Modern Naval Warfare

Comments on other reviews:
"the information on crewmember's screens is a placeholder JPEG that does not reflect the current contact picture or simulation "reality"
-> That guy didn't check the options. You can enable additional real time displays in the options. It is off by default, because it drains performance.
"this is incredibly inefficient when performing tasks that require multiple things to happen at once"
-> You can jump to stations with the F2-F10 keys, and you can right click in first person to open the menu to jump to the stations directly.
"There's random alarms that happen that are not explained and my best guess are bugs because they're constantly going off and you haven't done anything yet."
-> It's not a bug. It's the active sonar intercept alarm. Someone is pinging, that's dangerous and as such has an alarm that you can hear in the entire boat. The alarm can be muted in the sonar active intercept station. It can be muted for 3 different frequency types.
Initial text:
Finally someone is picking up where Sonyalst's old naval warfare simulations (688 Hunter/Killer, Sub Command, Dangerous Waters...) left us.
20 years without such a game. 20 years playing the old stuff, which got increasingly harder as hardware and OS moved on. And harder to play online as providers shifted from IPv4 to IPv6.
Now, granted, the game has no co-op yet.
And I assume it will be a bug fest when multiplayer comes.
But in light of the non-existence of these kind of games with that level of fidelity, I am ready to endure the hardships of development and deal with bugs and broken versions that will inevitably happen.
That being said, the game has my full support, and while still rough, it is already quite advanced and detailed. Sure, AI is super basic, and some things are bugged. But overall, it looks like it is on the right track, if it gets developed further.
Now, the only thing that it really lacks right now is immersive sound (next to the AI obv). I think a submarine simulator needs excellent sound design. Because, well, it is a very dry simulation and sound is THE element to bring it to life.

This is exactly what a sim should be. 17 inches of instruction manual pages and not a clue what your supposed to be doing . Also if you don't want to add to your game time save the PDFs in a separate file as the meter is still running when you read the manual. Helpful if you don't want to exceed the 2 hour return window

Well this is a tough one for me - I do really love it, even in its current state. I used to be a USN Sonarman though, so a lot of this sim hits home for me. As far as recommending this game, it's difficult to say.

I think if you don't have a great interest in this type of sim already, you may not find value in it - at least not in its current EA state. It's rough around the edges.

The real value comes in the meticulous recreation of an actual sonar/fire control system, and a realistic acoustic environment. It's close to reality in many ways, but the learning curve is very steep.

Buy it if that's the kind of thing you're looking for, or pass if you want something more casual or fun.

So this is barely a positive review so I must first say the bad:
1: This game on Windows has a major memory leak or progressive performance loss issue. A subsim in particular having an issue that prevents long sessions is almost a dealbreaker.
2: Time-warp has a chance of causing a plethora of issues in the game that are not fixed by just coming out of time warp, optronics failing, unresponsive pilot station, and exacerbating issue #1
These two issues are probably the worst issues a subsim could have besides crashing, which thankfully I have not run into.
Issue 3 is just that the sound model has some problems. The application of snell's law has some kinks so pretty much no sound excluding active emissions penetrates the lightest of layers.
Other submarines are also impossibly quiet or bugged. I have pictures of me at 5 knots, and a 15 knot LA Class passing between me and the ends of my drooping towed arrays. The towed arrays could hear ownship on broadband and couldn't hear the closer LA Class on broadband which is nonsense.
(I later had to catch the LA Class on HF Sonar, then close to hundreds of yards in order to get a narrowband trace with the LAB and ID it as an LA Class.)
In short, sounds need a bit of tweaking.
Finally the good!
The simulation of Virginias is very believable and fun. I can track, classify, pinpoint and destroy ships using all of the sonar tools available to me. The weapons do exactly what I want and the game looks beautiful.
That's the majority of what a subsim is and it does this better than anything else vs surface ships so I guess it gets a positive review.
I am very confident that what is broken can be fixed. Once the offensive AI gets added, issues 1,2, and 3 are rectified, and a mission editor is in, it will be the best subsim without question. MP being the icing on the cake.

I see a lot of people saying this game was released too fast and was nothing more than a money grab that the developers, after one or two updates, will abandon in a broken state. I agree the timeline felt rushed, especially once Sea Power dropped and put extra pressure on the team. That said, I’ve been following the developers on Discord and watching their updates. Their roadmap shows a clear vision, and I believe that once this is properly polished, it will become the new standard for naval warfare simulation.
This is not a strategy game, an arcade shooter, or a fast-paced, story-driven war game. If that’s what you want, play Call of Duty. This is a hyper-realistic submarine warfare simulation that is already incredibly accurate and true to life in the small details—and it will only get better.
For example, when you launch a Mk 48 torpedo, the broadband sonar display shows the weapon executing its wire-clearance maneuver before merging back onto the bearing. That is exactly what a real sonarman sees on a submarine. The game is built on software used in actual naval training simulators. Within the limits of not releasing classified information, it will reach a level of fidelity never seen before in a commercial product. It will far exceed expectations and outlast its predecessors.
The sound propagation modeling alone is beyond anything I’ve seen in a game. I spent five years aboard Ohio-class submarines, and this already has the same feel as the trainers we used in the fleet. Those trainers required dedicated servers and multiple computer systems to deliver that level of realism. Seeing it in what is essentially a video game is genuinely impressive.
Yes, there are bugs and issues—plenty of them. One example; although sound propagation is really accurate, the impenetrable layer always at 72 feet needs to be fixed. If I'm at 300 feet I should be able to pick up broadband LAB array contacts from merchants as far out as 40K yards based on ray tracing the bottom bounce, but with the layer at 72 feet acting like a hog blocker for sound you can't hear anything at any range. So until they fix that issue and allow a little more variety in the environment, it's just not providing the intended level of realism. However, name a major game from the last decade that launched without problems. This title is far more functional on release than most I’ve played. Cyberpunk 2077 was basically unplayable at launch, and it’s still one of my favorite games.
The Maslarinos brothers are clearly passionate about this project, and they’re going to keep working hard to get everything right. I wouldn’t expect overnight fixes, though. A truly polished version will probably take at least a year. I still think it will end up being the best submarine simulation, all time.

In short, there's a lot of potential, but it's VERY Early Access. Performance optimization is terrible, and I have a very capable machine... This is the most disappointing aspect so far.
I have to trust that the sonar, sound propagation, and radar modelling etc is as well done as the devs suggest. There's really no way to tell. Broadband seems good, but narrowband and demon are very unintuitive and there are NO tutorials or documentation to help. Recognition guide and other documentation is incomplete. Sim/engine limitations make narrowband/audio/demon awkward.
Importantly TMA interface is a major downgrade over 688i/SC and DW. Ruler is laggy and doesn't update in real time as you slide it, no Range and Bearing to cursor, no way to define the number of bearing lines displayed or what sensors they correlate to. This is important and incredibly basic stuff and should have been caught in the 'Beta' period by the SME's. The station complexity is NOT a whole lot more than Dangerous Waters, despite what
some want you to believe (Narrowband and Demon excepted).
Sound is a MAJOR letdown, no crew reports or responses to orders. Immersion is key in a sub game and lack of crew audio is a major element missing. This should be a priority for EA.
There are lots of INOP systems that don't seem to work (Floating wire comms, Diesel, pilot station manual dive planes, XBT SLOT SLEB bouys missing despite seen in streams, no manual Torpedo steering etc). This can be forgiven for now since Early Access.
I've been playing 688i/SC/DW for 20 years, I wanted to love it, but it needs more time in the oven and I fear no amount of 90's era rose tinted glasses will help at the moment. Hopefully the devs will make quick progress on the issues, but given the amount of time in development so far, I'm slightly worried. I won't mention price....but it's too expensive for what we get at the moment.... Happy to have my mind changed.
Will continue to provide honest feedback during the EA period. Recommeded IF it lives up to expectations.

Hey everyone, Captain here.
I want to take a moment to talk about Modern Naval Warfare and the way a lot of the community has been reacting lately. I get the frustration — trust me, I’m a submarine‑sim nut just like the rest of you — but some of the heat being thrown at the devs is getting out of hand.
Here’s the thing we all need to remember:
1. If there’s a “better” modern submarine simulator out right now… point me to it.
Seriously. If someone knows of a fully modern, actively developed, high‑fidelity submarine simulator that surpasses what MNW is trying to build, I’m all ears.
We’ve got classics, we’ve got niche titles, we’ve got older sims with great bones — but nothing currently in development is aiming for the same level of modern systems, crew management, and tactical depth. MNW is literally trying to fill a void that’s been empty for decades.
2. Player expectations are sky‑high — and that’s not a bad thing.
We all want:
Realistic sonar
Authentic fire control
Proper submarine handling
Immersive crew stations
Deep tactical gameplay
A sim that respects the complexity of modern boats
But building that isn’t a “patch or two.” It’s years of work, iteration, and community feedback. We’re asking for a professional‑grade simulator from a small team. That’s a tall order.
3. What we have right now is a foundation — not the final product.
Is it perfect? No.
Is it finished? Definitely not.
But is it the most promising attempt at a modern submarine simulator we’ve seen in a long time? Absolutely.
The systems are taking shape. The stations are coming online. The mechanics are evolving. This is what early development looks like.
4. If we want the submarine simulator we’ve all dreamed of, we have to help build it.
This part is critical.
If we tear the devs down, drown them in negativity, or act like the game is supposed to be finished already, we’re only hurting the one project that’s actually trying to give us what we’ve been asking for.
Constructive feedback helps.
Bug reports help.
Patience helps.
Supporting the devs helps.
Because here’s the truth:
If this project fails, we’re not getting another modern submarine simulator anytime soon.
5. We’re all on the same side.
We want a great sim.
The devs want to build a great sim.
The only way we get there is by working with them, not against them.
So let’s keep pushing, keep testing, keep giving feedback — and keep the passion alive without turning it into hostility. This community has the power to shape MNW into something incredible, but only if we choose to build instead of break.
Tune In. Gear Up. Game On.
– Captain Gearhead