SH5 is all the proof i need to judge Ubisoft at being extremely resistant to learning.
What defines a good computer game? Surely everyone has own prejudices, likings or no-go areas, but in the case of Silent Hunter the answer is clear enough:
Take SH3 as a benchmark, make some improvements in the eye candy department or not, get rid of some design flaws (f.e. the constant jumping through stations to keep lock on a target in bad weather - of course your mileage might differ here), and keep the game enjoyable for both the newcomer and the veteran from subsim.com.
That's what gazillions of die-hard submerged players wanted and aired into countless postings on forums. Ubisoft would listen, or at least they told us they would. After all, those changes/improvements were not beyond any line drawn.
But as you can't draw a line in salt water, Ubisoft came up with something very different. In my honest opinion SH5 marks the end of an era, because i believe it made a SH6 and beyond totally impossible.
But why do i dislike SH5 so much? This is quite difficult to explain, because i cannot offer you any major design flaws - no, Ubisoft did not forget to plant periscopes on the submarines to quote an old joke.
They... destroyed the atmosphere. The feeling of commanding a U-Boat so to say. Take a look at the periscope screen for example. The 3D view is on the right side, the torpedo launch control on the upper left. The rest of the screen is completely black. No gauges or pipes or anything, just nothing.
Take the first ships you kill in the tutorial as another example. When the torpedo hits and causes explosions, those are drawn somewhat randomly around the target. So you got some round balls of fire not even remotely connected to each other.
1990 artwork i would say, not even remotely comparable to the preview videos of the game.
And this is the summary of my game review as well. Ubisoft did not mess up with any major design of the SH series. Instead they messed up with practically every detail possible.
And i have not even begun to speak about the quality of the voice acting, the... the... you get the drift!
Skippers, stay clear of the storm created by wind blowers or a-patch-will-fix-everything fanatics. Make up your mind and inform yourself instead of buying a game and supporting an industry that might very well send you to Davy Jones locker.