688 Attack Sub is a submarine simulator

Submarine simulator

A submarine simulator, or subsim for short, is usually a computer game in which the player commands a submarine. The usual form of the game is to go on a series of missions, each of which features a number of encounters where the goal is to sink surface ships and to survive counterattacks by...

 game designed by John W. Ratcliff

John W. Ratcliff

John W. Ratcliff is a noted game developer, best known for creating the bestselling games 688 Attack Sub and SSN-21 Seawolf. -Biography:...

 & Paul Grace, published in 1989 for MS-DOS

MS-DOS

MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...

 systems and 1990 for Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

 computers by Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...

. A Sega Mega Drive

Sega Mega Drive

The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...

 version was also published.

The player takes command of a US Los Angeles-class

Los Angeles class submarine

The Los Angeles class, sometimes called the LA class or the 688 class, is a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines that forms the backbone of the United States submarine fleet. With 43 submarines on active duty and 19 retired, the Los Angeles class is the most numerous nuclear powered...

 or Soviet Alfa class

Alfa class submarine

The Soviet Union/Russian Navy Project 705 was a class of hunter/killer nuclear powered submarines. The class is also known by the NATO reporting name of Alfa...

 nuclear power

Nuclear power

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

ed attack submarine and plays 10 missions ranging from into either Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 scenarios or combat missions in a hypothetical global conflict.

As modeled in the game, the American submarine has more sophisticated electronics and more weapons. The Soviet boat has fewer weapons but higher sustained speeds.

688 Attack Sub is known as an early classic of the genre.

John W. Ratcliff followed it up by SSN-21 Seawolf

SSN-21 Seawolf

SSN-21 Seawolf is a submarine simulator game designed by John W. Ratcliff and published for MS-DOS systems by Electronic Arts in 1994.The player takes command of a US Seawolf-class submarine and fights in 33...

later.

This was one of the earliest games that allowed two players to play against each other over a modem

Modem

A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...

 (or null modem

Null modem

Null modem is a communication method to connect two DTEs directly using an RS-232 serial cable. The name stems from the historical use of the RS-232 cable to connect two teleprinter devices to modems in order to communicate with one another; null modem communication was possible by instead using...

 cable).

Reception

Computer Gaming World

Computer Gaming World

Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...

gave the MS-DOS version a positive review, noting the game was designed to be a fun game, as opposed to a realistic simulator.

External links

• 688 Attack Sub Review at Mean Machines
  Mean Machines
  Mean Machines was a market-leading multi-format gaming magazine released between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. Its style was popular with gamers of the time for its irreverent humor, anarchic editorial tone and style, and its sometimes outrageously outspoken reviews.- Origins :In the late...
  
  
• History of Subsims