Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific

2007 Ubisoft Romania Simulation

Windows 11With a fix

MacNot sold

LinuxGold

Steam DeckPlayable

Gamicality score

Metacritic 794

OpenCritic Not rated

Steam players 671

How it’s combined

Playability today

Runs today3/5

Design today2.5/5

Steam user reviews

Mixed

70%

1,046 reviews1

Get it on Steam

Facts checked November 1, 2026

Does Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific run on Windows 11, Apple Silicon Macs, Linux and Steam Deck?

Windows 11With a fix

Runs with a fix. See the steps below.1

Mac (Apple Silicon)Not sold

No Mac version is sold.

LinuxGold

Through Proton. ProtonDB: Gold, runs perfectly after tweaks.3

Steam DeckPlayable

Playable, as rated by Valve. May need some setup.1

Played Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific lately?

One click, no account, so the next player knows. How we check where it runs

How to get Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific running today

Install the U-Boat Missions expansion if you own it, which brings the game to version 1.5 (Steam Community).
Set SH4.exe to Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode, run it as administrator, disable fullscreen optimizations and set the high DPI scaling override to Application (Steam Community).
Apply a 4GB patch to SH4.exe, and if Career mode will not start, reinstall Steam to a folder outside Program Files (x86), as players report in Steam Community.
If the interface is too small to read, set the in-game resolution to 1600×900 and restart (Steam Community).

Synopsis

Silent Hunter 4 is a World War II submarine simulation in which players command an American fleet boat in the Pacific. A dynamic career sends the player on long patrols to hunt Japanese shipping, plotting courses, managing the crew and working out torpedo solutions by hand. Single missions and training scenarios offer shorter sessions.

Developer: Ubisoft Romania
Released: 2007
Best version: The Gold Edition adds the U-Boat Missions expansion, which also updates the game to version 1.5 and is worth having for stability.
Genre: Simulation
Where to get it: Steam

Reception

Critics at release praised its atmosphere, detailed submarine interiors, crew management and the depth of its career mode, while pointing to crashes before the big patch, inconsistent enemy AI and a flawed dynamic campaign. Long transits even with time compression were a common criticism. Players today still call it one of the best submarine sims and a favorite of the series, often with community mods. Recent complaints center on Ubisoft Connect, launch failures and crashes on Windows 11, and a tiny interface at high resolutions.

Playability today

The average of two parts, each from 1 to 5. Tap a check to see why. How it works

Runs today

3/5

Sold or given away today by an official source
Needs fan patches to run well on Windows 11
?Not confirmed yetSingle-player works without an internet connection
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
Some content no longer works (servers, DLC, unlocks)
The official multiplayer service shut down in February 2013 (PCGamingWiki).
?Not confirmed yetSupports modern resolutions and widescreen
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
No full controller support and no remappable controls
The game has no controller support (PCGamingWiki).
Steam Deck Verified or Playable
No intrusive DRM or required third-party launcher account
No pay-to-win or pushy microtransactions
Known game-breaking bugs in the current version
Players on Windows 11 report launch failures and crashes every few minutes, with no fix that works for everyone (Steam Community).

Design today

2.5/5

Controls feel awkward on a modern controller or mouse and keyboard
There is no controller support, and the stock keyboard layout fires a torpedo with a bare Enter key, which experienced players rebind to Ctrl+Enter. Most actions rely on many station screens and hotkeys. Source: pcgamingwiki.com, forums.mudspike.com.
Menus, text or interface are hard to read on today's screens
The interface does not scale, so dials and text become unreadably small at 1440p and higher; the workaround is lowering the resolution. Source: steamcommunity.com.
Saving is fair: free saves or frequent checkpoints, little lost progress
Progress is saved by hand during a patrol, and crashes on the unpatched game make frequent saving necessary to avoid losing an hour of target tracking. Source: worthplaying.com, steamcommunity.com.
Hard to make progress without a guide
Manual targeting asks players to measure range, speed and course and feed them into a targeting computer, and the stock tools are limited. Players rely on community tutorials from SubSim to learn it. Source: forums.mudspike.com.
Pacing drags: grind, filler or forced backtracking
A career takes a very large amount of time, much of it spent navigating and watching instruments. Time compression drops back to normal for every contact, which gets tedious. Source: worthplaying.com.
Camera and movement never fight the player
Players switch freely between detailed interior stations, the periscope and an external third-person view of the boat and its targets. Source: worthplaying.com.