Silent Service review - Nintendo Entertainment System

Silent Service casts you as a submarine commander during World War Two. You must hunt down convoys and sink them while avoiding the destroyers that guard them. The game switches between views from your periscope and strategic displays of your vessel, and maps may be accessed to pinpoint the enemy's location.

On-board sonar warns you of approaching destroyers and lets you know when the enemy has been hit by your torpedoes or gun. Options allow you to select practice modes or go straight into missions which include night attacks, surface raids, and cat-and-mouse actions with the depth charge carrying destroyers.

Successful hunting requires close shots but it is often better to keep your distance and manouevre into a position that allows an unaware convoy to steam straight towards you, saving you from having to chase it all over the Pacific!

What the Mean Machines staff thought

Silent Service is one of those rare creatures: a strategy game for the Nintendo. It has depth (no pun intended) that is normally found in 16 bit computer games. In that sense the game is a refreshing change from platform and shoot 'em up games. The graphics are good and the array of options make the game easy to get into, but I found the game somewhat lacking in atmosphere and real excitement, especially as there can be long gaps between the action. Despite this the game is a worthy addition to any collection and is up to Microprose's usual high standards.

I'm not usually a fan of this type of game - there are far too many controls and not enough things to blow up for my liking! However, practice makes perfect, and once you get into the game, the action becomes quite tense as you start hunting down and destroying war ships before they get you. The multitude of difficulty options gives the game plenty of lasting appeal and maintains the challenge. I wouldn't recommend it to an arcade fan, but if you're after something a little different, Silent Service is well worth looking at.