Silent Service

Man this game was terrific back in (checks notes) 1985?!
Damn, Sid Meier could do no wrong!
Seeing his name was an instant seal of quality.
This game was as suspenseful as most Hollywood thrillers.
Adding to the suspense were the sound effects that were also top rate.
Just an excellent effort, all the way around.

Game is a multiloader, but only one disk side.

Reading the manual is highly recommended, prior to playing this game. The Zzap! Reviewer is incorrect when saying you can't operate the periscope under water. Just so long as you are not submerged more than 44 feet, the scope is useable during the day. I highly recommend this game if interested in the genre.
9/10

C64 classic. Has excellent balance of gameplay and accessability. Enabled you to get straight into sinking Japanese ships without having to wade through a large manual first. Excellent WW2 atmosphere! Nothing like taking on a destroyer to get the blood pumping!

I have searched high and low for a game as good as this on Android to no avail.
God I miss Silent Service!

Superb simulation for its time.

This is such a great simulation. After watching some WWII movies and tv (Das Boot, War and Remembrance) I found out that historically used tactics actually work in this game!

1. In bad visibilty, at night, execute a surface attack, going slow, attacking them in the flank and hitting full speed once discovered. If the escorts were flimsy Kaibokans I could usually outrun or outshoot them at night.

2. When the enemy has pinpointed your depth and you are taking damage, try going to a lesser depth! I found that if I was succesfully attacked when running deep, I could go to periscope depth and I wouldn't feel a thing. Of course then I would have to be even more silent but it was better than sitting in the deep, getting hammered.

And you always had to balance torpedoes Vs. Guns. Cripple them first, take out the escort and then catch up with the cripples and finish them off with the gun. Or go for a sure kill on 1 or 2 ships then get the hell out.

Atmospheric to say the least. While sound was very poor, when the enemy shells started landing on my sub I was still terrified because I could be sunk in a few more hits.

The first game I play't on the C64 <20 years ago ^^> was this game Silent Sevice gues I was lucky
Very good game in that time like many others from Sid Meier 9/10

A very good simulation game. 8!

This is a great sub sim for the masses. It was never meant to be a total simulation, like Acrojet was not F-19 Stealth Fighter. That's what made gaming great back then - everyone was catered for! This one got good at the higher intelligence levels and became quite a sophisticated sim. It had a much more gentle learning curve compared with, say, Red Storm Rising. Microprose was successful because it understood gamers. It knew how to bring new gamers in and then keep them. I gave this a 9/10 and while I disagree with some of the point in the review written on this site, I have to say it is one of the most entertaining reviews I have ever read - anywhere! Go give it a read - it's fun!

One of two original games I have, and I just don't like it. Its just to difficult for me or somethings wrong. I just don't get it.

Great Microprose game, the second best sub game on the c-64, only just after the other Microprose game, Red Storm Rising. Very very very recomended.

A great sub sim, with plenty of "depth"

Awesome atmosphere. Just unbeatble.

Greatest C64 Game ever made and I've played em all. This historical masterpiece is a classic to learn and elevate your skill to the master levels.

I remember this game used to make me nervous. I had a really bad tendency to fire on a convoy, thinking I could get away before they knew what hit them. Doing this usually ended up attracting 2 or 3 destroyers, and I would have to surface to fight them, because I didn't have the instruction manual and didn't know how to get rid of the ballast tanks. Great game, though I never survived a scenario very long.

Excellent.
Should be in anyones strategy collection alongside Gunship, Red Storm Rising and Theatre Europe.

Not the best microprose sim, but certainly not bad by any stretch... I don't recall a poor Microprose game actually... But anyway... This game had some nice graphics, a good deal of realistic factors to keep track of.. And as all Mp games it was very involving and really encouraged you to be strategic and think like you were really there... There is no joy greater than finding a nice plump convoy approaching from their broadside, fire a nice full spread, submerge pass under the heart to shake off the destroyers, than come up and fire a second round with your stern torpedo tubes to double the damage... Great game, just watch out for the shallows...

Very atmospheric game, very tense in parts. Highly recommended.

Tip: Pressing runstop during game then typing run <enter> reloads your weapons :p

We turned this one into a 2 player game. One commander and one person at the controls.

Hearing the destroyers closing in, shutting of the engine and waiting for the bombs to come, hoping they won't hit you... Such a good game.

Very good sub-simulation. Excellent work done on graphics and the game keeps you busy for a long while.

The best sub-simulation game for 8bits computer !!

Great game! I Loved this - even more after I 'Borrowed' the manual from my cousin He never played it anyway, so never missed it... If you liked this, You'll LOVE "Silent Hunter" on PC.

I was so excited to be able to take on the japanese fleet again it must of been 12 yrs since I last played this game, however I seem to remember being able to blow emergency tanks and releasing fake debris. Hopefully I can find the booklet that ids all the ships to make war patrols easier to enter if I can I will send em to u lemon

Yeah This SubSim's was in my Top5 games
manymany hours to play with it !!

I really loved this game... Lemon u're great!

The silhouette of the ships in "Silent Service" are similar at the ships of the game "battle ships"! ;-)

Ohoh! An micropose game! Great!

Like all things Microprose, this is a great one. 2 things I concider major flaws... You only get 4 torpedoes. If you fire a fifth your first one disappears. And if your bow planes get damaged and your boat is going down all you have to do is reverse engines and it will go back up. This one really put me off. That's not to say that you can't get sunk. You most certainly can become a reef in some tropical locale if you take on too many destroyers. Great fun.