One of the first true submarine simulation to hit the video gaming market.
Graphics: 9
Sounds: 8
Value: 5
Tilt: 8
The vast majority of war based games are in the form of top-down, board style format as there was a conception that video games are a by-product for the traditional board games. However Chris Crawford squashed this idea and published in 1981 Eastern Front 1941 where the computer is a total separate medium to those of traditional board games. From here on in, video gaming has turned up a notch and a year later Thorn EMI’s Submarine Commander took another view of war gaming as this time making the player totally immersed in full 3D action than just moving pixels around the screen.
The premise of Submarine Commander is a World War II submarine simulation where your goal is to sink as many enemy ships before your sub goes down into the watery grave. Located somewhere in the Mediterranean you are required to navigate three important screens being the sonar, the periscope and the map. The sonar will be used extensively for detecting enemy ships within a close proximity; the map to scout enemy convoys and the ever-so-important periscope to fire torpedoes. In addition, you need to take notice of your air supply (which can be replenished when surfacing), battery charge, depth (as if you stay too long under water there’s a good chance that the keel can scrape the ocean’s floor causing hull damage) and fuel.
Being a simulation, the entire game is all about patience and timing; similar to what a fox will do to a rabbit. If you charge in madly without thinking, expect the submarine to be blasted away from the destroyers. Yet if you literally take your time, your fuel will run out before you know it as unfortunately there’s no option to refuel so it’s a delicate balance between speed and stalking.
With all this in mind definitely make the player feeling tense (and rightfully so). As like a real submarine, you are required to travel underwater, pursue the enemy (as the enemy could range from a very fast patrol boat to the mammoth destroyers to the granddaddy cargo ship) then up periscope when reaching 45 feet using the sonar to detect enemy ships only then to fire the torpedoes at 35 feet. Naturally firing torpedos is a beacon to your sub and considering the slow reload rate and limited supply, make every shot count otherwise you will feel the barrage of attack from the enemies. If you are feeling the heat, you can opt to crash dive into the ocean floor however there are consequences as pressure will damage your hull and air supply can deplete at an alarming rate. The only way to lick your wounds is to remain on the surface whilst your men undergo repairs yet remember that the torpedoes/fuel supply never replenishes.
Considering the entire game is viewed as a first person, visually Submarine Commander comes across stunning as there are no blocky icons or way over-the-top colours. Every aspect from the blue skies (and the occasional rolling clouds) to the map to the sonar all renders perfectly. The enemy ships, even though are coloured entirely black are still recognisable by their shapes (e.g. the destroyers looks like a battleship whilst the patrol ship are small and the cargo ship very long) so there’s no mistaken identity when firing upon these ships. When getting hit or scraping the ocean floor, the screen will tremble and because of this, makes to player feel on edge and creates a sense of urgency to repair the sub as soon as possible.
To make any simulation work needs quality sounds and this game got what it takes. When travelling or remaining stationary you can hear the humming of the engines and if you decide to crash dive or blast to the surface, the humming notches up a tempo. This is absolutely perfect for this type of game as it creates a sense of realism as especially after the fire fight and narrowly escaping the bombardment, sometimes the only card you have left is to remain on the surface letting the sub repair itself and the only thing you can hear is the humming of the engines; only then to be jumped out of your skin when hearing the five chimes indicating enemy ships are nearby! Once under attack, you can hear the dreaded sounds of cannons blasting and the screeching projectiles only to see the screen either shack when being hit or watch the sea splashes around you when there’s a near miss. You can even hear the whooshing sounds when firing the torpedoes and the familiar bleeps when activating the sonar.
If there is a weakness in Submarine Commander it has to be the length of the game. Considering the main goal is to see how much tonnage you can sink before being sunk yourself and the sit-and-wait concept of repairing your sub, this game can literally last forever as there is no end game feature. So what it boils down to is two scenarios being 1) If you run out of torpedoes the game ends (well your sub can move about but what good this that) or 2) boredom. My frequent 'end-game' feature was being blasted away by the convoys as I actually run out of steam as the hit-and-run tactics can really take a toll on the grey matter (and rightfully so). If there was some kind of end-game feature (like tonnes reached and/or shortest time to complete etc) then it will be a different story.
Submarine Commander has brought to the video gaming industry what Eastern Front 1941 done; that is making the computer to be separate medium to those traditional board games. Yet Submarine Commander added an extra flavour of being immersed in 3D which is a dramatic step in contrast to those many, many side-scrolling shoot-em up games. By all means this is not the first that displayed this feature (take a look at Star Raiders back in 1979) however it really displayed the loneliness and tension of what a typical submariner would do hunting convoys using 8bit technology of course. Definitely not a fast paced game yet the power is in your hands therefore you can dictate what speed you want to travel and when to approach the enemy instead of vice-versa.