Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter
Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter brings you an authentic and historically accurate destroyer simulation along with gripping anti-submarine warfare set in the turmoils of the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.
Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter is a simulation, naval combat and world war ii game
developed by Iron Wolf Studio S.A.
and published by Daedalic Entertainment.
Released on December 06th 2023 is available on Windows and MacOS
in 14 languages: English, Polish, French, Spanish - Spain, Russian, German, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese - Brazil, Simplified Chinese, Spanish - Latin America, Turkish and Italian.
It has received 964 reviews of which 738 were positive and 226 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.3 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 14.99€ on Steam and has a 50% discount.
The Steam community has classified Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter through various videos and screenshots.
Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i5 6400 or AMD equivalents
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: GeForce GTX 6GB
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 12 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX compatible
MacOS
- OS: Mac OS X 10.15
- Processor: Intel Core i5 6400
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Radeon Pro 570X (720p Low)
- Storage: 12 GB available space
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
I would recommend this game for any naval warfare/WW2 nutters like myself, however, whilst the people making it have put a lot of work into it since it was first released as an early release, it still needs work. The 'campaign' is only like 9 or 10 convoys you escort, each getting bigger in size obviously, and you fight 3 or 4 running battles in each convoy escort before you hand over to the RN and your job is done and you get a score. I have a big problem with how the battles end; you could be about to drop some charges on a Uboat, got him dead to rights, but suddenly you hear "all attacking uboats have been sunk or deterred from attacking" and it just stops there. Wait, hang on, what about this guy I'm about to blow out of the water? Are we just letting him go? Also if that happens the end battle video sort of merges with the audio from your ship firing charges and it's honestly glitchy as hell and annoying. Would be nice to have like, a little 'END BATTLE' thing on the bottom or top out of the way so you could then end the battle after you sink the one you're after. The ship itself is pretty decent in recreation but with the gun emplacements it would be nice if you had the 40mm and 20mm to also fire on a surfaced Uboat. I get about 5 "on target" calls each surfaced boat and somehow they submerge and are all fine despite what should be crippling damage. The other main issue I have is with radio communication and target acquisition. Sometimes it keeps skipping the Uboat I want to focus on, for example I'm chasing Baker but for some reason every two minutes or so it skips to focusing on Charlie. The radio chatter also really should focus on the one you are hunting, I don't care about Mountie going after Charlie when I am bearing down on Baker. I want more updates about bearing, and especially depth, I find sonar does not update or remind of depth enough. Like, "contact is increasing depth" 5 times in a row, cool, but to what? Deep, medium? I do not know what to set my charges at with that call. This is honestly my biggest gripe. There are other minor graphical bits I could criticise but they don't impact gameplay, and overall it's a really fun game if you're into this sort of thing. Can get pretty hectic when your escorts miss their first few runs, and more boats then are timed to join the attacks. So far my record is 1 loss for 9 uboats sunk, but boy did that take some decent first strike luck. So overall fun game, worth it if you're into it, and I would love to see more of it. Especially a pacific edition, with surface combat and air strikes. That would be absolutely excellent in this kind of game I reckon.
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What would make this game even more awesome would be if you could drag the sonar operator out on the stern and shoot him in the face with a 1911 , or the 5 inch deck gun , and then man his station for him, since he seems to be busy with other things or whatever hes doing that involves not finding a submerged uboat.
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Step 1. Install Step 2. Play for the first two missions Step 3. Go to bed Step 4. Wake up and watch Greyhound Step 5. Work in the morning sleepy, but excited to hunt u-boats Step 6. Get off work and ignore family responsibilities to play Step 7. Listen to Greyhound in the background while playing the game.
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Overall, I can recommend the game to simulation players with a keen interest in ASW and submarine warfare who like a "bathtub-simulation" (as Sid Meier would have called it) with instant immersion into action-rich, and time limited gameplay. In my opinion, there is a lot of potential for improvements in regards to realism, of course - as I will point out below. "Destroyer" has some very positive and realistic aspects that set it apart from other earlier efforts to simulate ASW that I would list as follows: 1.) It simulates ASW action as a series of depth charge attacks (and some artillery fire) with a high failure probability and accumulative damage done to the U-boat – just as was the usual case in reality. 2.) Preventing a U-boat from attacking your merchant vessels is more important to eventual success than its destruction. 3.) Multitasking is key: i.e. place your assets where they are most effective, ship-to-ship cooperation (when possible) is more efficient than lone hunting, keeping track of multiple threats is vital - and provides a constant drive to gameplay. Another gripping aspect of multitasking is having to switch between different stations, radar, sonar, bridge etc, which are nicely rendered and make the game immersive and visually pleasing. 4.) Ice fields: These put you in a tight spot indeed, combining endless navigation issues with search & destroy operations. Kudos to the programmers! I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to simulate ship navigation and torpedo attacks through the maze of an ice field. However, there are some issues (apart from the usual coding bugs) that require an effort (and some research) to improve gameplay and make it even more realistic and engaging: 1.) Generally speaking, the Fletcher class was a versatile combat platform, a "Jack Of All Trades" (but a «Master Of None») with ASW being just one of the many rolls it had to fulfill. The Fletcher could just as well conduct fire missions, provide an AA screen, conduct torpedo attacks or serve as a radar picket vectoring combat air patrols against incoming attacks. This game clearly does not aim at truthfully simulating the Fletcher class destroyer but rather simulates ASW warfare against wolf-packs in the Atlantic. Thus the Fletcher serves as a "typical" platform only – one people easily relate to after watching "Greyhound". To add a ballistics computer, AA fire control, torpedo data computer and an air control center would expand the game way beyond its current scope. 2.) Ship motion dynamics are clearly not realistically simulated: A 2500 ton (at full loadout) vessel has different motion characteristics with more momentum driven acceleration/deceleration and varying turning radiuses in function of speed. In this regard the game is way off! Another aspect is speed control: A commander could order rotations for any speed. It would be nice for gameplay to be able to order a speed of, say, 4 knots to casually trail and track a U-boat. 3. a) Realistic sonar: While sonar stops working altogether at high speeds in gameplay - which is totally realistic - sonar sensitivity gradually improves with lower speeds. In gameplay, I could not note any difference in sonar performance cruising at 8 or at 24 knots. In reality, self-noise levels (from sonar dome or hull vibrations, wave action etc.) increase the faster a ship goes, thus echoes reflected from the U-boat would eventually be drowned out by ambient noise – which usually occured at speeds above 16–18 knots. Sonar ranges of 3000+ yards with WW2 ASDIC sets were an absolute exception, and could only be achieved under very ideal circumstances (sonar conditions). In WW2, 1000 to 1500 yards (or often much less) were the norm. 3. b) Realistic sonar conditions: In gameplay, I could not note any effect of sea state, wind, thermocline, biologics etc. Sonar conditions seem to be a constant rather than an ever changing variable. To take these variables into account, however, could add to the gaming experience. 3. c) The "baffles": In gameplay, sonar can listen "around" nearly a full 360 degrees (or so it seems to me until proven otherwise). In reality, the search arc aft, approx. 140 degrees "red" to 140 degrees "green" was drowned in ship self-noise (radiated from hull, turbines, propellers, bow and stern wave action etc.). This ought to be at least simulated somehow in function of ship speed and the sonar operator ought to give off a report, if the requested search window includes the "baffles". 3. d) The "masking" effect of depth charge explosions: This may be a bit of hair-splitting, but in real life the gaseous explosion products of a depth charge produce bubbles that rise in function to their size. While large bubbles rise to the surface in seconds, the small ones ascend very slowly and produce a sonar reflecting champagne "pillar" causing false echoes for several minutes - similar to the gas-producing "Pillenwerfer" containers U-boats used to confuse Allied sonar. 4.) Endless ammo: Although Allied escort ships were usually stocked with lavish amounts of depth charges – often 60+ ash cans – supply was not unlimited. To factor-in ammo consumption would add a realistic twist to gameplay.
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First Impressions: Pros: Graphics - very good, honestly it feels like Battlefield 3 graphics but obviously more modern. Detail - with a very niche focus the detail is there in the instruments and the gameplay design. Cinema - they really tried with the story and the cutscenes, despite the budget voice acting it really feels like quality. Cons: Scope - the game is too niche, needs a campaign map aspect like Silent Hunter and War on the Sea. Physics - I get that it would be too overwhelming combined with the instruments to have realistic handling ships but the movement is very arcady. Game over screens - if I hit an iceberg show me the damage and simulate some aspect of sinking, playing a game over screen is just lazy. Overall I'd say it's a solid game. I have much more time to sink into this, but it really leaves me wanting to go back to Silent Hunter and War on the Sea for more freedom/ continuity on a campaign. I don't like missions.
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 16 November 2024 23:12 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 19 December 2024 10:53 |
| Steam price | 23 December 2024 12:49 |
| Steam reviews | 23 December 2024 12:02 |
Online players
21
Developer
Iron Wolf Studio S.A.
Publisher
Daedalic Entertainment
Release
06 Dec 2023
Platforms
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