Silent Hunter IV: Wolves of the Pacific

Silent Hunter IV (also known as "Silent Hunter 4") was released in 2007 and returned the Silent Hunter playing field to its original setting of an American submarine captain in the Pacific Ocean during the Second World War. The game retained all the basic concepts of the Silent Hunter series, but introduced considerably improved graphics.

The main control screen for Silent Hunter IV, showing an external view of an American submarine attacking Japanese targets.

As with Silent Hunter III, gameplay in Silent Hunter IV proceeded by assigning the player a random patrol sector in the Pacific which the player's submarine was required to reach and patrol for at least twenty four hours. The game further introduced "special operations" missions where the player was occasionally assigned to rescue downed airmen or conduct a shore infiltration where a spy was deposited along a Japanese controlled beach.

Crew interactions were improved somewhat, allowing the player to see the features of on-screen characters, including changes in facial expressions as they grew tired with fatigue. When engaged in damage control actions, crew members would also appear with oil stains on their clothing.

Interior of an American submarine on patrol in Silent Hunter IV

A slight deviation in Silent Hunter IV was in the aspect of crew management. The crew management system carried over some aspects from Silent Hunter III but was now focused more on "watch organization" whereas, instead of monitoring the health and abilities of individual crew members, an entire group of the crew was now placed in one of three "watches" which would periodically rotate every six to eight hours as on an actual submarine.

The watch rotation screen of Silent Hunter IV

During "battle stations" all watches would come onto duty simultaneously, adding crew compartment efficiency, and allowing for orders to be carried out longer. As with Silent Hunter III, crew members who stayed on watch for long periods of time would lose efficiency due to fatigue.

Like its predecessor, Silent Hunter IV also allowed for the presentation of awards to the player and crew members, but did not use actual United States Navy awards, instead substituting several fictional decorations in lieu.

Fictional award of Silent Hunter IV

The lack of actual United States Navy awards drew heavy criticism from game players and several program modifications were introduced over the Internet to correct this deficiency. While the stock version of the game was never updated (including versions sold to this day on such sites as "Steam"), several shareware modifications now allow for the display of actual U.S. Navy awards in Silent Hunter IV.

Various U.S. Navy medals added to Silent Hunter IV

Silent Hunter 4: U-boat Missions

In October 2007, an expansion pack was released for Silent Hunter IV which allowed the player to take command of a Type IX U-boat deployed to the Pacific as part of the German's "Monsoon Group". The German submarine station and controls used the Silent Hunter IV game engine, and removed the ability of the crew to speak in German voices, instead conveying all commands in English.

The expansion pack also added "support elements" where a player could request specific air support to attack enemies or scout planes to locate targets. Both the ability to serve in the Monsoon Group, as well as the ability to call air strikes against enemy targets, were later incorporated into the Silent Hunter III expansion "Grey Wolves."

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