Years ago, on much less capable computers, I played several submarine simulator games…Silent Service and the like. As late-night pastimes, they were good…sneaking up on a convoy, laying out some torpedoes, and slipping away under the thermocline was a sort of solitary Zen-like entertainment.
Over the last few years, I 've browsed store shelves and Gamespot reviews looking for a modern, non-pixelated sub game, maybe even one in colors other than magenta and cyan. But haven’t recognized anything as especially up-to-date. This used to be a popular genre. Does anybody make these any more? Any state-of-the-art new releases? Any favorites or not-so-current but good ones to recommend?
Crash Dive was released earlier this year. Bought it on sale and haven’t played yet but it’s pretty and has good reviews.
I tried to play some of the Silent Hunter series, I think the most recent of which is from 2007. I say “tried” because they keep crashing to desktop before I encounter any targets.
*Silent Hunter III (with the Grey Wolves *mod) is difficult to top. It’s a [del]couple years[/del] decade old now - damn, time flies like a banana - and it can get *really *grognardy, but it’s also really good and still looks gorgeous. There’s still an active modding community keeping it looking pretty.
I wasn’t as impressed with SH IV, to say nothing of V, but YMMV.
If you’re into the Cold War more than WW2 however, then I’m afraid the field’s been bone dry since Sub Command. Which is a good game, mind you, but its “unpixellated” status is questionable by now :). Apparently the same guys have made another, more recent version of that sim called Dangerous Waters (which also lets you play as a P3-Orion jockey or a destroyer skipper) but I haven’t played it myself, so can’t vouch for it.