But in this case, you can put virtual submariners behind the periscope so quickly and efficiently that it's almost a new gaming experience. (A refreshing change from the languid 3D loading screens in Ubisoft's later Silent Hunter chapters.) What's more, you won't have to worry about any Starforce or DRM issues with this 2001 release, because it hails from an era when respect for your consumers trumped zealous IP rights enforcement.įast loading and an absence of copy protection hassles normally aren't compelling reasons to play a PC game. Critics and fans slammed it for its inflexibility here (the AI can also be quite flaky at times), but this simplified linear format makes SH2the perfect candidate for time-constrained gamers who just want to spend 20 or 30 minutes sinking Allied tonnage.ĭouble-clicking the Silent Hunter 2 desktop icon launches the game in less than 10 seconds, and after selecting your historical or user-created mission, you'll be at the helm a few seconds. In fact, the older game eschews the sim community's favored dynamic campaign structure for a series of hard-scripted missions that you must individually beat in order to progress.

SH2 can't compete with its progeny graphically or through superior gameplay mechanics. During key moments, it actually made you feel like you were sharing claustrophobic boat space with Kriegsmarine veterans like Otto Kretschmer and Erich Topp. The sim's well-researched U-boat dynamic created a sense of historical imperative that transcended convention.

Sub sim fans have had a pretty good time with Ubisoft Romania's graphically sumptuous Silent Hunter 3, 4, and Vofferings but the franchise first got its Windows sea legs in 2001 with the Ultimation-designed SH2. Your emotions swing from euphoria to despair in seconds as you alternate from hunter-killer to passive prey. That's the mercurial nature of Silent Hunter 2. After my fish made contact and turned the freighters into flaming steel coffins, the convoy's three destroyer escorts descended on me, peppering my crash-diving sub with hull-ripping depth charges. But the sense of elation I felt is transforming into terror.

Probably because I sunk two of the fattest ships in their convoy 15 minutes ago with a perfectly-aimed torpedo spread. Those British destroyers circling manically overhead show no signs of bugging off and leaving me to lick my wounds. Slicing through the frigid North Atlantic waters, my wounded Type VII-C U-boat is one well-placed depth charge away from bursting open like a cheap German piñata and sinking rock-like to the ocean floor.

Silent hunter 5 keyboard map