Anecdote
Released in March 2005 by the Romanian studio Ubisoft Bucharest and published by Ubisoft, Silent Hunter III offers the most accomplished Kriegsmarine submarine simulation of its generation. The player takes command of a German U-Boot — from the coastal Type II to the ocean-going Type IX — within the flotillas of Kiel, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, or La Pallice, and conducts a career spanning from September 1939 to May 1945. Director Sergiu Demetriescu and his team modeled in three dimensions every compartment of the submarine, from the torpedo room to the engine room, taking in the officers' mess and the conning tower. The player moves freely through the vessel, issues orders to individually named crew members, and aims torpedoes through the periscope or the UZO surface sight. The dynamic patrol module allows the hunting of Allied convoys based on intelligence transmitted by Rear Admiral Karl Dönitz's headquarters in Lorient. A patrol lasts anywhere from a few hours to multiple sessions spread over weeks of game time, and a full campaign demands more than one hundred hours. The Ubisoft graphics engine faithfully reproduces the conditions of the North Atlantic, with dynamic swells, storms, fog, and Arctic ice. The sweeping soundtrack by Andrey Dyranov, punctuated by sailors' renditions of Lili Marleen and alarm sirens, deepens the immersion. Community mods — Grey Wolves, NYGM, WAC — extended the game's lifespan by two decades. Silent Hunter III remains regarded as the finest entry in its series and the absolute reference for mainstream WWII submarine simulation.
Popularity & reception
Awards — Computer Gaming World – Simulation Game of the Year 2005 · GameSpot – Best Simulation PC nominated (2005)
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