Customer Reviews

Destroyer Command

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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

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.

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.

The average review of Destroyer Command is not good. Average scores are below 5 out of 10. Wikipedia will tell you that it was critically panned.

In my view a lot of the criticisms of the AI are justified. The AI is weak, often making your own fleet more of a hazard to you than the enemy. The AI has to herded along almost like sheep,but if you're patient, you'll find your fleet up to the task of engaging the enemy effectivley. The biggest disappointment of the game was the hunting of U boats. Potentially thrilling, the U Boats frequently stay at perisciope depth, meaning that you just ram them to sink them. Ho hum. A great oppurtunity wasted.

Buggy? Well I play the patched version and it doesn't seem so bad really.

Apparently the multiplayer support with SH 2 was unstable and buggy, but since I'm judging the game on it's single player merits, this doesn't interest me.

Graphically, it's usually fairly bland. It looks like a 1998/99 or so game. As it uses the Silent Hunter 2 engine, the graphics are the same as that game. Sea textures are well done, and the smoke is transparent and realistic looking. Explosions are realistic, but all tend to be small. No fireballs here. Lighting is quite effective at times, especially dawn/ dusk. Overall though the graphics are adequate to "suspend disbelief", but aren't the sims strongest point.

What I think most people who criticise the game are missing is the intensity. Whatever the technical faults of the sim, I found DC to be an intense, frequently nerve wracking experience. Although the enemy U Boats may be almost a joke, the surface engagements had be fully alert in my chair. Whether you're on the bridge with binoculars and order your crew to engage the enemy, or take command of the guns yourself, it's exhilarating stuff.

Likewise dealing with waves of enemy aircraft attacking your fleet (and yourself) is exciting, and the plumes of smokes from downed aircraft is actually very realistic looking.

The best part of DC for me though is the torpedo station. Although the manual gives little explanation, a patient process of trial and error will make the confusing controls seem clearer, and actually hitting an enemy ship with torpedoes that have been fired using your sighting input is very satisfying!

Overall Destroyer Command is a demanding and sometimes frustrating sim, but it portrays a very overlooked area of computer simulations. I know, and have known for years, what the cockpit of a P 51 looks like from computer flight sims, but a destroyers gun and torpedo station was something I knew nothing about.

For patient sim fans willing to overlook some technical flaws, Destroyer Command can reward with an intense experience.

To see other reviewers remarks, it would seem that playing this game was the equivalence of root canal.

In short, D.C. isn't too bad. After downloading the patch, the AI improved and it's relatively easy to micromanage your units. The graphics are fair. In this day and age you should be able to wander over your whole ship in FPS style, with NPC crewman who will say appropriate things.

Additionally, the linear campaign is really stupid. They also should have consulted with someone who actually has been to sea. (No red lights at night on the bridge, No red lights in the engine room)

I have read other reviews on this game and I think it deserves better ratings than it has received. It is a beautiful game as far as graphics are concerned. Ubi soft is a great software producer and they should really consider updating this game so it can run on Windows XP and other advanced systems. If you have Windows 95 or 98, this game will generally satisfy your curiosity about World War 2 destroyers. Other reviewers assert there are some glitches in the game. While that may be true, all games have some weakness. I think this game is worth buying. I wish it could run on my advanced operating system. I would be playing it and enjoying it thoroughly if I could. The historical accuracy of the game is educational and exciting. Someday maybe Ubi soft will come out with a modernized version.

Dreary. Overly complex. Poorly thought out. Poor, hard to read manual. The first training task asked you to go to the bottom of the page and observe the action buttons there. The action buttons were not there and only seemed to appear randomly. Graphics were poor quality. Counter-intuitive menus leading god knows where. Game software should be written to be run without a manual. This one needs a manual and a magnifying glass to read the small print. Once you go through all that trouble you will still not understand what they are talking about. Save your money this is junk.

I have been waiting for a good World War II naval surface game, but with all the bugs I have experienced, I guess I still have to wait.

On a side note, reporting bugs to the publisher is not an easy task......

Dreary. Overly complex. Poorly thought out. Poor, hard to read manual. The first training task asked you to go to the bottom of the page and observe the action buttons there. The action buttons were not there and only seemed to appear randomly. Graphics were poor quality. Counter-intuitive menus leading god knows where. Game software should be written to be run without a manual. This one needs a manual and a magnifying gass to read the small print. Once you go through all that trouble you will still not understand what they are talking about. Save your money this is junk.

This game is as buggy as SH2. Ubi soft has not even released the patch for SH2. The AI in Destroyer Command and Silent Hunter 2 is so unrealistic it takes away from game play. Someone at Ubi soft should learn the proper way to write code for PC games. Save your money and buy from a company that has a track record and not a lot of hype and false promises.