In the game, the player can choose to control either the German battleship Bismarck or command the pursuing fleet of Royal Navy ships.

[1] Incensed by the loss of the "pride of the Royal Navy", a large British force was dispatched in order to pursue and destroy the Bismarck and its support ship, the Prinz Eugen.

If the German side is picked, the objective of the game is to evade the Royal Navy fleet by either sailing to Iceland or heading to the safety of Nazi occupied France.

[3] If the British side is chosen, then the player must command the hunting Royal Navy fleet in order to search and destroy the Bismarck.

[2] David Buckingham of Computer Gamer considered Bismarck the best game Personal Software Studios had released at the time, and added that the two genres of strategy and action work "very well".

[1] Berlin suggested that Bismarck was a good introduction for players who were "bored" with the arcade genre and preferred "something a little bit tougher".

[4] Irving praised the gameplay as smoothly-presented and "undemanding", stating that the type of game Personal Software Studios were creating was "successful".