While fans of the good old fashioned submarine warfare encompassed in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II are enjoying themselves with their old fashioned tin cans and happy-go-lucky hunting, those of us who prefer modern day submarine warfare, with its sleek, high-tech nuclear powered vessels, super-sensitive detection systems and tense 21st Century naval warfare, Dangerous Waters from Sonalysts Combat Simulations, fathers of the only real contenders to the throne in this genre, their recent Sub Command and the nigh on ancient 668(i) and Jane’s Fleet Command, have once again surfaced with this brilliant sub-sim that also, happily enough, simulates playable surface and even aerial platforms, pitting players on the hunters side of the game of cat and mouse that is modern naval warfare. The game looks lovely, particularly for a naval warfare game, and all the rolling seas, squalls and weather effects one could wish to help bring sea-sickness to the home are on offer, along with rather convincing sound effects (not least of which is the downright unsettling high-frequency sonar blast, or “Ping”.) It is also, quite thankfully, extremely scalable, allowing newer players to assign almost all tasks, from weapons control to sonar detection, to the extremely competent AI. This also has the advantage of allowing more experienced players to also limit what they have to concentrate on, leaving the weapons control to the AI whilst they go through the complicated business of detecting and classifying targets. On show is a hundred and one different brands of ships, subs and aircraft, from across a variety of nationalities, of which twelve are supported, including one four engine converted bomber, a helicopter, a destroyer and the rest submarines. The game comes with a dynamic campaign, the missions of which remain the same, but the actual circumstances of each mission which depend on the players actions (or inactions, as the case may be) and the shifting alliances and international events which they affect. It also has a number of well put together standalone missions, as well as a random mission generator and an extremely well put together mission editor to allow players to design their own missions, or incorporate others missions (of which there are already bucket loads). Gameplay itself is scalable as to the amount of responsibilities which the player must take on, and it is extremely fun; a blend of tense approach and exhilarating chase. From hunting submarines in a helicopter whilst utilising sonar buoys or making a tense approach into an all too shallow harbour to stick your periscope up and take a peek at what’s there, Dangerous Waters manages to simulate all the thrills and spills of modern naval warfare seamlessly.