Destroyer Command

Destroyer Command
Developer(s)Ultimation Inc
Publisher(s)Ubi Soft
Producer(s)Mark Kudinger
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: February 17, 2002
  • EU: 2002
Genre(s)Vehicle simulation game
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Destroyer Command is a naval simulation released by Ubi Soft in 2002 and developed by the now-defunct Ultimation Inc.

Gameplay

The game placed the player in command of a Destroyer during World War II, featuring campaigns from both the Pacific War and the Battle of the Atlantic. Customized missions may be played and players can select the opponent's forces and their own. Players can also have the chance to choose the difficulty rating in different games by adjusting the different realism ratings.

The game features two campaigns that include the entire Pacific and Atlantic warfare with 20 missions each. There are 20 predefined historical missions, for example, the Battle of Savo Island, additionally to some training missions, and automatically generated, customized missions. Classes of Destroyers that can be commanded by the player are Bagley, Benham, Benson, Clemson, Farragut, Fletcher, Gleaves, Gridley, Mahan, Porter, Somers, Sims, Allen M. Sumner, and the Wickes classes.

Weaponry that can be controlled by the player are the dual purpose 5"/38 caliber gun, the 4-inch/50 SP gun, the light guns Bofors 40 mm gun and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, 200 to 600 lb depth charges, and 21-inch torpedoes.

History

The game was developed by the Ultimation Inc. and released by Ubisoft in 2002. Due to problems with the game a patch (ver 4.10) was released in March 2002 by the developer for download.[1]

After release, instability with the multiplayer feature was found to be commonplace, yet Ubisoft never resolved this issue by releasing another official patch. While in 2002 Ubisoft had ended the official support, they authorized and enabled the game's community at Subsim.com to fix the game themselves by giving them the source code.[2] The fan community raised over $7000 for an unofficial patch development project called Projekt Messerwetzer which ultimately fixed the issues.[2][3]

Reception

Before the release of the patch, the game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[4]

It was nominated for the "Most Disappointing Game on PC" award at GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002 Awards, which went to Civilization III: Play the World.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Introduction". Destroyer Command. Ubisoft. Archived from the original on August 4, 2007.
  2. ^ a b William R. Trotter (May 2003). "Submarine Marries Destroyer". PC Gamer. Future US. Retrieved May 6, 2017. Gave source code to subsim.com [...] a fund raising drive netted more than $7000 to jump-start Project Messerwetzer [...] Skilled volunteers and playtesters rallied to the call [...] a free 5MB to 6MB patch that will be finally polished and playtested. The original crippling flaw, multiplayer instability, has been dramatically minimized.
  3. ^ Scott Parrino (May 24, 2003). "Behind the Lines #5". Wargamer. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018. Subsim Review served as the gathering place for Projekt Messerwetzer, the project that brought Silent Hunter II - Destroyer Command computability to full fruition.
  4. ^ a b "Destroyer Command for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  5. ^ Marcel Kleffmann (April 15, 2002). "Test: Destroyer Command". 4Players (in German). 4Players GmbH. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  6. ^ Jason White. "Destroyer Command - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  7. ^ Thomas L. MacDonald (June 2002). "Destroyer Command" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 215. Ziff Davis. p. 93. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  8. ^ Mark H. Walker (March 22, 2002). "Destroyer Command". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on June 15, 2002. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  9. ^ Tom Chick (March 1, 2002). "Destroyer Command Review". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on December 12, 2004. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  10. ^ Kevin Giacobbi (March 1, 2002). "Destroyer Command Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on September 30, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  11. ^ Steve Butts (March 5, 2002). "Destroyer Command Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  12. ^ pilou (April 4, 2002). "Test: Destroyer Command". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  13. ^ Bob Arctor (April 2002). "Destroyer Command". Joystick (in French). No. 136. p. 118. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  14. ^ Andy Mahood (May 2002). "Destroyer Command". PC Gamer. Vol. 9, no. 5. Imagine Media. p. 68. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  15. ^ "Best and Worst of 2002 (Dubious Honors: Most Disappointing Game on PC)". GameSpot. CNET. 2002. Archived from the original on February 11, 2003. Retrieved February 21, 2023.