In the span of a few short years, the Belarussian developers at Wargaming.net have built up a sizable fanbase with their high-quality free-to-play titles. These games focus on various kinds of military engagements – while World of Tanks put you in charge of your own armored vehicle, World of Warplanes allowed players to take to the skies with a fighter squadron and participate in dogfights over hotly-contested territory. Now, their latest title, World of Warships, gives you the opportunity to take part in furious naval battles out on the open water. We were able to get our hands on the Beta version, so keep reading to find out how our trip out to sea has been so far.
Maiden Voyage The menu screen in World of Warships shows a harbor, where your ship lies at anchor offshore. Here you can inspect the fleets of several different nations that participated in the conflicts of the early 20th century; While the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy already have a pretty impressive range of ships to choose from, even in the Beta version, at this time the Soviet Navy and the Royal Navy each only have a single ship. The final version of the game is supposed to include the German Kriegsmarine, of course, and they're also planning to add the French Marine nationale and the Italian Regia Marina further down the line.
As long as you have the Credits for it, you can equip your ship with all manner of modifications, including more accurate guns and stronger deck armor. You can also level up the commanders of your individual ships, as well as your actual player profile, using the game's ranking system. Each new rank unlocks additional gameplay elements; for example, while you can only participate in co-op battles against AI enemies, once you reach the sixth rank, you can face off against actual human players in PvP battles.
World of Warships features four different ship types: destroyers, battleships, cruisers, and aircraft carriers, each one with their own advantages and disadvantages. Battleships, for instance, have the most firepower, but their massive size makes it harder for them to turn around and evade enemy attacks, making them an easy target for fast attackers. This means battleships require a lot of support from smaller and thus more nimble ships like desroyers and cruisers, which are a lot harder to hit. Of course, they lack the armor and firepower enjoyed by battleships. As the ships are all so different, they work best in a group, where they are highly dependent on one another, requiring some serious team-based tactical skills.
All Guns Blazing
In the Beta verison we played the classic Deathmatch mode, where the objective is to destroy all enemies or to capture their base. But if you don't want to lose your bearings straight away, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the controls before the first match. This is even more so the case if you're commanding an aircraft carrier, as it's not only your responsibility to use your planes to support your teammates at the front; you also have to keep your huge ship itself out of combat as much as possible. It's absolutley crucial to be able to know how to control the aircraft under your command and use them to take the fight to the enemy fleet by dropping bombs and torpedoes on their ships. You can do this via the tactical overhead map, or you can take control of them yourself, attacking your targets from a third-person perspective. This is especially advisable in particularly dicey situations, since it's easier to react to the enemy and take evasive action.The control scheme for the rest of the ships follows more of less the same basic pattern. You use the WASD keys to steer your ship over the water, and you can decide whether you want to forge ahead at full speed, or whether you'd rather move at a more leisurely pace. And all it takes is a few mouse clicks to plan your route – just open the tactical map, and you can mark up to five different waypoints for your ship to travel through on autopilot, though I do have to mention that a ship with its engines running is a much harder to hit than one that stays in one place. And it's not just enemy ships you're going to have to worry about – you also to have to avoid collisions with other ships and small islands. Your ship's internal warning signals are really useful here.
The maps in World of Warships are pretty big, and it takes a while to sail from point A to point B, so at least towards the beginning of a round, the gameplay runs at a relatively manageable pace. But once you make contact with the enemy, that's when things really get moving. Typically, you come under enemy artillery fire while you're still a pretty long way out. You'll want to avoid getting hit, of course, but you've got to be careful not to get too close to the enemy fleet; otherwise you might find yourself within range of their deadly topedoes. Usually, if you get hit by one of these head on, the only thing left to do is watch as your ship is torn to pieces and swallowed up by the ocean.
Good defensive skills will usually increase your ship's life expectancy, but at the end of the day, if you want to win, you've got to be just as good at hitting your targets. At a certain distance, your ship will automatically begin to fire on the enemy, but it's going to take some carefully aimed shots to really send them to the bottom. This requires planning and careful consideration, as it takes your shells a little while to cross longer distances. Both your choice of ammo as well as the angle of your shot play a decisive role in landing a hit. While the bow and stern of a ship are usually pretty well protected, a well-placed shot to the side of the ship will often result in a sizable about of damage.
A Nice View The graphics in World of Warships is more than enough to keep naval warfare buffs happy. Each and every ship model in the wide range of ships available is extensively detailed, and damage patterns are realistic as well. Equally impressive is the sea itself, with the swell of the waves and the reflection of the light over the water beautifully integrated into the scenery. Weather effects are not really complete yet – the current version includes some fog, but I'm really looking forward to stuff like the menacing squall shown in the trailer, with gale-form winds and churning waves that have a noticeable effect on your ability to control the ship.
The sound effects are matched well with the graphics, and the authentic sea sounds as well as the booming weapons effects are all pretty impressive. When the battleship fires its powerful cannons, it sounds like thunder rolling across the waves, hopefully causing your enemy to shiver in his boots. Unfortunately, there aren't any sound effects for more slow-moving projectiles, but I'm sure we'll hear them in the final version.
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