There hasn't been a submarine I've both equally loathed, yet loved with all of my heart, than the Pripyat. Taking the classification of Scout to the T, the Pripyat tops out roughly around 92 km/h with a stock engine. With three coil guns and such a nimble swift speed, the Pripyat trades out the armor and size most submarines are known for in exchange for the ability to evade and outmaneuver most hostiles if piloted by a skilled and experienced captain.

With an incredible acceleration, the Pripyat makes a majority of missions feel like a breeze. However, if a captain feels too greedy with such a gift and pilots the ship carelessly they will be punished with a quick and violent death as they slam into a cave wall with incredible force. The acceleration still proves useful though for the quick, slight adjustments a captain might need to make to squeeze through the cramped tight spots a cave might be host to.

Even with the Pripyat's speed and nimble agility, there are a few scenarios in which the sub might find itself between several ravenous creatures and a hard place. Those three coil guns I mentioned earlier? That's where those come in handy. With three in total, two on the top and bottom right and one on the top left, a Pripyat (with a firing crew willing enough to board it's deathtrap construction) can shed it's meager shrimp facade and unsheathe it's claws, proving itself more than capable in fending off several swarms at once in a given combat situation.

With it's small, easy to navigate interior the ship is a good ship to jump a bit in the deep end with as a beginner. Being a bit of a glass cannon, it's insane speed and notable firepower makes it an excellent spot for a captain to get a grasp on piloting a submarine where simply tanking the damage isn't an option. It's a submarine definitely better built for a good starting crew of 2-3. Though having at least one A.I. as a spare gunner doesn't hurt.

Maintenance wise I had quite an issue with junction boxes smoking frequently, and the autopilot being incredibly unreliable if not dangerous when the airlock is opened. Often plummeting the submarine if caution isn't taken to make sure the submarine is resting on a surface when departing or being held in place by a captain while someone else is departing. It's a good way to teach a captain to stay engaged with his submarine, but I often found it frustrating when trying to leave the submarine to grab something only to look down and see my submarine sinking like a stone because the autopilot has a stroke.

Getting started, a hearty amount of supplies (albeit organized strangely) is a nice gift basket that can last quite a while through the game. With a fair amount of medical supplies, it's almost like the former is a foreshadowing warning of what's to come. A lovely amount of fuel rods helps out cost wise for new players, but I found the cabinets a bit confusing with several slots being held by individual bandages and several harpoon guns and other items that would insinuate the stock supply was intended for a far larger crew than would comfortably fit inside of a Pripyat. Properly stacking these items makes a bit more room within the cabinets and you'll find these supplies will stretch a bit past mid game, but are beginner enough that upgrades for better equipment will certainly be on your radar.

The general design of the ship is very pleasing to the eye aesthetically, this even extends to onboard air tanks and diving suits in which they've all been colored a forest green to remind you that no matter where you go a little bit of the Pripyat will always be with you. There's several diving suits in the center room, and one in the gunnery room. Covering most bases in case of a hull breach.

Speaking of which, later on in a campaign hull breaches are a death sentence. While quickly overwhelming in the beginning, the ship's small size makes repairs quick and efficient to make up for it's fragility. However once the pressure outside of the ship rises enough to cause the crushing of human beings, you better hope in the case of a hull breach you can reach a suit before an A.I. snatches it before you because the ship's size only leaves a brief window of reaction timing in the case of a hull breach before complete flooding overtakes the entire submarine.

Like I said, in the beginning this problem isn't nearly as punishing but later on you can see where the difficulty really kicks in. Other than that, the Submarine does have a lack of a fabricator and a deconstructor meaning any need to craft can only be satisfied via a visit to a station or an outpost. Those aren't deal breakers in my opinion, but it's still something to take note of.

If there were some things I could change about this submarine, I'd definitely consider properly stacking and organizing the cabinets. While there's four green crates on a shelf for optional organization of extra cargo, the stock cabinets often have slots filled by either one of a stackable item or needless excess of another. (There was a case where I had several harpoons, even a stack of it's spears were dropped in front of the cabinet when I started my campaign). Another would be tending to whatever is causing the junction boxes to smoke as frequently as they do. I have a sinking feeling (no pun intended) that this issue is caused by improper management of the ship's power and / or insufficient wiring.

There's also a undisclosed discharge coil on the control monitor labeled "Signal Out #" or something along those lines, I'd properly label that too or even remove it all together since I hardly ever used it and only knew of it by happenstance discovery. Another thing I'd wanna fix is the autopilot freaking out when the air lock is opened while it's running. Any issues the submarine runs into as well often take a lot of diagnosing and poking to figure out what the hell is going on, often leaving a Pripyat stuck on the seafloor for a while whilst it's crew runs around banging wrenches and screwdrivers and welding all willy nilly only to realize someone left the airlock full of water WHICH SOMEHOW LEFT THE SUBMARINE GROUNDED.

Anyways.

The Pripyat is the definition of a scout class submarine with extra bite for it's buck, but it's the equivalent of a German Shepard with dwarfism on crack. It's fast, bites like hell- but lacks the durability of it's larger brethren. Though in most cases where avoiding a fight is a choice you can take, the Pripyat I can honestly say is the only submarine I can think of that's actually able to get away with it. Upgrading it in the later game, hull strength increases and the like help to mitigate the issues I had earlier but mostly against hostile attacks to a degree. Mudraptors that manage to breach the airlock will spell certain doom for your crew, but glancing blows and scratches won't be nearly as much as a hassle than stock.

After all, since it's so small after a fight you could quickly mend the Pripyat's wounds with a once over with a welding torch and a diving suit and carry on with your mission. There isn't a dedicated cargo hold however, so anything you buy for supplies you'll have to either stow the extra boxes in the singular ballast or huck it out the air lock. Otherwise with all of that in mind, while the Pripyat is far from perfect I actually hold an endearing Love / Hate relationship with it. It's a ship easy to get familiar with, it's an excellent choice to take if you want to get into the deeper end of the pool as a beginner and it's definitely a real laugh to slam into a cave wall at 92 km/h and send everyone flying around inside like a bunch of raisins in a box.

Yeah that's right, 92 km/h. The world's fastest sub (that also just so happens to be Soviet) tops out about 82/83 km/h. The thing is as well, this is with stock. 92 km/h is the fastest I recorded in campaign and I'm sure if I had a big enough space I could stretch it even faster. Plus with it upgraded- jesus I don't even wanna know. But it's speed does make getting out of a sticky situation in a pinch easy. Just make sure to do slight adjustments frequently as you make baby steps through tight spaces.

The Pripyat is definitely something, you'll either love to hate it or hate to love it. While I haven't had much experience with it's larger cousins, I can't deny that the Pripyat has certainly left an impression on me. I'd love to see the Pripyat get a redux sometime, or if I had permission I'd love to give it a redux of my own as well. If you're looking for an interesting way to play the game then give the Pripyat a go, even with it's quirks I found it oddly enjoyable and engaging to manage a unreliable hunk of junk with cardboard armor. It hit the Soviet hand-me-down surplus submarine vibe just right in about every department, with just enough edge in survival to keep it going for quite a while. How long can the submarine last a campaign for? I'd say it varies, but late mid game seems fair but it could be stretched even further with the right amount of savvy in the overhaul department upgrades wise. (Though there's a lack of depth charge droppers and such so keep that in mind as well.)

(Did I mention it also starts off with Physicorium coil gun rounds? Just something interesting I noticed. Though, honestly it could do without lore wise to start off with. Just doesn't make sense to have it be on such a small cheap ship honestly. It's like having seat warmers in your mom's beat up car. Definitely out of place.)

With all things considered, maybe there was a bit of bad luck that stemmed from sharing a name with an infamous nuclear incident. Would explain some of it's shortcomings, but all of that aside I'll say this.

In a field where men die young, if you see a grizzled captain piloting a Pripyat coming your way- run. Because lord knows he's lost half his mind and that if his coil guns aren't hittin' ya then his submarine slamming at you at record breaking speeds will.

That concludes my review. Thank you for reading. :)) and thank you mod creator for making this submarine as well!