a bit more mission variety, like photo recon, special ops insertion, and rescues at sea. Lifeboats are modeled too, which is nice.
* The tedious micromanagement of the crew is improved, although the new system isn't that great either, and there isn't a strong feeling of attachment to your crew. Maybe I haven't spent enough time yet with this aspect.
* Ubi released on patch already (right after release) and there's another coming up. With SHIII they released somethng like 4 major patches, and the game is moddable. So in a few weeks, or a few months, it should be a tighter game.
First, this is from the perspective of someone who played and enjoyed SHIII. A quick summary of my first impression is that if you're only mildly interested in this type of game, and not a hardcore subsim fan, you should wait a while. Given enough time, it will probably be patched and modded to the point where it's enjoyable for the non-hardcore simulation gamer. Right now, only the hardcore should buy it, and even then, not if you have high blood pressure and a quick temper. The core of the game works... it's playable, but there are so many bugs and missing pieces that it takes a strong suspension of disbelief, plus workarounds, to get through a mission.
First the bad, and the ugly:
* Graphics are a mixed bag, mostly negative. There is an interesting "painterly" texture option and the water looks very nice (both over and under the surface). But the 3D part of the game runs at a fixed 1024x768 resolution, so textures can look a bit blocky on a higher res monitor. And there is no anti-aliasing, so guy wires on the sub look like dots and dashes instead of a straight line. Ubi might be working on this. On the positive side, when it does look good it looks really good... little details like rust stains and bolts on your sub look great.
* There are effectively only two difficulty/realism settings: easy and hardcore. There is no middle ground, because they removed the WSO officer (I used him for range and speed of target, and did everything else manually in SHIII). I'm using the dummy mode because the targeting is completely different, and I can't figure it out. Even if I can figure it out, I'm not sure how I can crunch the speed and range fast enough in the middle of hot and heavy convoy action. Sub skippers never did all of that by themselves. OTOH, I don't like the "lock and fire" dummy mode either. I hope Ubi brings back the WSO.
* There is even less ability to move around or look at your sub's interiors than in SHIII, and the crew members are no longer interactive (can't click on them to give orders). That doesn't bother me much... I can deal with an icon and hotkey driven interface, but it's bothering others who want more immersion.
* The documentation is awful. The manual is sketchy, and there isn't enough in-game help to know how vast areas of the sim are supposed to work. I doubt Ubi will release a new manual, so we'll probably have to wait for a user-generated Wiki to know how to do some things.
* In a case of realism gone too far, you can't start a career at the beginning of WWII and follow through to the end. The game retires you (mothballed) after a certain number of patrols. This is historically accurate -- successful skippers went to Groton to teach the newbies, different from the German practice. But that's gotta be frustrating for a lot of players.
Now a few good words:
* They're not using Starforce and I haven't had any trouble so far with the CP, but a few people have reported issues.
* There is a bit more mission variety, like photo recon, special ops insertion, and rescues at sea. Lifeboats are modeled too, which is nice.
* The tedious micromanagement of the crew is improved, although the new system isn't that great either, and there isn't a strong feeling of attachment to your crew. Maybe I haven't spent enough time yet with this aspect.
* Ubi released on patch already (right after release) and there's another coming up. With SHIII they released somethng like 4 major patches, and the game is moddable. So in a few weeks, or a few months, it should be a tighter game.