Silent Service II

Silent Service II is a sequel to the popular submarine simulator from MicroProse, putting the player in command of an American submarine operating in the Pacific during the Second World War. Compared to the first installment, it brought a more advanced sailing model, a more elaborate torpedo-attack system, crew management, and convoy tracking, and it expanded the number of missions and historical scenarios in which the player must contend with Japanese anti-submarine defenses and patrol ships hunting for enemy submarines.

The Amiga version offered improved 3D graphics for the periscope and map views, letting players track the movement of enemy ships and plan an attack based on speed, heading, and depth. The game's tension rested on patient waiting, silently closing in on the target, and then delivering a torpedo strike, where a wrong estimate could lead to a retaliatory depth-charge bombardment and hull damage that had to be repaired underway. Sonar sound effects, the hull creaking under water pressure, and crew reports rounded out the claustrophobic atmosphere of combat beneath the waves, where every decision is a matter of the whole ship's survival.

The game was praised for the depth of its simulation and the authenticity of its period campaigns, which made it one of the most respected submarine-warfare simulators on the Amiga. For players interested in tactics and history, it offered long-lasting play through a campaign with many patrols, and even with the years it remains a valued example of a genre that, unlike fast action simulators, was built above all on patience, observation, and a carefully considered tactic of gradually closing on the target. For many players, Silent Service II represented the counterpart to the hectic flight and helicopter simulators, where cold, systematic reasoning by a commander was valued over reflexes. It's precisely this slower, more contemplative rhythm that still makes the game a sought-after title today among fans of historical war simulators who appreciate a realistic take on submarine warfare in the Pacific.

Why play it: For patient tacticians who prefer observation and a carefully considered approach to the target over reflexes — one of the most respected submarine simulators on the Amiga.