Silent Hunter III

 PC
  • Publisher: Ubisoft
  • Release Date: Mar 15, 2005
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 112 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 83 out of 112
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 112
  3. Negative: 17 out of 112
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  1. Genek13
    Nov 20, 2019
    9
    This is the first and only SH game I ever played.
    Back then game wa outstanding, with gorgeous graphics and sound design.
    Management of submarine ship makes you feel the realities of WWII.
  2. Stryker218
    Nov 29, 2014
    10
    One of the best sub games around. It's not as good graphically as the newest sub games but is a better experience overall. You play on the side of the Germans which may not float your boat, but i def recommend this game to any sub gaming cravings.
  3. newtee2
    Nov 2, 2014
    8
    Still a great game that holds up all these years later. There are still tons of fun and interesting mods to play. No game is without problems, and this game's issues stem from the clunky crew management system, and issues with video options (can't set your own resolutions without downloading a tweak).
  4. Pigmachine
    Oct 23, 2014
    9
    Still the God among subsims.. played it a LOT when it was new.. then came the evil version of starforce.. and I threw away my dvd and used a crack.
    Now it were cheap at steam, so bought it again.. and the modding community have made it even better! Really great mods, ans 1920x1080 support.. and ..well just two mods to choose from when using that ATM.. but still!
    The dynamic.. or rather    Still the God among subsims.. played it a LOT when it was new.. then came the evil version of starforce.. and I threw away my dvd and used a crack.
    Now it were cheap at steam, so bought it again.. and the modding community have made it even better! Really great mods, ans 1920x1080 support.. and ..well just two mods to choose from when using that ATM.. but still!
    The dynamic.. or rather random campaign is great. I hardly want to accelerate time when cruising around (I miss my old really expensive pipe at those times)

    Seeing a huge battle ship with escorts all around, and trying to set up an attack and calculating torpedoes at the same time is really heart pounding!
    This one will never leave my memory or my heart!    … Expand
  5. eino
    Apr 29, 2014
    1
    I got a glimpse of the game through the academy tutorial, which looked interesting. After that, couldn't see much more.

    I launched the career and started in Kiel. First assignment was to get to some area in North Sea. Alright, so I leave the doc filled with people waving us goodbye. Bye bye! After some time sailing out the harbour, then toward the Nord-Ostsee canal, I I tried to    I got a glimpse of the game through the academy tutorial, which looked interesting. After that, couldn't see much more.

    I launched the career and started in Kiel. First assignment was to get to some area in North Sea. Alright, so I leave the doc filled with people waving us goodbye. Bye bye!
    After some time sailing out the harbour, then toward the Nord-Ostsee canal, I I tried to increase the time compression. Not that I don't appreciate the landscapes, but I was eager to get into the real thing. Unfortunately, It wouldn't let me get above 4. I suspect because I was close to the shore. At one point, we passed another ship, for which time I could get to 32x. Once it was too far, back to 4x (not really logical, but well...).

    So I don't know how long it took in real time to cross the canal, but at least it was a game which let me practice my guitar.
    After about 30 minutes, and 1/3 way in the canal, i had other things to do, so I saved and quit.

    I should have known better. Next time, trying to load my save... Loading screen.. and crash.
    Damned. Try again, same thing.
    30 minutes sailing gone to waste.
    Ok, I try to load the start save in the harbour... Same crash.
    Try to start the career over ? Same. Delete it and create a new one ? Just crash.

    Sailing the forums for solutions, at least one thing appeared, crashes are a quite common thing with this game. Especially, I read you mustn't save while a boat is in sight, or the game will crash on next load.
    Wha-- ??
    Wait a minute, you can't save if there's a boat in sight ? In a friggin submarine game ? No wonder it wouldn't load my harbour save! How could Ubisoft quality control let this kind of problem out?? If I was playing a game about guiding camels in the desert, I could be ok with a such a rare circumstance. But this is a naval battle game goddamnit.

    1 because the few I saw of the game was interesting. Still, it was 6 wasted dollars.    … Expand
  6. 505Northman
    Apr 13, 2014
    10
    Silent Hunter 3 is one of the best sub simulators out there. For a game made in 2005? It does an amazing job at everything. The game is really easy to play and if you say that the game can't run? Well don't put the installation in Program Files(x86) Put it in your C: Drive instead. Overall I have no complaints about this game. Better than any sub Sim right now!
  7. Hardcard
    Oct 27, 2012
    9
    Well, if you are expecting some arcade style WW2 submarine game, you better stay away from SH3.
    Otherwise you'll get bored, you'll come here and start writing reviews saying how boring this game is, etc.
    This is a WW2 U-boat simulator, this means that you'll spend most of the time sailing the huge empty ocean waiting for a ship or a convoy to get within your reach. If you are fine with    Well, if you are expecting some arcade style WW2 submarine game, you better stay away from SH3.
    Otherwise you'll get bored, you'll come here and start writing reviews saying how boring this game is, etc.
    This is a WW2 U-boat simulator, this means that you'll spend most of the time sailing the huge empty ocean waiting for a ship or a convoy to get within your reach. If you are fine with this, then keep reading, if you're not, then forget about the Silent Hunter saga.
    I'm using the GWX 3.0 supermod in combination with other minor mods, and I think this is the best ww2 Uboat game ever made.
    You start your career as an officer of the kriegsmarine (you can start anytime between 1939 and 1944)
    you are given the command of one of the most advanced "submarines" in the world, your mission is simple: patrol your ocean sector and sink as many enemy ships as you can. Depending on the realism settings you decide to activate, you will need to use trigonometric formulas in order to calculate the target's course, angle of the bow and speed...thus enabling you to launch your torpedoes in the exact time and course to sink the target ship (just like in WW2). Only for this, SH3 should be a game to be respected. Of course you can also use some instruments and members of your crew to help you find out the "torpedo solution", so don't worry, you can sink enemy ships even if you are not fond of trigonometry! SH3 has other virtues too, the graphics engine isn't bad at all (is still acceptable even for today's standards), perhaps the main issue you'll find is that the game doesn't have widescreen support (though you can use mods to make it so). I'd recommend to use the GWX supermod and the SH3Commander app to play SH3, as they bring the game to a whole new level. They give SH3 a lot of the quality it lacked at first. Another virtue of SH3 is that you can upgrade your u-boat's engine,batteries,electronic systems (radar, sonar,hydrophone),torpedoes,conning tower, guns, etc. You will receive promotions and medals and your crew members aswell. You can also change your "old" u-boat for a newer one (like the uboat type XXI). You can manage your crew all the time, deciding to rest or deploy them in order to get the maximum efficiency from your men. The AI in this game isn't bad, so if you're not careful you'll be sunk. By 1943 you'd better be like a ghost in the ocean, otherwise you'll be sunk before you can even launch the first torpedo against a convoy. Another aspect to point out is the HUGENESS of the ocean...you'll literally spend months in the sea unless you use the time compression setting (using SH3Commander you'll be able to reach a time compression of 8192x...provided your computer can take it). Don't be surprised, the uboats used to sail at speeds around 10knots (20km/h, roughly), so yes, you'll need a lot of time compression in order to finish a patrol of several months in just some hours...the uboats were slow and the oceans are HUGE.
    As a result, finding a convoy in the ocean is like finding a needle in a haystack. You could spend most of your fuel reserves by looking for convoys at sea without finding anything...it may be frustrating, but it's realistic: 90% of the time spent in uboats was pure boredom, just sailing the ocean for months without any enemy contact. Some people may think this is an issue, but it's not, it's just realistic.
    Don't worry, in my experience, I've never returned to port empty-handed. I've always sunk 20000 tons of shipping at least. You only need to check the shipping routes map and deploy your uboat in a "hot spot" like northern Ireland... there you'll find some ship sooner or later. Still, the game has some issues. For instance, you can't save your game while you have another ship WITHIN YOUR SIGHT...If you do so, your savegame will crash to desktop the next time you try to load it. There's another issue concerning the change of weather conditions (they don't seem to change), you can solve this by applying some mod or editing some game files, but still, this shouldn't be happening.

    Anyway, I think SH3 is the best and most complete WW2 uboat game ever. Using GWX, SH3Commander and other mods you'll greatly increase its quality.

    Enjoy the hunt!    … Expand
  8. Ekaton
    Jul 28, 2012
    10
    This game is pretty good and by far the best of the whole SH series but with mods it gets to be one of the best and most complex simulators ever! One of my personal favs!
  9. Budget_Security
    May 29, 2012
    5
    Without its severe flaws, this game would be a 9/10. Worth looking at if you are a mature, very patient gamer willing to put in some serious time. Still worth picking up 2012+ as there has been no really good sub-sim game since. I played it in 2011 with the GWX 3.0 mega-mod (there are newer mods but GWX is still one of the best or most polished). Setup can be difficult. I played a singleWithout its severe flaws, this game would be a 9/10. Worth looking at if you are a mature, very patient gamer willing to put in some serious time. Still worth picking up 2012+ as there has been no really good sub-sim game since. I played it in 2011 with the GWX 3.0 mega-mod (there are newer mods but GWX is still one of the best or most polished). Setup can be difficult. I played a single career for 100 odd hours till 1943 before giving up due to the many bugs (permanent storm weather bug did it for me), but in that time I had some great and intense moments.… Expand
  10. lutan1
    Apr 16, 2011
    1
    I don't get it!

    Whatever these reviewers are smoking to give this an average score of 90- I want some!

    Mind numbingly boring is the only way to describe this.
  11. NickR
    Dec 12, 2009
    10
    Amazing game , the atmosphere was brilliantly done, I felt like I was living out all the history books I read. Being able to calculate my own torpedo shoots was nice. Finally getting to use geometry and calculus in a compy game.
  12. CharlesD
    Jun 9, 2009
    8
    Is a really fun game, but the campaign mode could be more varying.
  13. MarkW.
    Aug 22, 2007
    5
    Great game! Spent many hours tracking down a convoy trying to get the perfect angle of attack. Spent many more hours trying to evade the 3 destroyers who were triangulating my position and tearing me up with charges. I would have given it a 9 but StarForce problems knock it down to a 5.
  14. grimpr.
    Nov 10, 2006
    9
    A Groundbreaking game in the simulations genre with great value in the test of time and money spend,be sure to patch it to the latest official patch and get a taste from some countless modifications that overhaul nearly everything in this superb game. A PC Classic.
  15. SamF.
    Sep 7, 2006
    10
    Gamers Who Enjoy Realistic Simulations will truly enjoy This Sub Sim. This Game might turn away a few people that are used to all out action all the time, but if your willing to put yourself into this game and spend hours that are needed hunting enemy subs and use tactical manuvers then you will agree that this might be the best looking sim out there to date. Graphically the Sky and ocean Gamers Who Enjoy Realistic Simulations will truly enjoy This Sub Sim. This Game might turn away a few people that are used to all out action all the time, but if your willing to put yourself into this game and spend hours that are needed hunting enemy subs and use tactical manuvers then you will agree that this might be the best looking sim out there to date. Graphically the Sky and ocean look like your looking at a movie. If you play this game and find that getting to your patrol point takes too long you have the option of time compression but that would spoil the point of this whole sim. Traveling to the destionation and engaging the will take hours ...just like in real life. There are a few surprises that really add to the realism such as when you go to outside views. zooming in and out will not let you go through objects like most other games ... So the collision detection even in view mode is set correctly. The interior of the ship is done nicely showing all gages and areas of the ship but not as photorealistic as the envirement outside. The next installment of SILENT hUNTER Should address this one area...but With everything this Sim has going for it It is a must buy for any fan of this genre.… Expand
  16. GregN.
    Apr 29, 2006
    7
    The game is really good...i really enjoy submarine type games. The only down side to the game is the waiting times between action, even with time compression the game is very slow. The keyboard layout is good, and sound effects are okay...you do need 1 gig of ram to run the game, as I am running 512 megs or ram and it takes a long time for the game to load, and locks up occasionally when The game is really good...i really enjoy submarine type games. The only down side to the game is the waiting times between action, even with time compression the game is very slow. The keyboard layout is good, and sound effects are okay...you do need 1 gig of ram to run the game, as I am running 512 megs or ram and it takes a long time for the game to load, and locks up occasionally when you are in game and an event is occuring i.e. detecting a ship that sort a thing...but once the game is loaded it works fine with 512! … Expand
  17. PeterS.
    Dec 24, 2005
    9
    This is underwater suspence at it's best! Considering the frailty of your boat, crew fatigue and a limited number of torpedoes (and limited fuel if you carefor some realism) you have to worry about much more than just sinking ships. Your crew and your boat depend on your decisions. Oh, and did I mention great graphics and sound (superb hydrophone!) and the moddability of SHIII? Did This is underwater suspence at it's best! Considering the frailty of your boat, crew fatigue and a limited number of torpedoes (and limited fuel if you carefor some realism) you have to worry about much more than just sinking ships. Your crew and your boat depend on your decisions. Oh, and did I mention great graphics and sound (superb hydrophone!) and the moddability of SHIII? Did miss depth charts though, but that's nothing the navigator can't handle. There's not much room to improve this U-boat sim.… Expand
  18. DaddyCJ
    Aug 5, 2005
    8
    Incredible sim. Awesome 3D graphics but remains an accurate and enjoyable simulation. I like the ability to increase realism in areas I want increased, without making it unbareably hard.. Possibly the best sim i've ever played. However, this game loses 2 points because it uses StarForce. Whoever thought adding StarForce was a good idea is an absolute idiot. :mad: Sure, it stops Incredible sim. Awesome 3D graphics but remains an accurate and enjoyable simulation. I like the ability to increase realism in areas I want increased, without making it unbareably hard.. Possibly the best sim i've ever played. However, this game loses 2 points because it uses StarForce. Whoever thought adding StarForce was a good idea is an absolute idiot. :mad: Sure, it stops pirates but it also stops us people who buy the game!!! It is better to stick with v1.0 and tolerate the bugs than update to 1.4d and endure StarForce. thank you.… Expand
  19. SebaVanB.
    Aug 1, 2005
    9
    No problems with installation here. Very much and something different then al those shooters ... If you like some simming or games like wolfpack in the past this one is for your :)
  20. JohnP.
    Jun 7, 2005
    0
    Argh! My pc had to be reformatted because of this game! Stupid starforce! Never buying anymore products with starforce on them ever again!
  21. A.S.
    Jun 7, 2005
    9
    First, a user NO-CD patch is a must for this one. It will remove al the issues with the StarForce an let you actualy spend time playing game instaed of debuging it. Wide range of realism alow the player to adjust the game playing to best fit its skill. Still this is not a game for a causual or arcade gamer. Patrol will take long time to complete and the game becomes too familiar after First, a user NO-CD patch is a must for this one. It will remove al the issues with the StarForce an let you actualy spend time playing game instaed of debuging it. Wide range of realism alow the player to adjust the game playing to best fit its skill. Still this is not a game for a causual or arcade gamer. Patrol will take long time to complete and the game becomes too familiar after some time of playing. Good thing is that you can go anywhere or do virtualy anything while you on the patrol. SH 3 world is huge, so you never have to take the same path to you patrol point.… Expand
  22. TruongY.
    May 20, 2005
    0
    Game doesn't even run. Starforce is the absolute worst...it installed a device in my system configuration too!
  23. SteveB
    May 12, 2005
    0
    Starforce, had to rebuild pc never again.
  24. Starforce
    May 10, 2005
    0
    all because of starforce, it crashed my pc. this product is doomed becuase of the perfect match: UBI + starforce. I won't buy ubi products anymore.
  25. ChrisP.
    May 3, 2005
    8
    Great game, the only thing that made it loose 2 points was that the time compression is still to slow at 1024. Also the game has a few bugs. One that I noticed was that when under attack from airplanes, the planes will sometimes skip.
  26. RonaldT.
    Apr 25, 2005
    10
    If you liked Aces Of The Deep, you should like this. Almost like a sub RPG with the dynamic mission mode. Read up and know what you're in for before you get it - if you like realistic sub sims (of the WW2 variety) this is your bag!
  27. BradG.
    Apr 20, 2005
    9
    Do you like having fun? Do like stuff in general? You need to buy Silent Hunter III. The only reason it doesn't get a 10 is because its a touch buggy and I HATE when games are released like that. That being said, the core of the game is outstanding. The atmosphere, gameplay, replay value, and historical accuracy are great. You can jump right in on the easy settings or rack your brain Do you like having fun? Do like stuff in general? You need to buy Silent Hunter III. The only reason it doesn't get a 10 is because its a touch buggy and I HATE when games are released like that. That being said, the core of the game is outstanding. The atmosphere, gameplay, replay value, and historical accuracy are great. You can jump right in on the easy settings or rack your brain trying to get a firing solution on max difficulty. Aside from the odd bug, almost everything in this game is top notch. However, I would have personally liked to see some ships in the ports and maybe a bit of wildlife in the sea, but I'm just nit-picking. If you like anything to do with war or water you need to buy this game, even if its just to sit atop your bridge and stare at the mid-blowing water effects.… Expand
  28. MichaelS.
    Apr 19, 2005
    10
    Whilst it is buggy the dev team are beavering away fixing the bugs. My rating for this game is based on the pure Vision of the developers and the gameplay and atmosphere of the game. Most of the user settings can be changed including maximum time compression 1024. (i upped mine to 4096) Theres also numerous mods and fixes released already for most complaints with the game. With the Whilst it is buggy the dev team are beavering away fixing the bugs. My rating for this game is based on the pure Vision of the developers and the gameplay and atmosphere of the game. Most of the user settings can be changed including maximum time compression 1024. (i upped mine to 4096) Theres also numerous mods and fixes released already for most complaints with the game. With the mission editor itself its a sub-sim modders wet-dream (pun intended) :)… Expand
  29. Globetrotter
    Apr 15, 2005
    0
    I don't know how blind someone must be to rate this game higher than 0. Of course, graphically it's the best looking game, but the quality you find on DVD is below any standard, completely buggy early beta version plus it contains StarForce copy protection. Two criterias that render this piece of junk worthless.
  30. DavidB.
    Apr 10, 2005
    3
    I don't think I get it. Even with time compression at 1024 times it took me half a (real) day to sail around England shink 1 ship and return to base. Couldn't even leave it going until something exciting happened as you're constantly having to move your crew between their station and the bunk and whenever a ship passes nearby the time compression is halted. Just be wary of I don't think I get it. Even with time compression at 1024 times it took me half a (real) day to sail around England shink 1 ship and return to base. Couldn't even leave it going until something exciting happened as you're constantly having to move your crew between their station and the bunk and whenever a ship passes nearby the time compression is halted. Just be wary of reviews that say this is easy to pick up and accessible to play.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Best PC Game of 2005
40
#40 Most Discussed PC Game of 2005
26
#26 Most Shared PC Game of 2005

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. IGN
    88
    Definitely worth the wait. The campaign is fantastic and the overall presentation is a sim fan's dream.
    Read full review
  2. GameZone
    86
    You will be able to control almost every single aspect of what went on during World War II campaigns to see if you have what it takes to be a good commander and stay alive.
    Read full review
  3. GameSpot
    89
    It lets you feel like you are a submarine captain in charge of a powerful but fragile U-boat, it provides a sobering history lesson, and the campaign makes you feel like you are a small but important part of a much larger conflict. Those are the hallmarks of a truly great simulation.
    Read full review
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