688 Attack Sub
Description official descriptions
An early submarine game with ten missions which can be played with both American and Soviet attack submarines. The game focuses on realism with several stations the player can use (sonar, weapons, navigation, helm, radio, and periscope) but most duties can be delegated to crew members. The graphics are mostly close-up views of the control panels but on some occasions, they feature digitized images of surface ships and crew.
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Screenshots
Promos
Credits (DOS version)
16 People
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 73% (based on 22 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.0 out of 5 (based on 40 ratings with 2 reviews)
Pleasurable level of immersion, marred by pace issues
The Good
Seabed view in vector graphics style, in three dimensions, in 1989 must have been mind-blowing and is still definitely a highlight today. Also there's a certain level of comfort to be had from the map view when hunting for ships, avoiding detection and loading torpedoes.
The Bad
Pacing isn't great. The decision that you needed a code to launch the game and that you had to get it from your manual is a little obtuse. The mission briefing are overly long, I get what the devs were going for... but there was no need for that. Certain mechanics feel ancient by today's standards but that's to be expected for games that were made in this period.
The Bottom Line
Pleasurable and immersive experience but gets tiring quickly, although I enjoyed the zen nature of the map view and its basic mechanics. It hasn't sucked me in, but offered a good couple of evenings. There are many very good submarine simulator games out there, so consider your choices before dipping toes here. Real pacing issues so be ready for that.
DOS · by jackhnatejko (24) · 2025
Simple but fun submarine combat game. Excellent modem 2 player game.
The Good
It was not overly complicated. The 3d fractal underwater graphics were cutting edge at the time. Perfect 2 player hookup via modem for cooperative or head to head play.
The Bad
The ships you need to identify for the manual copy protection are extremly similar and it was easy to make a mistake and have to reboot.
The Bottom Line
Good all around sub combat simulation.
DOS · by gametrader (208) · 2001
Trivia
Copy Protection
The 688 Attack Sub box stated that the game was NOT copy protected. However, in order to start a mission you had to transmit a code to fleet command which consisted of looking up a sub name in the manual and finding the corresponding code. The codes were scattered all through the manual making pirating difficult.
Extras
The first edition release came with a nice 688 Hunter / Killer patch underneath the outer shrinkwrap.
Gameplay
You could play for either the American or Soviet navy. Different graphics were used for the subs on each side with Soviet text optionally appearing in a Cyrillic font (but still in English).
Multiplayer
You can also play in multiplayer mode now through modem emulation. A full manual on how to do that can be found here.
Installation
The first time you install the game, it asked you for your first name. Your name was then saved onto the game disk so all future installs would use this name. There was no option to change it.
Additional information contributed by gametrader
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Windows95.
Amiga added by 80. Genesis added by Sciere. PC-98 added by Terok Nor.
Additional contributors: Patrick Bregger, Emanuele Pulci Doria.
Game added August 2, 2000. Last modified April 16, 2024.