Silent Service and Silent Service II are among my all-time favorite PC games. In my opinion these are still the best submarine simulation games I have played. They have the right mix of simulation and playability to give you the feel of being in crontrol of a sub without some of the minute details that make some sub sims unplayable. For instance, you don't need to worry about running aground and sinking when you are on the big map, though you do need to keep an eye on your fuel tank. These games date back to the early days of computer gaming. The first copy of Silent Service which I owned ran on a 5.25" floppy disk in one floppy drive with the DOS OS running from a similar floppy in the other floppydrive, for in those days hard drives were still unknown. Windows had not been invented yet and there was no such thing as a computer mouse. A lot has changed since those days, but these games are still very enjoyable if you are able to go through the learning process. There is no tutorial such as we know tutorials in modern games. Back in those days the operating manual was the tutorial and you learned the game by reading the manual and trial-and-error. For those who, like myself, played this game many years ago and remember it well, you can skip to the back of the manual and refresh your memory on the keyboard controls and be back stalking convoys with very little time practicing to refresh your skills. For those new to the game, it is well worth spending some time to look through the manual and at least skim some of the basics. A thorough read will give you some very useful information that will help you get up to speed faster once you begin play. I was not able to get the game manual link in Steam to work, but you will find .pdf files containing the English and German versions of the original game manuals in the installation directory once you have downloaded the game. On my PC running Windows 8.1 the path for the SS2 English game manual is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Silent Service 2\Manual (English).pdf" Good hunting, Commander.

I'm getting a kick out of the people complaining about how the game looks... it came out in the 90's... must be kids complaining lmao, if you are a man, these games were and in my opinion, still are the bomb! I cant get enough of these classic games!

For those who say the keyboard controls don't work: There are a few keys that are different from what's listed in the manual. For the F1-12 keys, you have to hold the fn button while you press them. LIkewise, press alt + a to toggle animation (in an ambush on multiple warships or when evading multiple depth charges, the animation will quickly ♥♥♥♥ with your program, so.) and alt +s to toggle slow speed/save game. As far as I can tell all other keys work as described in the manual. The full manual is available here but even if it weren't, you can find the PDF online.

Another tip: at the startup screen, choose NO joystick and NO digitized speech. According to an old forum post I found that was written years ago, there's some line of code that makes the digitized speech come out like unintelligible buzzing. Or, if you're literate in that sort of thing, you could go tweak the code and report back here how you did it. :D

I first played this game as a kid at my friend's house. His parents were cooler than mine, so they had a computer and I didn't. Now that I actually know about submarine tactics and geometry, I can enjoy this game as it was meant to be enjoyed. I had been playing on a DOSbox simulator with a 5" window, but with this port I can make full use of my 27" iMac. Woohoo!

Caveat: as noted by a previous reviewer, the game description on Steam is that of the original game packaging. There are not any new targets or scenarios added in the ported version. I'm pretty sure the "new targets and scenarios" are relative to SS1. Whatever you saw in the 90s is what's in this port.

If you want a submarine simulator that mimics the challenges of submarine warfare as closely as possible, this is your game. SS2 is all about meticulous ambush tactics, with no arcade-style nonsense.

Direct port of SS2 Runing in a DOS box. simple game mechanics and weak grafics (it from 1992 after all) but still a good game.

Gameplay is impeccable. The accompanying manual is typical of the period when computer games were also classrooms imparting history of nations and people.

Not sure what is with the stupid "reviews" that this game isn't updated or ported, or doesn't run on modern systems. It's the original game exactly as it was. You'd have to be blind to buy this thinking it was anything else. Also, as it's on DOSBOX it runs on anything. You can even copy the files to your mobile phone and play it, or whatever.

I still have my copy of the original on floppy disk which means I have all the manuals and maps and everything. This is one of the best sub sims out there. Yes the graphics are old and you have to play with the keyboard. It runs on DOSBOX. Quite well in fact. It has one of the BEST AI's created for sub games to this day. It has LOTS of difficulty settings so you really tailor it to your liking. Unlimited fuel, historic fuel. Dud Torpedoes like they really had for a while or flawless. Choose your time period in 6 month increments. The maps are historically accurate and coastlines you see are the ones that existed in WW2. Of course the graphics are dated but at the time, Microprose actually found a guy who had modeled every Japanese warship and type of tanker and troopship in scale. They went and photographed them all surface and periscope view from all angles and used those pictures to create what you see in the game. You can play a campaign from Perl Harbor to August of 45... If you can survive. Yes the graphics are old and there is no mouse support but this game is a solid, historically accurate WW2 sub sim that IMO is still worth playing. Oh and I am not really sure the game really has any AI. I think the game is actually haunted by the ghosts of long dead Japanese WW2 Destroyer Captains.....!

I wanted to add a couple of comments. I notice a number of reviews complaining that the game doesn't function or some of the keys don't work. Remember that this is an OLD PC game even though it is running on DOSBOX, it was never meant to run on a MAC or Linux. So you may have problems if you have that setup. Personally, I running on a PC with Windows 10, 64bit and it runs perfectly all the keys work exactly as they are supposed to and everything else is solid. Also I would buy it on sale, I got mine for $2.99. $6.99 is ridiculous. Second, If you can't get it working right in an hour, get a refund. Like I said, mine installed and ran perfectly with no fiddling at all. So it does work if your system is compatible.

Played it first 1992-93 had an 386 40MHZ back then, this old games are charming in some way. Even today i can correctly identify the ships when y start the game, no manual needed.

nostalgia factor high !!!

i like the battles

This has always been one of my favourite simulations...... it's not a game :) Even with the crude 1990's graphics, it takes me back. I like that it can be as easy or as difficult as you choose, something not all other games offer. The one drawback, and I don't remember if this was true in the original version, is that when you resume a saved game (a war career), not matter how far in you are, it forces you to watch all the news updates from pearl harbour to the present. Still love it.