Only a few single missions are included, based on both historical and hypothetical battles, but a complete mission editor is provided for creating nearly any scenario you like. Those elements would almost be enough in themselves to make for a great game, but the dynamic campaign really lets this game shine. There are some serious quirks, like the fact that loading a save game erases every save game you created after that within the same campaign, but when the gameplay is this good it's possible to forgive faults like these.

This is what a simulation game should be. It has all the little details you'd expect and it has enough material to teach you the basics of the job. Great atmosphere too. Furthermore, you can download a freeware expansion pack called grey wolves which greatly enhances everything in game. At a bargain too!

I tried SH 4 and 5 aswell but overall this one was the best.

I managed to master manual firing after alot of time messing around with my own stopwatch and timing distances, Once I could hit ships manually and consistently the game became very addictive.

Its a shame the newer version moved towards being more arcadey as the only thing that lets this title down are the graphics which are a bit dated.

Spent many an hour trying to avoid depth charges with the girlfriend perplexed as to why im staring at dials in a computer game!

I came to this game after loving SH4. I'll be honest, it took a little bit of getting used to the idea of playing as a German sub captain. But once I got around that, it was fantastic. This game offers an indepth simulation of what being a sub captain (excuse me, U Boat captain) must have been like.

If you've read or seen Das Boot and enjoyed them, you'll absolutely love this game. Even if you haven't, this game offers a lot. You'll be directly responsible for managing your crew, sinking enemy shipping and still making it back to port safely.

This can be difficult at times (particularly in the later years of the war), but I reckon that's probably pretty realistic.

When I first played this game I didn't really know what the submarine warfare was about. My first thoughts were about submarines chasing each other and firing torpedoes like in the Hunt for Red October. I was amazed when I find out that the first submarines were armed with 88's and AA's on the deck! and that they sunk more ships firing those guns than with torpedoes. They could even shoot down airplanes. Also I find out that submarines travel long distances at the surface level instead of underwater. I also discover how harsh were the living conditions for the crew (physically and psychologically) and the high rate of casualties they suffer. All in all, I learnt and play a good sim about the Battle of Atlantic.

One of the best submarine games. Simple to play, nice graphics and sound. A great epic game and a real classic.

This is the best u-boat simulator out there, and would keep you entertained for a long time. The feeling you get when a battleship is sunk after a well placed torpedo is well worth the price of the game.

This game is still, even after so many years, THE definite submarine simulation in the Atlantic theatre. Sure, the graphics is really outdated, and without some mods and tweaks it is even restricted to 1024x768 resolution. Anyway, the simple fact that this game has grown so strongly over the years, with an incredible amount of mods expanding over the original concept, makes Silent Hunter III a must-have for any subsim fan.

Basically, you are playing the career of the commander of a German u-boat in World War II. Your goal is to sink as many enemy vessels as possible, which is quite a challenge esp. when the ships start to travel in heavily guarded convoys. After the historical turning point, this gets really hard, and you often have to care more about your own survival than about a high number of kills. The challenge is to have both :)

Today, lots of mods are available: Famous ones, like GWX or LSH3 (Living Silent Hunter III), improve harbours, increase numbers and types of ships, and increase difficulty, partly by improving enemy AI. Use subsim.com to find all these mods -- it's still a very active community.

Silent Hunter III is a game I bought after watching movies like 'Das boat' etc... I just wanted to somewhat experience those tense moments captured in those movies while playing the game.

Good:

- Authentic WWII submarine simulation

- Nice graphics (although I've some visual problems playing in widescreen)

- Tense moments

- Full command: you really are the captain of the ship. You decide what happens (crew selection, submarine upgrades, promotions...)

- A lot of different enemy vessels and airplanes

- appropriate selection of difficulty settings

- Career mode (you can play as a submarine commander from the start 'till the end of war)

- Academy (Training missions)

Bad:

- Career mode: There is basically just one type of mission in the career mode: patrol area xx (Still there is enough action to keep you on the edge and apparently this is historically accurate)

- Crew management: Sometimes unrealistic and confusing (BUT does add to the fun though)

To conclude, this is a pure simulation game. If you don't like simulations, you probably won't like Silent Hunter III. I personally, as a fan of the genre, give this a 4.5 out of 5.

This game has the "grey" atmosphere of Second World War. It is a classic that versions IV and V were not able to surpass. However, it neede improvements like more missions, more tipes of ships, more medals for the crew, etc. This is the path for a version VI, and if the developers will not do it, moders and fan should do it.

Silent Hunter 3 is a solid game with good graphics and playability. Eventhough, an older game with the mods available from the Grey Wolves and others it enhances the game experience. For some it is too slow moving. There are long missions that some will find boring. For those that enjoy historical simulations it's a very solid game.

When released this sim was the best subsim (ww2) made until then. It is only surpassed by Silent Hunter 4, in my opinion, but still being very good. Modding community is also very prolific, specially "subsim". Both are worth having since they depict diferent war settings.

A good submarine WWII game. The development of the crew and yourself is a fun addition to the game. The missions are quite similar. Go to a specific area and guard it for a while. The transport to and from the designated area quickly becomes very long and boring, unless you attempt to go through the English Channel, and often I ended up hunting destroyers rather than merchant ships simply for the fun of it, although there where no extra bonus for it, something I found odd, as the difficulty would be higher.

The best at its time before SH4 came out (i stillreally prefer SH4 over SH3, while some SH3 mods make the game a true jewel, not speaking of SH5 which is too much arcade for me as stock game but is close to SH4-3 when modded)

Dynamic campaign, really challenging on 100% realism, lots of german subs including the great type 7.

A very dynamic modding community (visit subsims forum !)

Silent Hunter III without the silliness of the securom. GWX 3.0 seems to be working fine with this version, which is always a good thing :)

As a game, it does what it says on the tin - submarine simulation. Personally prefer it to Silent Hunter IV, whilst am still trying to forget the monstrosity of the arcade game which is Silent Hunter V was ever made.

Have it up and running with Win 7 64-bit and a Radeon 5770, but YMMV.

As the previous reviewer says, nothing quite beats hearing the depth charges echo through the hull of your u-boat after a crash dive from the surface. Super game.

The best submarine simulation i've ever played, the atmosphere can really creep into the room when your being depth charged by 3 destroyers.