Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific

Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Romania
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Producer(s)	Emil Gheorghe
Designer(s)	Dan Dimitrescu Tudor Serban
Composer(s)	Rod Abernethy
Platform(s)	Windows
Release date(s)	NA: March 20, 2007 EU: March 22, 2007
Genre(s)	Submarine simulator
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific (known in the United States as Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific) is a computer submarine simulation for Windows developed by Ubisoft Romania and published by Ubisoft in 2007. It places the player in command of an American submarine during World War II and takes place in the Pacific theater. The game allows players a variety of play modes including career, single war patrol and single battle engagements.

Gameplay

The simulation uses detailed and accurate 3D graphics to immerse the player in the environment of a World War II submarine. The systems of the vessel are largely functional and the player is exposed to many aspects of submarine warfare of the time. The game allows the player to choose how realistic and challenging the game experience is to be and it is designed to allow new players to easily master the basic game play, while allowing for experienced users to manually control systems such as crew management, torpedo allocation, radar, sonar and target trigonometry.

Like its predecessor Silent Hunter 3, the simulation features a dynamic campaign. The game gives players various mission objectives and unique rewards, and attempts to make each campaign a unique experience. The major naval battles of the war in the Pacific, such as the Battle of Midway, are re-enacted and players are informed of them by in-game radio messages. Unlike the earlier title, however, the game gives more specific and varied mission objectives during the campaign—including rescues, reconnaissance and agent insertions—rather than just assigning a specific patrol area.

Multiplayer

Until Ubisoft shut down the servers for the game in 2013,^[1] Silent Hunter 4 featured an online adversarial mode and gave players the opportunity to command Japanese destroyers and pit them against US submarines. Servers supported up to eight players and let them choose from several scripted and generated missions.

Critical reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 79/100[2] Review scores Publication Score 1UP.com B−[3] Edge 7/10[4] Eurogamer 8/10[5] GameSpot 8.3/10[6] GameSpy [7] IGN (US) 8.8/10[8] (AU) 7/10[9] PALGN 8/10[10] PC Gamer (UK) 87%[11] PC Gamer (US) 78%[12] X-Play [13]

The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.^[2] Due to concerns relating to the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, as well as U.S. federal laws regarding depictions of the Medal of Honor, the original release of the game awarded players with fictional decorations which in no way resembled actual United States military awards. This drew heavy criticism from many players, leading to several mods which altered the game to display actual United States decorations. The original "shelf version" of the game was never updated; all game versions, including those downloadable on Steam, continue to depict fictional awards in lieu of actual United States combat decorations.

Expansion Pack

On October 31, 2007 Ubisoft announced The U-Boat Missions add-on to Silent Hunter 4. The expansion focuses on the German U-boat campaign in the Indian Ocean (the Monsun Gruppe). The U-boat Missions add-on features new strategic elements, new playable submarines, an improved navigation map, and an improved upgrade system.^[14]

Gold Edition

Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific Gold Edition was released on October 11, 2008. This is the full version of Silent Hunter 4, which includes the U-Boat Missions expansion pack.

See also

• Allied submarines in the Pacific War
• Pacific War

References

External links

• Silent Hunter 4 Official Homepage