Silent Hunter® III

Silent Hunter® III
90
Metacritic
87
Steam
90.405
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$9.99
Release date
13 June 2008
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
87 (2 091 votes)
Recent
73 (26 votes)

The king of submarine simulations returns with an all-new 3D engine, new crew command features, and more realistic WWII naval action than ever before. The movie-like graphics and simple, tension-filled gameplay make this the perfect game for the realism fanatic and the casual gamer.

Show detailed description

Silent Hunter® III system requirements

  • OS: Windows 2000 / XP(only)
  • Processor: Pentium® III 1.4 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 1.4 GHz (Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or AMD Athlon 2.0 GHz recommended)
  • Memory: 512 MB
  • Graphics: 64 MB (128 MB video card recommended)(see supported list*)
  • DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0
  • Sound: Direct X 9.0 compliant PCI card
  • Hard Drive: 1.5 GB
  • *Supported Video Cards at Time of Release Nvidia® GeForce™ 3/4/FX series (GeForce 4 MX NOT supported)ATI® Radeon® 8500/9000 families or newer
    Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported. These chipsets are currently the only ones that will run this game.

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
Updated
App type
Steam APP ID
15210
Platforms
Windows PC
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Reviews
Write a new review
Kapitän zur See
Kapitän zur See

When I was little, I used to look over my father's shoulder when he played it. I later played it myself. Today I played the game again and now 10 years later I can't quite say if it's nostalgic or not, but from my point of view it's one, if not the best submarine game out there.

mcmaster9255
mcmaster9255

Highly realistic with accurate physics and units. Certainly not for the ill-witted on manual w' high realism.

Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin

Should I get this game?

Short answer:
Should I get this game? Yes :)

Long answer:
I would recommend this game to you if you have any of the following
- A love WW2 Simulator games
- An interest for submarines and or the tactics they use
- A need for a truly challenging game

SH3, while being as easy or as difficult as you want, is a generally more challenging game. My best advice for new players is as follows :
- DO THE NAVAL ACADEMY (Basically the tutorial) The game doesn't force you to do these, but if you want to have a good time with this game i would highly recommend doing them.
- Watch some videos on the game (The best guide i have gotten on how to manually target with torpedoes was from a YouTube video)
-Play some of the single missions before starting a career (This will help you get the basics that you learned in the tutorial refined so that you can do the basic tasks without having to waste time on them)

Once you start playing, i would highly recommend that you turn on some of the in game aids until you feel more comfortable with your sub. These range from unlimited fuel and air, to having pre-made targeting solutions for your torpedoes by using your weapons officer.

The last part of the game that I will talk about is the Career mode, which will take you from whatever starting year you choose, till the end of WW2. This is really the meat and potatoes of the game. You get to use new Tech as it comes out and get to (Hopefully) be with the same crew for the entire war. The best advice I can give for the Career mode is to take smart paths to your target (I ran the English Channel my first game and got killed because I was still on the surface) and to not bite off more than you can chew in the early game unless your ready for it. At the same time, don't forget to take a few risks. at the end of the day, this is a game. So if you wanna charge a destroyer with your U boat surfaced pounding away with your deck gun, Then go ahead! This is your game, so if you think its boring, spice it up a little bit :)

Also the game does have multiplayer but I haven't been able to try it out yet

jacob.t.hilliard
jacob.t.hilliard

Game is great too bad you don't get the Type XXI till end of the war. (although that would be historically accurate) crew management can be tedious...To some this may add something special but imho its not alot of skill involved...put tired sailors to bed..bring rested sailors to post etc...just busy work in my opinion..compared to alot of other sims I do like that is is not overly complicated so far the best subsim ive played..I do like coldwaters but I like to see inside the boats and stuff.

collaterdamage
collaterdamage

Great Game! No need to have a high end Gaming PC for it. Easy to learn but difficult to master. Great way to pass time.

DerZyschopath
DerZyschopath

I recommend anyone who likes U-boats to get this game, and add a widescreen mod to it (and maybe some other mods).
It's just a classic, and one of the best U-boat games.
10/10.

Anonymous
Anonymous

its a classic sub game, with few bugs. not simple but not too complex. At ten bucks you are getting a bit more than you paid for.

TransWerwolf
TransWerwolf

Tbh its the greatest game I've ever played ...although the emblem files is missing so I an't mod those sadly..bit otherwise its great

Mississaugaman
Mississaugaman

This doesn't run on steam, just keeps on hanging up after title loads. I have tried it on the very latest top-of-the-range $10000 Dell with on i9 processor. As well as a number of other PC's none run on the latest version of windows.

Juppes
Juppes

Simply the best WW2 Submarine Simulation there is.
Buy it, take one of the awesome Great Mods (LSH3, WAC, GWX etc) and you get the most immersive Submarine expierence there is.

SzépmezőSzárnya
SzépmezőSzárnya

Real classic - also works flawlessly on linux for me which I value.

No submarine simulator is topping this to this day - including later titles of the series. This is the most un-opionated and most realistic. Did not try modding it yet, but I hear also very good of the community around the game and mods too if you are interested.

Usually play with full realism except that I do not want to turn off external view.

jamesburrelltx
jamesburrelltx

I have 1944 hours of play logged on this game and am very good at it but the new update has made this game completely unplayable. Basically, everything goes wrong every time. If your torpedoes don't detonate en route then they dud out. If you're rigged for silent running and deep and 2000 meters from the nearest escort, every one of the escorts will locate you and sink you. This game has been utterly destroyed.

ghona76
ghona76

Still a classic. Even all these years later. With the right mods, this game still remains (for me) one of the most immersive uboat games of all times.

Tigerland67
Tigerland67

I have I, II, III that I got hooked on in the early 2000's This is not a game where you are going every second and doing something like bang bang. Even though I have yet to complete this game I have gotten to about 1943. And though I can't change history, but I can survive the war.
Had it not been for the shear force of the USA churning out Weapons and Man power every month. The UK would have been ran into the ground by the German Forces'. The German Military had made some very dependable weapons. But in the end all the Countries combining forces against Germany. The outcome was easy to see. However there were many uBoot Veterans that survived the war.
But this game will keep you in the fighting chair and on your toes when the Destroyers show up. It's better to get them out of the way quick before their buddies show up. And in numbers they will come.

DaLazze
DaLazze

The ultimate Submarine simulator, even better than Silent Hunter 5 and UBOAT. Download the Living Silent hunter 2022 mod, and you will have hundreds of hours of challenge.

jensjewels17
jensjewels17

I love uboat games but can you make the damige more real listick and can you spawn what ship you wan't

dreed500
dreed500

If you like WWII history and interested in Submarine Warfare, you can't beat Silent Hunter III. The graphics are little dated but the game came out long ago but its great at what it does. Definitely recommend and the price is amazing. You get a lot of game for $9.99.

Eagle
Eagle

It's a tough game to master, but incredibly immersive once you do.

duke01
duke01

The crashing stops after a while.

Wasteland
Wasteland

It's too old and unstable. Lost all saves after a random crash to desktop. I used the save and load feature several times with no problems, but after the crash everything was gone. Save yourself the pain and skip this.

Khalthehunted332
Khalthehunted332

Boring. Only get it on sale. I recommend getting Silent hunter 2 and then downloading Korale the mission editor. I don't know if the editor works for files in Steam best get it on GOG.com

Rating 5/10

tichborne
tichborne

water water every where but not a ship to sink,

Taku
Taku

i've committed several war crimes

howbodie
howbodie

Have to give it a negative now. I used to like Silent Hunter 3 years back and had used GWX which made a big difference and improvement to the game, But since coming to steam and WIndows 10 the darn game won't work. I tried researching etc. but no one has an answer to get the darn thing to work. After much fussing around I can load up a mission and play it fine but career campaign it crashes. This game does not work fully on WIndows 10 with GWX. A pity as this was the best WW2 sub sim but the program is atrocious to work with and no one has a clear answer like why a mission will play but campaign career won't. Not recommended for WIndows 10 or a modern higher resolution monitor.

rkparkin
rkparkin

Being on a sub for 4 years. This game is a great simulation. U.S.S. Silversides SSN679 1977-1981.

RaVeN
RaVeN

oNE OF THE GREAT GAMES of back then

I just dropped my monocle
I just dropped…

The graphics make it feel like it was designed to be played on the Turing machine, 10/10 immersion graphically speaking.

Tri
Tri

I got this game generally because of the movie 'Das Boot' 1981 followed by the sequel 2018 - 2022, which got me interested in the battle of the Atlantic between the German Kriegsmarine and Allied merchant Shipping. Combine this game with the GWX mod you'll feel the vibes as like you were watching Das Boot again but in your own Submarine and story to tell as you're the Captain of the ship afterall all.

Overall great game, worth a buy.

JESSIKA 07
JESSIKA 07

I really enjoy this submarine simulator as it contains both, a campain mode and a single encounter mode for a very quick game. This simulation, if you play single encounters sessions, is almost a game. Yes, you still need to learn the controls, but most essentials controls are done with the mouse and all your orders are said out loud so you have a sound feedback of everything you order. The explosions are great, sometimes even better than 'new' sub simulation and the ships sink realistically, sometimes breaking in half! You can move the outside camera where you want it to be and watch the action from there. And there is nothing best than using a type XXI boat and weaponry (torpedoes) against enemy battleships... ;) Great Game when programmers were actually good...

Anonymous
Anonymous

Game is good, but random crashes make it unplayable.

G.Metzo
G.Metzo

There isn't a better uboat simulation in existence. Everyone who says otherwise is lying to you. I've played them all. This little relic is so modable , you can cram in it any little immersion or realism mod you like. It also has character. Like I don't understand what the fuck Ubi was trying to go for with Silent Hunter 5. This , is what Silent Hunter is all about. This is what Uboat combat in the 2nd World War is all about.
Buy the Commander's Handbook for extra imersion.

salsafish
salsafish

It's an older game. But the game mechanics are excellent. Set the realism to 100% and MAYBE you'll live thru the war.

Duck_Magnet
Duck_Magnet

ALAAAAAAARM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jentorres050914
jentorres050914

Game is excessive af with duds, everytime ur in that clutch situation its always a dud and results in u losing, there are better games

Gepedrglass
Gepedrglass

Completely Vanilla this game still holds up. Literally the only problem you might have is the wonky crew fatigue system. There's serious mod support that will iron out these problems. Otherwise, fair winds and following seas.

jeleniploutev
jeleniploutev

Game crashes every 20 minutes.

ChestRockwel
ChestRockwel

Don't let the fact that the game is old fool you. It's got great bones. It may actually be the "best" sub combat game there is. The reason why is that lots of newer games tend to focus much more on graphics, while this one just had some core gameplay mechanics that are hard to beat.

noworld
noworld

This is the best subsim. Be sure to check out the mods, especially Grey Wolves GWX

Jr
Jr

Excellent game despite the age.

Oblak
Oblak

Game is very interesting if you are into Das Boot movie, a bit older but runs smooth. However, I started to play campaign but the game crashes all the time. For example if you do not save the game when you enter the Atlantic, game crashes and you have to start from Kiel again. In my case game crashed in the third patrol for 2 times and I basically gave up playing. I would strongly advise for every player to read the game tutorials, It helped me alot as I played before not giving too much effort into some tactical issues, such as not cruising on the surface during daytime close to allied coast, using silent running when attacking convoys, crew management etc. So the game gets very interesting once you get into it.

ZTE2001
ZTE2001

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☑ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☑ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☑ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☑ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10

Theres still some bugs Where for some reason the Torpedos Are heading the wrong Way i was literlly targeting A Cargo ship then for some Damned Reason the Torpedos Are heading the wrong way which i dont really like and wasted alot of my torpedos so i Reloaded the Game (btw i saved the ingame File) and The Torpedos Are heading the right way now thats a Quite annoying bug

PaladinSL
PaladinSL

Floaty sinky bang bang.

There isn't a better all-round sub game on the market sadly, you can mod the ends off it and it still shows it's old bones, but you aren't getting better without a thousand arcade-y sacrifices.

ptmyers01
ptmyers01

After opening screen and short video games goes to black screen and freezes. Tried to get refund, but since I tried for 4 hours to get it to work I was informed that I could not get a refund after 2 hour limit. Still hope to get it to work, hope they fix it. Don't waste your money on this one.

flosith
flosith

Despite it's age it's a classic that really captures the mood as experienced in Das Boot.

USMCSlinky
USMCSlinky

This is a certified hood classic.
10/10

Niquid
Niquid

Not recommended solely due to the fact that its completely unplayable. Worked fine for the first couple of days that I owned it - no issues at all. Just today it decided to stop working and I can't get a refund so...yeah

After many attempts I finally resolved this issue. If anybody else encounters crashing while the game is still loading and nothing else works, check your system storage. As soon as I freed space on my HDD the crashing stopped, and the game has run flawlessly since (even though I suck and have yet to sink a single ship)

love u ally
love u ally

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☑ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☑ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☑ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☑ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☑ 10

BoxBoy
BoxBoy

it wont work cuz after the intro it leaves me on a black screen with just my mouse

segel
segel

Nice game to experience the thrilling Atlantikschlaft as the herr kaleun of unterseeboot.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Because it is tough and punishes you for errors

jerod.w.davidson
jerod.w.davidson

One of the best Uboat simulators ever!!

senna94f1
senna94f1

yes its just as good as UBOAT but that is full of bugs,

silent hunter 3 is far better and currently on sale £1.10p

and its a must buy ,

what's werid is UBOAT is almost identifical as silent hunter 3,

.MISTY
.MISTY

If you like hunting ships with submarines, have a lot of patience and love doing the same thing over and over again, then this game is for you. Likewise, to all other later submarine games.

Silent Hunter III is not a bad game, just monotonous. Graphics wise, it's still okay to my eyes. The better ranked crew do their jobs well enough and the battle simulation is quite good. It takes a lot of kills in order to climb up the ranks. If you have the patience, you should try go all the way to the top!

Rating: 61%

SabiaN
SabiaN

Old fave of mine.. I like the solitude that's broken by periods of high tension when the destroyers find your sub..

alenny
alenny

I played a sub game about 25 years ago and it was great. Hated this game. I don't want to spend an hour navigating, I want to blow up ships! Very boring. Graphics are terrible, can't see where you are going. A little too realistic I guess, which is just boring.

barni
barni

RAF / 10

beware the depth charges :)

TheRadicalMomo
TheRadicalMomo

Stalk the Allied shipping in the pit, out in the middle of the Atlantic. You are German U-boat captain, so do you job and get a pin. There's maybe an award when you return, if glory and fame is what you yearn.

Overall Review: Go deeper, charging into the depths, but always be wary of bottoming out, you don't want to break her. ;)