|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| From: Casius Belli DRUMBEAT One Way for Underwater Sailors by Frank Stora ``I planted two torpedoes in 1940 into an English battleship in Scapa Flow before getting cornered by the escort ships. I heard the swish of the launched torpedoes, I saw the results of the hits, the explosions intercepted by the depth charges... But all of that doesn't keep me from chasing Yankee transport ships on the American coast, because Admiral Doenitz launched operation Drumbeat in 1942." After Bomber and the B-17, after M4 and the Sherman, after U-Boat and the submarine type VII, here is Drumbeat (U-boat II) with the submarine type IX. The same principle: You command the ship and try desperately to reach the end of the war alive. Desperately is the key word: three-quarters of the U-boat sailors remain in the depths of the sea! But, besides this undesirable end (the computer is unable to douse you with cold water), it is extremely realistic. The sea is vast and you are...alone? A deceiving illusion. Prey and dangers abound. To succeed at a single patrol is an exploit. To catch a fuel tanker is an illusion without the tricks of the Sioux. To escape a destroyer requires incomparable precision, or luck and a diabolic nerve in firing your explosive fish. Also, don't forget that the definition of a boat such as yours is a surface ship capable of brief submersions. The author notes under a view from your periscope (all the illustrations are from actual pictures of the period): Here is the nervous system of your U-boat. 200 meters down and still diving, it's YOUR nerves. Rene Vidmer has succeeded in accomplishing the tension in these documentary games, war films in which you are the hero, but in which the ends are most uncertain. To my knowledge, U-boat and Drumbeat are the only underwater simulation games in which one is not unhappy when the enemy makes himself scarce. A double lesson unfolds in these games: 1) You have to be crazy to make war voluntarily. 2) If you are forced into it, better to be careful and stay alive than be a dead hero (in general, it's not only better for you, but wiser!). You knew this? Well, after Bomber, M4 and U-boat, you know it from experience! Editors note - This review is from Casus Belli, a wonderful french game magazine. We apologize in advance to Mr. Stora for our clumsy translation into english. -Ed. |
|||