textfiles/games/REVIEWS/688.rev

 688 ATTACK SUB

 Submarine warfare is a slow-paced affair. Computer game authors are challenged
to balance between realism and boredom when designing a submarine simulation.
688 ATTACK SUB has met the challenge. (This review is based on the IBM-PC
version; Amiga version notes follow.)

 The game is played solo as a series of ten scenarios that progress from cold to
hot war. Each scenario has a strategic or tactical objective that goes beyond
sinking as much shipping tonnage as possible. 688 ATTACK SUB tests a player's
ability to adapt to the different aspects of submarine warfare. Six scenarios
are playable via modem against a human opponent, which takes the game beyond
beating the programmed strategy.

 Players can choose either an American or a Russian submarine. The two types of
subs have different strengths and weaknesses. The Russian Alfa-class sub is
faster, while the American Los Angeles-class sub is quieter and has more
high-tech instrumentation.

 The submarine's systems are controlled from seven stations. The game always
opens in the Radio Room, with a display of the mission's orders and objectives.
The ship's Helm has rudder, engine, and ballast controls. The Periscope view
allows visual targeting. The Navigation Board automatically pilots the sub to
selected waypoints. The Weapons Room fires torpedoes, missiles, and noisemakers.
The Sonar Room controls the active and passive sonars for detecting submerged or
surface targets. The Status Panel shows damage to the submarine's systems.
Keyboard or mouse controls all systems.

 Except for the Status Panel and Radio Room, the sub's stations display a
top-down map, which has eleven magnification levels. The map depicts land masses
and water depths, as well as the locations of any targets that have been
detected by sonar. In VGA mode, sixteen shades of blue show the depths of the
waters.

 A contour imaging display is available on the American Los Angeles-class sub.
This high-frequency sonar shows the peaks and valleys of the ocean floor in a
side-view, three-dimensional relief. I found the display useful when maneuvering
in narrow valleys to avoid detection.

 The documentation is adequate to get a new player started. The most difficult
task facing a novice is learning to "drive" a simulator. The Quick-Start Guide
runs through the most important skills that a new submarine commander will need
to master for full game enjoyment.

 Weapons control in 688 ATTACK SUB can be simple, or quite sophisticated. The
Mk-48 torpedo can be launched at a targeted ship or sub in automatic tracking
mode. The torpedo can also be steered by a seven nautical mile-long cable. When
the cable is severed, the torpedo goes into search mode, and tries to hit the
nearest target.

 It took me a long time to become skillful enough to complete all the 688 ATTACK
SUB scenarios. Even after I had mastered steering, navigating, and weapons
control, I needed some hints from Electronic Arts to complete the last two
missions. The user manual didn't stress the importance of active sonar; in fact,
more was said about the dangers of detection when using active sonar.
Consequently, I was ill-prepared to take on some formidable opposition in the
later scenarios.

 As of this writing, some problems with the two-player modem game have been
reported. I experienced inconsistent communications in my test of modem games.
The most common problem was losing the connection before game start-up.
Electronic Arts is aware of these problems and has pledged to fix them.

 I tested 688 ATTACK SUB on a GenTech 386/20, with Everex EVGA and Mitsubishi
Diamond Scan monitor. (I used the CH Products Mach IV joystick in mouse
emulation mode as a pointing device.) This is a well-designed and pretty game,
especially if you have VGA. I enjoyed playing the ten scenarios, and wish there
were more. I was disappointed that the two-player game did not work flawlessly.
Ultimately, the greatest challenge is playing against another human being
instead of a program.

 A scenario design utility would make 688 ATTACK SUB a great game. Competing
against another player does not necessarily require you to play online. Users
would be able to design more missions and increase the value of the game. I hope
Electronic Arts considers it.

 AMIGA VERSION NOTES

 Despite the fact that the label on the disk reads 668 ATTACK SUB, the Amiga
version of this simulator does not feature a hitherto unknown vessel; it allows
you to command a 688 Los Angeles-class submarine (or a Soviet Alfa-class), just
as in the MS-DOS version.

 Gameplay is identical to the MS-DOS version reviewed above, although there is
no modem option in the Amiga version. Graphics are nicely drawn. The ships and
aircraft you spot through your periscope look like digitizations of the real
thing, and digitizations of various crew members are clearly detailed. Sound
effects are also rendered faithfully -- from the sonar pings and explosions
you'd expect in a submarine simulation to crew members' voices, and even whale
songs.

 I encountered no major bugs, although the graphics display in the periscope and
top-down windows occasionally had trouble refreshing, leaving a black rectangle
that disappeared after switching displays a couple of times. Also, you can stop
the sub dead in the water by clicking on the "target" button, and then not
selecting a target.

 688 ATTACK SUB is easy to get up and running and installs quickly on a hard
drive. The increasingly difficult scenarios pull you ever deeper into the
intricacies of submarine warfare. Design trade-offs (such as limited torpedo
range, and speeding up the time it takes for some things to happen) make the
game more playable, and don't detract from the feeling that you're in charge of
a nuclear submarine. The game is a definite step beyond the first generation of
submarine simulators (e.g., SILENT SERVICE), and I heartily recommend it.

 688 ATTACK SUB is published and distributed by Electronic Arts.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253