"Red Storm Rising", based on the best-selling novel by Tom Clancy, game design by the very talented Sid Meier.
Despite having very simple graphics this is easily the best simulation of submarine warfare I have ever played. You really get a feel for being underwater with limited perception and listening intently for the dreaded sound of those soviet ship propellers - or worse, a soviet hunter-killer nuclear attack submarine. I've heard that some people can recognize the different soviet ships just by the sound of the propellers, but I haven't reached that point of skill yet.
I first played this game over a decade ago on a friends Commodore (it's also available for pc and plays well for me on Windows XP with DOSBox.) I still remember those pleasant winter evenings, crouched at his dining room table (this was before computer desks were in so many homes), the cardboard keyboard template sitting above the keys, hitting just the right button to reduce speed, check sonar, build up enough sonar data to fully recognize the ships I'm facing, DIVE! deep if suddenly discovered, but mostly: quietly, cautiously, waiting, waiting, until I got a high enough sonar "solution" to know for certain where the enemy ships were. Then, if close enough (but not too close) fire several torpedoes and keep
my speed below 15 knots, so I could control the thin wire that directed the torpedoes on their way. Gradually I would guide the torpedoes closer and closer to the enemy ships and wait until the last minute to set them "active" where the torpedoes send out their own sonar beeps - and the enemy ships now know that torpedoes are in the water. If I timed it right, the ships get sunk before they have enough time to react.
If I didn't time it right, or if I missed a few anti-submarine ships (like the Moskva, Kresta II or the Udaloy), or, worst of all, if I didn't know there was a soviet attack sub in the water, then it's time for some desperate evasive maneuvers. You're informed that a "launch transient" is detected - that's the sound of compressed air being released as an enemy torpedo is fired at you. You might not know where the enemy submarine is, but suddenly there's a torpedo that has you in its sights. You can speed up and turn, creating a "knuckle" in the water, hoping to confuse the enemy torpedo's sonar, you can launch noisemakers, which are more effective, or you can launch a decoy and then get the heck out of there. Even if the enemy torpedo is decoyed, it just starts searching again. Can you get away in time - without going too fast and making too much noise?
Sometimes you're hit, and then your ship is crippled, losing some vital piece of equipment. Maybe your speed is reduced, or your sonar is less effective. (And yes, one time I ran into a hill in shallow water while trying to run my sub too fast.) Now you have to circle the enemy sub, trying to get a fix, dodging enemy torpedoes, shooting before he hits you, and, if you escape, limping back to a friendly port for repairs before going out again on yet another dangerous mission.
This is one of the oldest games I still own, and yet it's one of the most enjoyable games I own.
