Crash Dive
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5.00
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WWII tactical submarine combat!
Take command of a U-boat prowling the Atlantic in search of enemy convoys to sink. Sneak past the escorts and torpedo the transports. Or surface and use your deck gun in a daring night attack.
When the escorts come after you, drop decoys and sneak away before they can crush you with their depth charges.
Jump in for a quick convoy encounter, or launch a full-length War Patrol, seeking out the biggest, most valuable targets.
Features:
- Smoothly blends a submarine simulator with arcade action.
- Provides the tools for both stealth and offense; you decide how aggressive you want to be.
- Multiple times of day allow for different play styles.
- Location-based damage/repair affects the performance of your sub.
- Random encounter generator for deep replayability.
- Four difficulty levels.
- Tutorial mode to help you learn the ropes.
- Mouse and Touch-screen interfaces.
- Global leaderboards.
Steam User 132
I'm a huge modded SHIII and SHIV player so I initially scoffed at this one, given how arcady it is, but I caved and bought it because it has to do with subs and let's face it, there aren't many sub games around. Shockingly... I don't hate it. In fact, it's pretty damn entertaining for short stretches. It's not a sim by any means, but it doesn't really pretend to be either. It's a bit like Aces of the Deep, which, when it came out (10 billion years ago), felt like a Sim because of the immersion factor, but deep down had mechanics that were not far from Crash Dive's. I feel like the devs left out a lot of immersion to save on costs and also probably from Political Correctness concerns, but that's really not a huge deal in the end. If you want to play Aces it runs fine under dosbox if you find the right version, but this gives you fairly similar gameplay with passable graphics and a laser focus on quickly resolving encounters so you can go do something else without giving the whole thing too much thought. It's bite size, and it's good. Get it if you like WWII sub stuff.
Steam User 111
Reminds me a bit of "Silent Service 2" in that it's less of a sim and more arcadey in nature, has challenge missions, and features a campaign tasking you with patrolling the seas for prey. The water effects are my favorite part in all honesty, the rest is simply "there". If you're looking for an in-depth submarine simulator, this is not it. If you're just looking to spend a few minutes torpedoing ships out of the water, then give this a look. I'm giving it a positive recommend because it's very similar to "SS2" and it's more convenient to play this than to bring my NES out of mothballs.
Steam User 36
Mobile port, which will automatically deter some people, but this one is pretty well done. Nice water effects and it is fun sinking ships with torpedos or the deck gun (although pretty simple), diving to deploy decoys, and making an escape. You can't see underwater, it goes into the map view, but this view is nice since it has ship models moving around and looks good with various info. Seems like it has good replayability and is a nice way to burn 20 or 30 minutes at a time. You can pick up patrols where you left off. Worth it IMO.
Steam User 27
The water effects on this game are superb - especially for such an inexpensive game. For example, I was right next to a sinking an ocean liner (troop transport) and the sub rolled in the waves, up and down, Plus, originally I thought the water effects were'nt all that great but when I actually observed the water (Chesapeake Bay for me) I realized how realistic they were.
Also, this game is a good value for it's price - one of the reasons I surf Steam to find gems like this. So it's not super-strategic - it isn't meant to be. But it's a good way to kill time for an hour or less (or more) - when you don't want to get involved at the moment with a heavy strategic game. Plus it's easy to learn and hard to master, as the aphorism goes.
Clearly an under-appreciated gem in my opinion. (And FYI I play with a mouse on an i7 so results of course may vary).
Steam User 17
I'm updating the screenshots in my orginal Crash Dive review and thought I would revisit some of the interesting aspects of this cool game.
Crash Dive so consistently brought back memories of Aces of the Deep, that I could not help but compare and refer to the older classic throughout this review. Crash Dive is the first title from Panic Ensues, a new development house from an experienced programmer, Scott Goffman. The game starts with a distinctly moody theme evocative of Grey Wolf (veteran subsimmers will know what I mean). It's short, but gets you started in the right frame of mind.
Crash Dive is very intuitive--I handed the Kindle to my daughter and without any introduction, she determined how to play, navigate, and change depth. You can use the touch screen or the controls in the interface, whichever you fancy. Even though the design is so clear, the game comes with some of the best tutorials I've seen. Each aspect of the game is spelled out, in game, with plenty of prompts and details. After 20 minutes, you know everything you need to enjoy the game and be successful. And now that it is available on the PC (where every true subsim belongs), the game is a whole lot more engaging and fun.
Crash Dive is a good-looking game. The ships are gems, each one crafted with decks, ladders, guns and smoke that screenshots do not do the game justice. The ocean and sky settings are on par with the last gen subsims, they look fine and do serve the game well. Your patrols will take place in day and night, clear and stormy, but no rain or towering whitecaps. Sound effects also earn mention. Crash Dive has a good array of ambient sounds, from gurgling water effects, to waves, ship's sirens, hull creaking, and metallic torpedo reloading sounds. One odd choice is the klaxon that erupts with diving orders. It sounds like a US sub, not the alarm bell of the U-boat. When the enemy is alerted, you can hear a distant sailor calling over the ship's loudspeaker that they are under attack. The engine sound increases proportionally with the speed of the motor or engines.
The enemy AI is pretty robust. Enemy ships will detect your periscope if you use it too closely, for too long, and at higher speeds. You will lower your scope, or you will die. You can prowl on the surface at night on the edge of a convoy, at the risk of being spotted and fired on. Exactly how close you can get is part of the fun. Likewise with torpedoes--launch them at a corvette or destroyer and they will see them and try to evade. The enemy will react to you when they see you or your scope, or your torpedo wakes, or when one of their number simply explodes. As a rule, escorts will correctly determine the source of the torpedoes and race to your vicinity.
In the easier levels of the game, there is an alert light by the time compression clock that will tell you when you are being hunted, complete with a timer that will tell you precisely when the enemy will give up. It's really helpful for new sub gamers. Thankfully, this can be turned off as an option in Sim mode. You can also opt not to see the visible sonar pings, even though there is no option to do the same with the ship icons and the range tag.
Crash Dive does not have crewmen, a captain's bunk, or planes, but then again, it costs a mere $6. If you ever played Aces, or if you read about the simple fun of the early subsims, how can you pass on Crash Dive? This is an excellent game that offers engaging U-boat gameplay built on a visually appealing base with solid AI and first-rate controls. Since the wave of mobile and iPad platform games, I've played more than a few naval titles, some of them quite good. Panic Ensues has crafted a game that satisfies the yearning for a good subsim and reestablishes the allure of North Atlantic convoy combat in a way that does Aces of the Deep, Silent Service, and Grey Wolf proud. Viewed within its scope, Crash Dive is only a few realism options and a gramophone short of perfection.
Full review can be found at Subsim.com
Steam User 11
+ Easy to learn, difficult to master.
+ Good graphics.
+ Simple control scheme.
- No multiplayer.
- No islands or land barriers of any kind.
- Can only play as German Uboat.
If naval/submarine warfare interests you, but you're not ready to tackle the more hardcore simulators (such as Dangerous Waters), or you even if you just fancy something that's more pick-up-and-play, then this is probably the game for you.
Steam User 0
EDIT For Clarity (10/21/19): Please read full review. I DO recommend Crash Dive after "the second time around." Steam will not allow me to give this game a Thumb's Up after my initial Thumb's Down. I can't change it and Steam warned me when I tried. Here's my initial review, along with an edit:
Sorry to say, as a long time Sub Sim fan, "Crash Dive" couldn't hold my interest. I guess some things just keep on getting compared to SH3 and, by and large, they just don't cut the mustard for me. I found it a definite, "meh" and got my money back, thanks to Steam's very fair return policy.
Crash Dive is not badly done, it's just that I was bored within the first five min...nothing that it brought to the table really intrigued me.
6.9/10
EDIT: 6-17-19 I have changed my review to "Recommended." On a whim (and after playing UBOAT, which was just depressingly bad) I decided to pick up Crash Dive while on sale at a very low price point. The game now keeps me coming back for short spurts and I find it enjoyable and it is definitely worth the pittance I paid for it.
Also, I can't change my rating to "Recommended" because Steam gave me a warning when I tried to do that, but I do recommend it.
FINAL EDIT: Steam has enabled me (and other reviewers, I suppose) to EDIT a game review and to change a THUMBS UP or THUMBS DOWN to go along with a revised Review/EDIT. Good job, Steam! Thank you.