Silent Hunter II

Template:Short description Template:Main other{{#invoke:infobox|infoboxTemplate | child = | subbox = | bodyclass = ib-video-game hproduct {{#ifeq:|yes|collapsible {{#if:|{{{state}}}|autocollapse}}}} | templatestyles = Infobox video game/styles.css | aboveclass = fn | italic title =

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| label2 = Developer(s) | data2 = Aeon Electronic Entertainment
Ultimation Inc.

| label3 = Publisher(s) | data3 = Ubi Soft

| label4 = Director(s) | data4 = Troy Heere

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| label6 = Designer(s) | data6 =

| label7 = Programmer(s) | data7 =

| label8 = Artist(s) | data8 =

| label9 = Writer(s) | data9 = Guy Usario

| label10 = Composer(s) | data10 = Kevin Manthei

| label11 = Series | data11 = Template:If first display both

| label12 = Engine | data12 =

| label13 = Platform(s) | data13 = Microsoft Windows

| label14 = Release | data14 = Template:Vgrelease

| label15 = Genre(s) | data15 = Submarine simulator

| label16 = Mode(s) | data16 = Single-player, multiplayer

| label17 = Arcade system | data17 = Template:If first display both

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}}Template:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|ignoreblank=1|preview=Page using Template:Infobox video game with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"| alt | arcade system | artist | caption | border | child | collapsible | commons | composer | designer | developer | director | embedded | engine | fetchwikidata | genre | image | image_size | image_upright | italic title | modes | noicon | onlysourced | platform | platforms | producer | programmer | publisher | qid | refs | release | released | series | state | subbox | suppressfields | title | writer }}Template:Main other{{#if:Silent Hunter II cover.jpg|}} Silent Hunter II is a 2001 World War II U-boat combat simulation published by Ubi Soft for PCs with Windows 95/98/ME.

Gameplay

File:Silent Hunter II screenshot.jpg

The sound room of the U-boat

Silent Hunter II gives the player the command of German U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. The game offers single-player missions and multiplayer gameplay. The single-missions include sinking HMS Laurentic and HMS Patroclus as Template:GS, avoiding being sunk by Template:HMS as Template:GS, sinking Template:HMS as Template:GS, Operation Drumbeat against American shipping, retrieving the war diary from the Template:Ship, the action in Tarrafal Bay, saving the German supply ship Python from Template:HMS and attacking a task force as Template:GS as the last act of the Battle of the Atlantic.

The campaign, which has the player being sent notes from Admiral Dönitz, spans 21 missions from the start of the war in 1939 to the end of the war in 1945. It includes attacking fleeing Polish navy destroyers during the invasion of Poland, hunting British shipping off the English coast, penetration into Scapa Flow, assisting in the invasion of Norway, Blitzkrieg and Dunkirk evacuation ("Dunkirk little ship" Sundowner appears in this mission), then battling in the North Atlantic, before passing through the Strait of Gibraltar to La Spezia, severing the British lifeline to Malta, Operation Drumbeat, attacking in the Caribbean, attacking Arctic convoys, to the Allies ultimately gaining the upper hand in the Mid-Atlantic gap, repelling the D-Day invasion and finally escaping to Buenos Aires, Argentina at the end of the war, whereupon Dönitz sends a final message.<ref>Admiral Dönitz: My U-boat men! Six years of U-boat war lie behind us. You have fought like lions. A crushing material superiority has forced us into a narrow area. A continuation of our fight from the remaining basis is no longer possible. U-boat men! Undefeated and spotless you lay down your arms after a heroic battle without equal. We remember in deep respect our fallen comrades, who have sealed with their death their loyalty to the Führer and Fatherland. Comrades! Preserve your U-boat spirit, with which you have fought courageously, stubbornly and imperturbably through the years for the good of the Fatherland. Long live Germany!</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

German war veteran and U-boat commander Erich Topp was one of the game's technical advisers, and a series of interviews with him appears in the game.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Silent Hunter II: Interview Update with Rick Martinez, https://www.combatsim.com/review.php?id=548</ref>

Silent Hunter II was developed with multi-player support as a notable feature. Players were able to connect with other players, and engage in sub vs. sub combat. Connectivity to the separate game Destroyer Command, also released by Ubisoft, was available, which enabled sub and surface ship combat.<ref name="PCgames"/>

History

Silent Hunter II was first announced in 1999,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and originally developed by Aeon Electronic Entertainment, the developers of Silent Hunter, but they had to leave the project unfinished, and Ultimation Inc. finished it. In November 2001, it was released after three years of work.<ref>Special: Silent Hunter 2 - Interview Template:Webarchive on 4players.de (2001, in German)</ref>

After release, instability with the multiplayer feature was found to be commonplace, yet Ubisoft never resolved this issue by releasing another official patch. While in 2002 Ubisoft had ended the official support, they authorized and enabled the game's community at Subsim.com to fix the game themselves by giving them the source code.<ref name="PCgames"/> The fan community raised over $7000 for an unofficial patch development project called Projekt Messerwetzer which ultimately fixed the issues.<ref name="PCgames">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="wargamer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Since then, unofficial expansion packs like the World War II Pacific war theatre-based total conversation "Pacific Aces" were released by community.<ref>Najciekawsze modyfikacje (15/03/10) Template:Webarchive on gry-online.pl by Adrian Werner: "Silent hunter II: Pacific Aces - podstawowa wersja gry obsadzała nas w roli kapitana U-Boota na Atlantyku, podczas gdy ten mod dodaje okręty podwodne marynarki amerykańskiej i wody Pacyfiku. Poza tymi dodatkami Pacific Aces wzbogaca grafikę, dźwięk i strukturę misji w kampanii oraz wprowadza szereg poprawek do mechanizmów rozgrywki." (March 15, 2010, in Polish)</ref><ref>Silent Hunter 2: Pacific Aces Template:Webarchive on PC Games (February 19, 2004, in German)</ref>

In June 2009, after many years of commercial non-availability, the game was re-released on the digital distributor gog.com.<ref>silent_hunter_2 Template:Webarchive on gog.com (June 25, 2009)</ref>

Reception

Silent Hunter II received "average" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.<ref name=MC/> A Subsim review rated Silent Hunter II 80/100 in 2005 and named it "the new WWII subsim benchmark".<ref>review silent hunter ii on subsim.com (June 1, 2005, archived)</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• Aces of the Deep, an unrelated U-boat game (1994)
• Silent Hunter (1996)
• Destroyer Command, naval simulation game (2002)
• Silent Hunter III (2005)
• Silent Hunter 4 (2007)
• Silent Hunter 5 (2010)

External links

• Official website
• Template:Moby game
• Projekt Messerwetzer An authorized community upgrade for Silent Hunter II and Destroyer Command