688 Attack Sub

688 Attack Sub puts the player in command of a modern American Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine, offering a simulation of undersea combat set in a fictional Cold War conflict. Unlike World War II-era simulators, here the player works with torpedoes capable of tracking a target, sonar distinguishing between passive and active modes, and combat that's often fought at ranges where the enemy is just a blip on the sonar display, long before it's even visually confirmed — so the player has to rely on experience reading sonar data and patiently tracking changes in the acoustic picture of the surroundings.

Gameplay focuses on tactical decision-making — when to use active sonar and risk detection, how to interpret the acoustic signatures of other vessels, and how to maneuver so the submarine evades anti-torpedo countermeasures. The game offers several scenarios of varying difficulty and types of opponents, from patrol ships to enemy submarines, giving the player room to adjust the pace from simpler patrols to demanding one-on-one duels in the depths. The visual and audio presentation of the sonar and the submarine's interior was a solid standard for the genre at the time of release and complemented the sense of an enclosed, claustrophobic space beneath the surface.

At release the game was praised for its relatively accessible take on modern undersea warfare, which didn't demand as deep a commitment as competing titles, and it became one of the more popular simulators of its kind in the late 1980s. For today's player it remains an interesting showcase of how DOS simulators approached the era of nuclear submarines and missile armament shortly before the end of the Cold War, when the subject was still current and appealing to a wide range of war-simulation fans looking for tactics rather than action.

Why play it: For war-simulation fans who want tactics rather than action and will appreciate a more accessible take on the era of nuclear submarines and missile armament at the tail end of the Cold War.