Posted on: September 26, 2023
AdmiralBarrett
Verified ownerGames: 874 Reviews: 3
A True Good Old Game
1997 was an excellent year for gaming. It brought Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy VII and the subject of this review; 688i Hunter/Killer. Originally billed as "Jane's 688i Hunter/Killer", this was the first of the marvelous naval simulations created by Sonalysts. Sonalysts is known both for their attention to detail as well as the fact that they primarily produce simulations for the United States Department of Defense. Thus, it is no surprise that this submarine simulator endeavors to be as realistic as possible within the realm of open knowledge of course. More importantly, this sim and its code have withstood the test of time. While its 3D graphics are ancient by today's standards, simulators were never really about graphics so much as they were about experience. 688i Hunter/Killer still offers an impressive and immersive experience as a hypothetical submarine skipper in the (then) modern age. As with other works by Sonalysts, this comes with one caveat; a third party decompressor is required to export the .WAV files to play the game since the .AGG compression used by the game's code is so old that Windows can no longer read it natively. Subsim.com, a website that specializes in the needs of the submarine simulator community, has the necessary decompressor to resolve this issue. The tool, called the Sub Command SoundEdit Utility, while originally designed for the eponymous simulator, also by Sonalysts, works with all Sonalysts products, including 688i Hunter/Killer. It is necessary to use this tool to decompress the sound files to get the sound effects working. Beyond this minor tweak, the game runs surprisingly well on modern systems, regardless of specs. I strongly recommend 688i Hunter/Killer for anyone who enjoys sub simulators. Do not be thrown off by its age. It is a winner.
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