Each sub has its own distinctive sounds. The Akula is more mechanical and solid, the Seawolf with its unique touch panels has an electronic feel. The 688(I) retains the basic sounds from the original game. The familiar torpedo flooding, button-clunking, and mast motor sounds make the veteran subsimmer feel right at home. The steady hum of the nuclear powerplant permeates the background. Voice acting is good.

Sonalysts have been steadily evolving the graphics used in their games. Sub Command represents a broad stride forward from 688(I) and outshines Fleet Command. With my nVidia TNT2 (32MB) card I was able to turn up all the detail with no slowdown of the game. The control panels are all unique and show an appreciable amount of thought and detail. I especially liked the Russian hardware with its braided cables, metal equipment tags, and mechanical sliding switches. The 688(I) is very much the same as before with some improved arrangements and a little extra color. The Seawolf panels and gauges are very hi-tech looking and are a complete departure from any nuke subsim before it. I found the Seawolf's button panels to be a little too layered, requiring more clicking than I would like to see. The Broadband sonar button matrix alone has five buttons (out of eight) that require a click to open a new subset button panel to perform a function. I haven't been in the sonar shack of a Seawolf class so I don't know if the real deal works this way but if not, I would gladly trade five big buttons for ten smaller buttons right up on top.

The 3D external and environmental views are just as good. The subs and ships are sharp and very detailed and exhibited no clipping. If a submarine exceeds cavitation speed, a dense cloud of microbubbles trails the screw or propulsor. Eject an active countermeasure and it will trail alongside you spewing bubbles until you break and distance it. Explosions are colorful and dynamic. When the periscope breaches the surface, a foamy film slides down the lens and tiny droplets of ocean spray peppers the glass--one of the best touches of graphic realism I’ve ever seen in a sub or naval sim.

There a few items that could use attention. Damage modeling is limited to a percent readout; you don't have the option to assign damage control parties or prioritize the work. Frank Kulick, an experienced submariner who writes for SUBSIM Review, said equipment failures aboard a submariner have a definite impact on operations. "Modern day boats would be more apt to have equipment failures. Electrical casualties would wreak havoc! Loss of a buss would kill sonar, or the plot would go down! Fire Control has to do a cold start. Loss of chill water was a serious casualty because Fire Control and Sonar would overheat and crash! A fire or hydraulic rupture that would cause the boat to lose all control surfaces for a few minutes. During a CM launch a flange ruptures causing flooding and the loss of one of the launchers for 15-20 minutes. A fire in the Electric Plant Control Panel causing a loss of all power except DC lighting. A hot run in the torpedo tube during a launch. Flooding from a torpedo tube during a launch." 

Sub Command seems very nearly free of bugs. Up to date drivers are a must. One of the first items that players alerted Sonalysts to was the incessant 360° pinging of active torpedoes, even your own torpedoes when they were heading away from you. People found it hard to adapt to a sea full of active pinging and Sonlaysts addressed the flaw in a matter of days with a patch. The 1.01 patch also fixed a class of ships in the database and multiplayer language compatibility. Weapon loadouts are too high, according the Frank; 688(I) should loadout with 40 max and Seawolf 50 max. Sonalysts has assured SUBSIM Review that they are going to fix that in the next patch. They should also consider changing the way compressed air is rationed aboard the sub. In the sim, if you fire more than seven or eight weapons (easy to do in the Akula or Seawolf), you will use up your compressed air and need to snorkel to charge the air banks. In real life, when you shoot torpedoes, air is used but it is vented inside the sub where the air compressors can suck it back up and pack it back in the banks. So the need to ventilate is off here unless the sim just omits the internal recharging. Last, the options need to be locked once a multiplayer game starts.

Sonalysts has sought to accommodate a wide range of playing styles and player experience by building in some key realism options. Quick reloads, enable 3D views, show dead platforms, and AI assistants allow you to play the game in an easy mode if you choose. The "Show Truth" option allows you to see any and all ships, planes, subs, icebergs, mines, and helos in the region. Turning off all realism options puts the burden of processing contacts and initiating timely reloads squarely on you. And that’s where a big portion of the gameplay exists in a nuke subsim. If you’re new to this kind of game, here’s how it works:

In a modern submarine, you must employ listening sensors (hydrophones) to locate other ships. You can’t see underwater and you rarely use the periscope or active sonar, they can give away your position to other hunters in the deep. Once you make a contact, it is part of your routine to change course a few times to get a more refined solution by listening from different angles to the contact. During the course of your TMA (Target Motion Analysis) work you will get an idea of the kind of vessel, its range, speed, and course. This takes a little work and skill, often a little luck. When you think you know what the contact is, and if it happens to be a viable threat, you set up a weapon and launch it. Here’s the kicker—if you play with full realism, the 3D viewer will only show you other ships as you have determined them. If your TMA is wrong, what you thought was a Typhoon missile sub may turn out to be a whale or a rusty freighter. Or you may have it right—it is an enemy sub—but you are so far off the range and course estimates that your torpedoes run right over the symbol you placed on the map with the ship thousands of meters away and taking aim at you. You can see how a first-time subsim player browsing the shelf at Best Buy can use these options. Playing at full realism is much less a game and more a simulation than ever before.

If you're a newbie and all this talk about realism and analysis is worrying you, despair not. To help you get a feel for TMA and sonar analysis, the game gives you the option of playing with AI Assistants (Artificial Intelligence). In addition to the Sonar, TMA, and Fire Control assistants you knew from 688(I), meet the Radar assistant. The assistants will plot contacts, work up a firing solution, and keep you informed of enemy positions. They will certainly help a casual player avoid being overwhelmed by multiple duties. Just don't expect the assistants to be really good at their job--they are merely adequate. If you want better performance, it's up to you to learn the game and take over the work. 

One feature that must be mentioned is the arctic environments. Remember the intention to make an "Under Ice" add-on for Jane’s 688(I)? Sub Command makes it happen. And does it add to the gameplay! Prepare for a whole new ballgame. You think transiting littoral areas was tough, try making 6 knots though 200 feet of water, dodging iceberg keels and uncharted (as much of the arctic region is) underwater shelves and mountains. The Sub Command skipper must learn to navigate through dangerous three-dimensional mazes. Factor in time-based objectives (rescue a SEAL-smuggled nuclear scientist before he dies of exposure), enemy moored influence mines, and the possibility of a stealthy enemy sub hiding in the ice pockets and you have a real challenge, real tension, and real fun. Each sub has high-frequency sonar and forward/upward looking cameras and sensors for detecting ice and determining its thickness. To surface under the icepack, you need to have patience and a polynyas (thin spot in the ice) handy. One false move here and you and your crew are entombed forever in the polar wastelands.

Frank Kulick, a Chief in the U.S. Navy and the first web journalist to demo Sub Command last May described how Sub Command relates to his real life experiences: "After serving on three attack subs during the Cold War I was curious how the sim would stack up. I am definitely impressed and thoroughly enjoy the sim. It possesses the immersion, tension, and atmosphere I have experienced while on deployments (except field day cleaning). The extensive detail in the ocean environment is awesome and must be  taken seriously to be successful. Real sonar and ocean environment study would be beneficial in the long run. The weapons in the sim perform and simulate superbly. A nice balance between game and real world. It did not contain the damage control screen I would have liked to see, but overall Sonalysts did a wonderful job!"

There you have it. Sub Command exhibits unprecedented levels of detail, complexity, good game design, and gameplay. The sonar modeling and TMA functions are meticulous. Everywhere you look, Sonalysts built in realism. Some games and simulations are knocked together and released as a blend of compromises. Sub Command is the exact opposite. Sonalysts has heard the call of players wanting the best in submarine simulations and they have delivered. The last naval/subsim to win SUBSIM Review's Pride of the Fleet award was Jane's 688(I) back in 1997.  If you liked 688(I), you will love Sub Command—three times as much. Sub Command is the ultimate submarine simulation.