This is the best in the Silent Hunter series! The lack of German voices is a problem that can be solved easily. Use this link to get the patches http://patches.ubi.com/silent_hunter_4/ and you are set to go! I played this almost 10 years ago when it was released and I still play it. SH5 is not as good.

Update: If the sound files do not work from the above then you can work around it bij simply buy SH3, go to the sound folder: Steam\steamapps\common\Silent Hunter 3\data\Sound\Speech and copy al nine folders in the same destination folder of SH4. Delete the nine folders in SH4 speech to make sure that nothing stays behind before copying SH3 speech files. Then you have your German speaking U-boat crew!

SH4 1.5 patch included

First, let me say this is NOT a first person shooter. This is a detailed, "all the widgets are under your control" submarine simulation.

The learning curve on this game can be prohibitively steep but there are some great tutorials and let's play videos on you-tube that can get you up and running.

The game is actively supported by the folks over at subsim.com and there are more MODS than you'll ever need.
The game can be manageable but enjoyable if you go for auto-targeting but the manual targeting option is a bit daunting. I wish that it were more granular. For instance, I could see separating the task of ship recognition from the trigonometry of torpedo aiming.

One word of warning... even at its most difficult setting (called 100% realism in the game) it's NOT really challenging enough for many serious submariners. There are a number of mods that make it tougher.

A must for people who enjoyed Silent Hunter 4. This opens up the game to a rarely touched on theatre of operations from the Second World war; a huge plus. It's nice to see that such a popular setting is getting away from Normandy and Stalingrad, which have been played to death.

On the downside, the crews speak distinctly American English. You couldn't get some german voice actors to do the work, guys? That's a bit lazy.

HUGE CAVEAT: DO NOT INSTALL THIS IF YOU INTEND TO PLAY SILENT HUNTER: WOLVES OF THE PACIFIC WHILE IT IS DOWNLOADING. THE EXPANSION DELETES PREVIOUS EXE FILES AND CREATES NEW ONES IN UNIFIED INSTALL

The game is as much fun as it was years ago when it first came out, but it also still has the problem of inevitably reaching a point where the campaign/career becomes unplayable because a glitch makes the game crash constantly. Since the game is no longer officially supported I can't see a reason to recommend anyone else buy it.

This works in WIN10 x64, you MUST run Large address aware, and 4gb patch, and set your Windows desktop resolution to 1080p to start. After that set to whatever in game, but match your Windows desktop res. and game. Also will probably need to use Windows compatibility mode, Win8 if on Win10x64 like me.

I would seriously recommend joining this fab community, https://www.subsim.com/
There maybe others, I like this one and they're friendly and really helpful.
After joining you'll find the Large Aware patch (cause game falls over after 2gb of RAM otherwise), loads of great tutorials, and brilliant mods, including mega mods and bug fixes. Get beginner mods if new.
This game with mods is fabulous. FALL OF THE RISING SUN ULTIMATE one of many great choices, with FotRSU146_AddInz_v2. Environment overhaul, fleetboat interior,

Is it worth it in 2024? Yes I play Uboat and SH4, also SH3 with mods from Subsim, not pointy clicky arcade.. I spent a lot of hours in a campaign, got chased by destroyers through the shallows scraping the bottom, finally getting back to deep water- but with so much damage I sank anyway. A very lengthy and tense demise to my Sub!

Best opening game intro, poignant, Milton...
Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race,

Have a great day :)

Patience is a virtue! Hunting the convoys, positioning your U-boat for an optimum firing position. Laying in wait before unleashing hell on the unsuspecting enemy. An epic game which requires practice to master. Definitely recommended.

A very good submarine sim, you can play german and american uboats(both in pacific). You can also download mods from subsim to play Ships and also update with new sounds,skins and textures for a better immersion/experience.

If you want to recreate a battle of Atlantic/Midway and so on, you can jump into the sh4 editor and do so, tutorials on the editor can be found on the youtube channel (DangerDeadpan) as he explains the editor very good. (He also did the american campaign if you want to se a bit of gameplay before buying this game.

Game doesn't work, nor do the supposed fixes. Think Steam know this and should make sure that these problems are sorted before selling the games to mugs like me. Still as long as they make a buck out of it, that's ok isn't it?

Old, but gold. Despite its age, Silent Hunter 4 is still one of the best submarine simulation games out there when modded. Especially if a fan of US fleet boats, this is one game not to miss. It fully replicates the US skipper experience in the Pacific campaign, from initially unreliable torpedoes to bigger deck guns later in the war. There is many classes of submarines to choose depending on year of career start and location. Each class is different in a way to the other and improves upon each other in terms of range, maximum dive depth and battery capacity. Sadly the Tench-class is unavailable but a mod exists that adds it into the game. The most fulfilling aspect is successfully hunting down convoys with the most realistic settings enabled. But that is not until the lesson is learnt after sinking many times from depth charges from mistakes made while evading escorts, completely missing salvos or just pure unluckiness from dud torpedoes. This game can be punishing when the stars don't align. It can be so realistic that historical tactics utilised by fleet boats skippers of old can net you a successful run where the boat leaves unscathed. The only lacking feature is the absence of other interiors such as crew berths, engine rooms, torpedo rooms and various other compartments.

Would rate the US Navy fleet boat experience: Man the deck guns/10.

The U-Boat missions DLC adds to the game two playable German U-Boats in the Pacific theatre, using Japanese occupied ports in Southeast Asia as a start in mid 1943. Much later when compared to the US campaign. Furthermore, the second boat, a Type XVIII using an experimental Walther propulsion system, is only available around late 1944. Much too late for most of the action. However, it is still a welcome addition and skippers preferring the Atlantic will rejoice at the availability of such a mod that brings the campaign closer to the previous Silent Hunter 3.

Note for those thinking of just getting the game without DLC:
For the Steam version of Silent Hunter 4, U-Boat missions is necessary to patch to version 1.5. This enables installation of many quality of life improvement mods from subsim to enhance the realistic gameplay. Although the DLC does not add much, I still recommend it for the first available sub in career mode, the Type IXD2 as it was a very fun boat.