Silent Hunter 5 takes players behind the periscope of a German Type VII U-boat to take on the Allied Forces in battles across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Players command the U-boat after the first captain, Rahn, departs for another submarine. They assume the role of the next submarine captain from a first-person view in a campaign that spans 1939-1943.
GameZone's Steven Hopper said, "The game offers some deep elements, but the overwhelming interface and steep learning curve make it very difficult to get into. The campaign missions are fairly low-key, with quick missions not really matching the depth of the gameplay. Many bugs and performance issues will also bog down your ability to enjoy the game."[4]
GameSpot's Brett Todd said, "Silent Hunter 5 has promise, but this buggy and unstable game needs to be sent back to the drydock for some serious refitting."[3]
3DJuegos' Álvaro Castellano Córdova said that "Silent Hunter 5 is the most accurate simulation of World War II submarine conflicts in the Atlantic. With more testing and less bugs this game could have been the best in the series",[11] while PC Gamer UK criticized the bugs and DRM but said that without them, "it would be the best Silent Hunter yet."[7]
Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic uses Ubisoft's Uplay for digital rights management. Initially Uplay required a constant connection to the internet for Silent Hunter 5 to run, halting the game if the connection was lost during gameplay.[12] The scheme quickly came under fire after a denial-of-service attack on Ubisoft's DRM servers in early March, 2010, rendered Silent Hunter 5 and Assassin's Creed II unplayable for several days.[13] The always-on requirement was quietly lifted towards the end of 2010, being changed to a single validation on game launch.[14] Silent Hunter 5 was later made playable in Uplay's "offline mode" the following year, effectively eliminating the online requirement entirely.[15]
Germany recall
The Collectors Edition of the game has been recalled in Germany, after it was discovered that the publisher failed to remove a portion of Silent Hunter 5's World War II symbols, such as swastika flags which was not in accordance with German law. German law, until 2019, prohibited the distribution of video games with certain Nazi symbols such as swastikas and SS runes.[16]
