Running a submarine as a crew
S.O.N.A.R. is a 1–6 player online co-op submarine simulator where you share one boat and a pile of jobs that all need doing at once. Up to four crew members work together across nine critical stations, including navigation, diving, sonar, periscope operations, engineering, and damage control. The sonar operator tracks contacts while the rest of the crew keeps the submarine alive, so nobody gets to sit idle for long. Missions take you beneath the waves to locate hostile vessels with sonar and send them to the bottom, protect valuable cargo ships, hunt for treasures on the ocean floor, and slip past enemy destroyers undetected. Sinking is always one wrong button away, and catastrophic malfunctions, fires, and taking on water from twelve holes at once are part of the routine.
Talking your way through the disaster
Proximity voice chat is the main tool for holding things together. Use it to shout urgent orders, warn everyone about imminent disaster, and explain why the catastrophe is definitely someone else's fault. When the sub catches fire or starts flooding, communication is the only thing standing between the crew and becoming fish food. The game also lists online PvP alongside online co-op, so there is a competitive option in addition to working through missions as one crew. Expect panic, improvised leadership, and the occasional crewmate reading the manual during a torpedo attack.
Before you dive in
The game leans on physics and survival systems, so things break in messy ways and repairs take real coordination rather than one person fixing everything alone. Machines are not the only things that fail: manage your crew's food supplies, rest schedules, and overall well-being, or people become exhausted, seasick, delirious, or mysteriously incapable of following simple instructions. Neglect has physical consequences, including vomiting inside a diving helmet while loading torpedoes. Character customization lets you pick from dozens of uniforms, hats, and questionable fashion choices, with new gear unlocked as you level up. The setting is a World War II-style naval conflict with atmospheric underwater exploration, and the tone stays comedic even when the situation does not.