Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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 1,020 reviews of which 771 were positive and 249 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.2 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 29.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 1.00€ on Instant Gaming.
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.
System 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
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
TLDR Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter delivers an immersive naval warfare experience and blends tactical depth with atmospheric tension. Procedurally generated missions and battles grant a good level of replayability. For those interested in WWII era naval warfare, this is a gem and a milestone in destroyer class anti-submarine battles. Gameplay The game puts you into the shoes of the commander on a WWII Fletcher-class destroyer, hunting down German U-boats. Being a great fan of submarine simulations, stepping from the submarine perspective onto the Destroyer is an engaging experience and playing both sides is not only good entertainment value, but comes with some interesting aspects looking at situations from 'the enemies' standpoint. The level of realism of some of the important mechanics strikes a decent balance between accessibility and realism, requiring you to master some aspects such as sonar tracking of the submarines, targeting your anti-submarine arsenal and coordinating between the crew stations. Depending on your session's settings, the game also offers some level of escort group command. The blend of strategic planning of and preparing for an attack paired with the fast action of the actual attack runs keep the experience varied and engaging. Up to the player's personal comfort level, more or less of the stations and tasks can be supported by AI assistance or simplified handling, allowing for a relatively easy entry barrier or focusing on learning individual aspects of the ship's systems, first. The rather steep learning curve might be intimidating to some players, but mastering the tools on hand is a fun and rewarding journey. Graphics Destroyer comes at good but not great graphics. It is, however, certainly sufficient to depict an immersive experience of naval combat. The attention to detail on the ship's deck and details enhances immersion. The not groundbreaking graphics are during most gameplay situations not a large drawback, since you spend most of your time working at the different stations. Sound The sound atmosphere of the game is generally good. The voice acting leaves room for improvement and does not do much good for immersion levels, but is acceptable enough not to ruin it, either.
Expand the review
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.
Expand the review
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.
Expand the review
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.
Expand the review
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.
Expand the review
Similar games
View all
Aircraft Carrier Survival: Tutorial
When the harshness of the sea meets the cruelties of war, a challenge for perseverance makes itself known. And it is like none other. Welcome to Aircraft Carrier Survival, a strategy set in the merciless reality of World War II, where your prowess as a commander decides the fate of a naval behemoth.
Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts
Design warships the way you want them, command fleets, win the naval arms race for your nation!
Victory At Sea Pacific
Victory at Sea Pacific is the exciting game of naval RTS combat set during World War II. Bringing an epic approach to real time strategy war gaming, search and destroy enemy fleets across an open world sandbox in a desperate attempt to change the course of history.
Cold Waters
Spiritual Successor to the Microprose Classic “Red Storm Rising”.
Force of Warships: Battleship Games
Direct your battleship to glorious victory! Online battle under your leadership!
Wolfpack
A crew of players experience the tense atmosphere of a WW2 U-boat, manning the stations in this realistic co-op simulation game. Several crews may play together in a wolfpack, completing missions based on iconic events during the different stages of German U-boat warfare. Solo play included.
Silent Hunter® III
The king of submarine simulations returns with an all-new 3D engine, new crew command features, and more realistic WWII naval action than ever before. The movie-like graphics and simple, tension-filled gameplay make this the perfect game for the realism fanatic and the casual gamer.
IronWolf: Free Non-VR Edition
This is the Free Non-VR version of IronWolf VR. A co-op submarine game with a light touch on realism, making the submarine sim genre accessible to a wider audience.
Steel Division: Normandy 44
Steel Division: Normandy is a tactical real-time strategy (RTS) game that pits players against AI enemies in a single-player campaign -- or against several opponents in massive 10-on-10 multiplayer battles.
World of Warships
Immerse yourself in thrilling naval battles and assemble an armada of over 600 ships from the first half of the 20th century — from stealthy destroyers to gigantic battleships. Change the look of your ship, choose upgrades to suit your play style, and go into battle with other players!
Men of War: Assault Squad 2
Men of War: Assault Squad 2 features new single player style skirmish modes that take players from extreme tank combat to deadly sniper stealth missions. Commanders can now faceoff against opponents on various new multiplayer 1v1 – 8v8 maps.Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 06 April 2025 02:11 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 11 April 2025 14:19 |
| Steam price | 13 April 2025 04:48 |
| Steam reviews | 12 April 2025 08:00 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter compatibility
Online players
11
Developer
Iron Wolf Studio S.A.
Publisher
Daedalic Entertainment
Release
06 Dec 2023
Platforms
By clicking on any of the links on this page and making a purchase,
you may help us earn a commission that supports the maintenance of our services.