When it comes to military simulators, I want the emotional experience of piloting a jet, but I don’t want the actual, complete, 1-to-1 technicalities. War Thunder feels like a good middle ground. It’s still robust and realistic, but sufficiently toned down that you can pick up and play it without having to learn how to actually drive a tank. Command and Conquer always felt nicely streamlined, too, an RTS that gives you the sense of organizing an army without the pragmatic rigors. From legendary milsim and strategy dev MicroProse, the company behind Carrier Command 2, Regiments, and Ground Breach, Silent Depth 2 is a new submarine game that’s as deep and convincing as it is accessible.
Silent Depth 2 falls somewhere between strategy, simulation, and submarine game. It’s the height of World War 2 and you’re a naval commander patrolling the Pacific Ocean. You have complete control over the weapon and navigation systems and you can choose to either engage enemies directly or dive deep below the waves in an attempt to avoid combat.
Damage in Silent Depth 2 is granular and multi-layered – a particularly nasty battle might render your torpedo chutes or engines ineffective, forcing you to crawl back to port for repairs. Weather and time of day are also realistically simulated and will have a significant impact on your effectiveness in battle. If you spot an enemy convoy, perhaps it’s better to wait until a storm arrives so you can attack them from underwater while they struggle against the wind.
The entire Pacific Ocean is recreated and available for you to explore. There’s a variety of different submarines for you to command and you can approach each objective in any way that you like. Despite its scale, however, Silent Depth 2 is described by MicroProse as “sim-lite.”
If you’ve ever tried a submarine or other military simulator in the past and felt a little exhausted by the learning curve, Silent Depth 2 wants to give you the emotional and experiential thrill of realistic combat without the high barrier to entry. Silent Depth 2 launches via Steam Early Access today, Tuesday July 16. If you want to try it for yourself, just head here.
Otherwise, get some of the other best WW2 games, or maybe the best simulation games available on PC.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.