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Silent Service (IBM-PC)

designed by Sid Meier (credits)

released 1985

genre submarine simulation
game size 236 kb
archive size 83.8 kb

related game Silent Service II

If a game such as Silent Service tried to pass itself off as a simulation in today's realism-and-detail-are-everything market, it would be torpedoed almost before it left port. In 1985, however, action-oriented sims were only a couple of notches more realistic than arcade games, and Silent Service fit the bill quite nicely, becoming MicroProse's (and Sid Meier's) first big hit. As the commander of a United States submarine during WWII, you rushed around your vessel doing almost everything yourself: sighting the enemy in your periscope, figuring out a firing solution for your target, and even loading the torpedoes into the tubes. All this activity was hardly appropriate for a captain, but it was fun - and it brought you into intimate contact with your sub in a big hurry. And let's be fair: It would have been hard for Sid (or anyone else) to have a lot of high-detail crew members taking orders and running around the screen on a Commodore 64, the launch platform for this game. The WWII missions were interesting but featured neither the defining campaign of Sid's later Gunship nor the gritty realism of Red Storm Rising. The sequel, Silent Service II, improved on a lot of Meier's concepts and added much-improved graphics and sound. But it would be a mistake to simply dismiss the original. Silent Service is a perfect example of Sid's philosophy of "when fun and realism clash, fun wins." Submarine games were all the rage in 1985, and while most of them are now forgotten, gamers remember Silent Service fondly. With this game, Sid began to emerge as a designer who could bring a fresh approach to any genre, a talent that would serve him well for the rest of his career: a good example would be 1997's Sid Meier's Gettysburg. -- © 1999 GameSpot

Screenshots

download (83.8 kb -- rename ss-zip.pdf to ss.zip)

. related links

Sid Meier's thoughts on his game
U-Boat Net

. other versions

Commodore Amiga

. other games designed by Sid Meier

Civilization
Covert Action
F-15 Strike Eagle
F-15 Strike Eagle II
F-19 Stealth Fighter
Gunship
Pirates!
Railroad Tycoon
Red Storm Rising