If the concept of commanding a nuclear submarine seems really neat to you, and/or you love films like Crimson Tide and Hunt for Red October, this game is a must-have. Cold Waters comes with two campaigns played from the US side, one from the late 1960s and one set in the 1980s, with period-correct subs, ships and weapons for each. Its biggest strength is in making the job of commanding a nuclear sub and going up against an enemy navy accessible and engaging. Previous sub sims like Cold Waters and 688(i) were extremely realistic but did everything they could to drive all but the most hardcore players away. Cold Waters, on the other hand, does a great job of taking the key aspects of submarine warfare (sonar signatures, weapons control and avoidance, etc) and makes them all a little easier to understand. There's a solid manual that does a good job of breaking down all of these concepts so you can jump right in and start sinking enemy subs, ships and obliterating land targets. It's a bit light on immersion (you can't actually go 'inside' your sub, it's all played from the exterior camera view, and you only get to sail your sub from within each mission area, not in a free roam a la Silent Hunter games) but it's a pretty minor gripe, especially once you get engrossed in avoiding anti-submarine warfare helicopters, dueling enemy SSNs, etc. Also, the developer has a solid track record since launching Cold Waters of fixing bugs, and recently added a free content update that brought in neutral ships and oil rigs to concern yourself with. There is also a DLC coming which adds a more modern campaign era and the Seawolf-class submarine.