Have a lot of spare time on your hands? If so, Silent Hunter 5: Battle
of the Atlantic might be the game for you. The latest addition to
Ubisoft’s venerable submarine simulation franchise is so confusing and
unfinished that it would be less of a hassle to join the Navy and get
firsthand experience underwater than to figure out what’s going on here.
While the game has strong points and shows potential if you want to
wait for developers and modders to (hopefully) fix the current problems,
at present you have to do everything the hard way. The opening tutorial
mission teaches you nothing about how to captain a sub. Key functions
have been stripped from the interface in favor of clumsy commands and
giving orders to the crew in person. The new morale system for crewmen
is broken. And let’s not forget the generous assortment of design quirks
and bugs, which are joined by an obnoxious copy-protection scheme that
requires you to be online at all times. There are a few glimmers of
hope, but much of the time this is one of the most grueling experiences
below the waves this side of Das Boot.