Avid WWII buffs will be a bit disappointed, as history is presented in more of a Cliff Notes style than hard-core realism.Ī map editor lets you create your own missions with just about everything any navy has to offer. You assist General MacArthur on his return to the Philippines and take on the Japanese navy and planes, which involves some very immense carriers. The Pacific campaign is more involved and more historically accurate.

The Atlantic campaign doesn't limit you to sub hunting, which would have been historically accurate, as it adds German raiders and ships from the Italian navy. The two campaigns, Atlantic and Pacific, have roughly twenty missions each and offer options for realism (difficulty settings). You can select from historical battles as well as those slightly off kilter with history, and most require you to act as bait to lure enemies away from capital ships, hunt for subs, or engage in sea battles with enemy ships. Fourteen solo missions take place in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific Oceans, with each designed to bring you up to speed on controlling the destroyers prior to entering the main campaigns. Unfortunately, four desktop crashes and two complete system crashes preceded play for this review. Quite a variety of gameplay awaits you when the game actually works. Quick-use icons for each major area of the ship's controls are supposed to allow easy access to various stations. Several tutorials teach basic ship operations, navigation, helm and weapons controls.

Fire too soon and you can miss the sub or hit one of your own ships that may cross the path of the torpedo. Depth charges blow submerged subs out of the water, and most destroyers use surface torpedo tubes when fairly close to the target. High-explosive rounds, flak, and flares light up an area when protecting ships at night, and each destroyer has a machine gun nest. With the promise of plenty of anti-submarine fighting and strategy, the potential for a superb wargame simulation is high, but unfortunately, too many programming bugs and glitches make the game nearly unplayable.Īs a US Navy commander in WWII, you take command of up to eight units, choosing from one of 14 destroyers equipped with a pair of five-inch guns, though a few have three or four used for ship-to-ship and ship-to-air combat. Destroyer Command, subtitled WWII Naval Combat Simulator, puts you in control of destroyer escorts that protect larger naval ships not only from submarines but other ships and aircraft.

Classic desktop destroyer game