Destroyer Command

by UBI Soft

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004YZRS
• Item Weight: 1 pounds
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: February 14, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,525 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Destroyer Command is a 3-D naval combat simulation that gives you command of a World War II-era destroyer in the U.S. Navy in either the Atlantic or Pacific theaters. You can advance to command a division of destroyers and will participate in a variety of naval actions against Axis forces. You will stalk U-boats, swat kamikaze planes, escort convoys, blast enemy ships in surface actions, or pound the beaches in support of infantry landings.

Engage the enemy with a variety of powerful weapons ranging from torpedoes, 40-millimeter cannons, depth charges, or the main battery of 5-inch guns. You have the option to take direct control of highly detailed individual ship stations or play from a more traditional top-down perspective. A detailed 3-D world with exacting physics modeling fully immerses you and rounds out the Destroyer Command experience.

Another feature of Destroyer Command is the ability to play--via Internet or LAN--against owners of the World War II German U-boat title Silent Hunter 2. This is unique for computer gaming, allowing players of two different products to compete against each other on the same virtual battlefield. Destroyer Command also features cooperative and head-to-head multiplayer options with other Destroyer Command players.

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Might appeal to naval buffs if they're patient, September 30, 2004

By 

Brian Dickson (Scotland, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Destroyer Command (CD-ROM)

I don't normally write reviews on products but having read some reviews of Destroyer Command here I thought I'd give my opinion. I'm interested in WW2 and I'm pleased when a new sim appears. I didn't have *too* high hopes for Destoyer Command, but having played it I was neither blown away by it nor extremely disappointed in it. Instead, I had some fun playing it! Okay it has some flaws, but it's not the software crime that some people make it out to be. Too often people pounce on the flaws of something and skip the merits. Some people just seem to like to whinge!

The cons:

*Poor AI. Yes the Ai is quite poor, but then Rainbow 6 had terrible AI and made me an avid player! The big problem is your fleet of destroeyers uner your orders. Changing formation for them is a demanding task and sometimes they'll ram each other. However this risk is geater the faster the time compression. If the time compression is set to 128X and you order your fleet to change formation then they'll almsot cetainly ram each other. HOWEVER if you set the time compression slower, preferably normal time then they act more intelligently. Slower speeds allow the computer to calculate ship positions much more accurately. If you see an imminent collision then it's time to switch flagships and do some manual maneuvering. Frustrating? Maybe, but I never thought it was something to make me stop playing the game in disgust. Conversely however the emeny can seem to be very accurate shots. Too accurate in fact. ( But there is a mod to cure this, see below)

*No dynamic campaign. Yes it does limit the replay value somewhat but since most sims lack a dynamic campaign I don't feel crushingly disappointed!

* It takes a while to get used to the many key commands. But what sim doesn't?


Pros:

*Well for me I think it can be damn scary sometimes. One of the first missions I payed involved a surface engagement with a Japanese force of druisers and destoyers. It was late at night and with my expensive pair of Sennheiser headphones on for maximun immersiveness. And you know you get a sense of anticipation hwen you see the silhouettes of the enemy getting *slowly* bigger in your binoculars. Too often it seems that gamers are obssessed with speed. The faster the more exciting it seems. I'm not sure if I agree. That kind of slow pace can add a sense of tension. ( As a parallel think of the film Alien. Often the scariest parts were the slow build ups) And then you hear the muffled "boom" of the emeny guns in your headphones and you know that yuo digital foes want you DEAD. You never know whether that shell the German destroyr just fired will spash harmlessly in the water next to you or take out your #2 turret. I'm not really sure if there's not that much scope for strategy in a surface fight but thers' a real sense of agreeable chaos to the whole thing. It made me appreciate the more the bravery of real sailors during a surface engageement.

* Okay hands up who as a schooboy didn't sometimes dream of shooting at aircraft with an AA gun? Nobody? I thought so. Come on, it's just so damn FUN to blast a Zero out of the sky belching smoke. And it's nearly as much fun to score a hit on an enemy ship with the main batteries, using your own observations. Subtle? Nah. But satisfying!

*The torpedo is one of the coolest weapons ever devised. You may not be a subamrine but there's still a kick to be had of spotting a Japnese heavy cruiser in your binoculars, knowing he hasn't seen you, entering information ito the Torpdeo Data Computer,launching a salvo, turing away, and waiting. When you see the impact and see a geyser of water flung up, it's like achieving a checkmate ina chess game. Very satisfying.

Graphically I think it's okay. Not fanatstic but not terrible either. Some textures seem a bit bland but there's some pleasing dynamic lighting, and the scene of a flight of Val dive bombers plunbging seawards traliing smoke is quite realistic looking. So a casual thumbs up there. And the sight of your squadron of destroyers sailing alongside you in the dawn light with smoke billowing from their funnels should appeal to armchair adventurers anywhere.

So who should buy Destoyer Command? Not casual gamers. But if you enjoy sims and approach Destroyer Command with the view that is by no means perfect, then you might gain some enjoyment from it. I wouldn't rate it as a classic, but overall a worthy addition to a compter sim fans library. It can be "modded" up somewhat to give it some more appeal. For some gameplay to Destryer Command there is a link here

http://207.44.164.159/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=18934

which is a page at www.subsim.com

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time, February 17, 2002

By 

Erich Boher (Melbourne, VIC Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Destroyer Command (CD-ROM)

Destroyer Command is incredibly buggy, obviously unfinished and the units completely lack any form of intelligence. What you are felt with is something which barely qualifies as a beta version. Ships will ram friendly vessels at will, enemy submarines are incapable of taking offensive *or* defensive action, being perfectly content to sail blissfully along at periscope depth waiting to be destroyed, and enemy ships often ignore the player entirely.

Don't waste your money on this rubbish.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, February 20, 2002

By 

Mark Seitz (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Destroyer Command (CD-ROM)

I just picked this title up after waiting for it for months. I have a few first impressions:

1 The AI is weak, in the training missions, the AI destroyers ran right into the target merchant ships. Not very good, I've also heard that they will run into each other...shades of CFS2's AI wingmen colliding with each other all the time.

2 Anti sub ops, seems that I ram more subs than I depth charge, even though their depth readouts are around 100 feet.

3 One little missing file that crashes your ship viewer, easily rectified, but still annoying.

4 Some graphics issues, minor, when in the gun director station at max zoom, white lines appearing in the water are annoying.

5 Scripted campaigns, they all start the same, and each mission must be completed successfully before advancing to the next one. Kinda takes the realism out of the early Asiatic fleet stuff...if they did that well, the Phillipines would never have fallen.

NEAT STUFF

I like the graphics, very nice without requiring a CRAY to run them.

It's pretty neat to be able to engage subs, surface ships, and aircraft.

Promised inter-operability with SH2, if that materializes...way cool.

All in all, I like it, but I'm not sure for how long...the AI is really stupid.