World of Warships preview

Ahoy-hoy, friends! Today, I bring you Wargaming.net’s World of Warships preview, naval combat simulator in the same vein as World of Warplanes and the dominating World of Tanks! I got to play a few rounds with the developers at PAX Prime 2014, and let me tell you, I was super impressed.

Like many of you are probably thinking, “Boats…shooting other boats…how would this be fun?”, I too did not think I would be impressed. I mean, let’s be honest, I figured it would just be a simulator or some sort of RTS game that wouldn’t really draw my attention, but boy was I wrong! Much like Milton-Bradley’s Battleships, the game features several classes of ships from the Cruiser to the Carrier, there is probably something that will excite you. For me, this was the Destroyer. I never knew manning the torpedoes could be so fun, and like their other franchises, Wargaming made the controls incredibly intuitive. The ships movement controls are rather simple, with W/S controlling your throttle, and you can still use A/D to turn, but you can also set way-points for your ships crew to follow while you man guns, although I was told that this was ill-advised while trying to target enemy ships with your torpedo salvos.

Graphically, the World of Warships is also impressive. From the water distorting beautifully while your armaments fire to the meticulously crafted textures of the ships that include wear, tear and aging, everything about this game is gorgeous.

The minimalistic HUD delivers just the information you need, however you can bring up the map and give yourself a top down view of the action, and as an added bonus, if you choose to deploy your carrier, you can launch precision airstrikes from your upper deck with your small fleet of planes. But if you don’t choose to be the carrier, don’t worry, each ship as some small amount of counter measures to ensure the enemy airstrikes do not completely overwhelm you, and these counter measures are automated so you aren’t removed from the action.

I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed with World of Warships preview and I can’t wait for the open beta to start. Given the impressions of the alpha build that I played on, I can say for certain this will probably be the most impressive game Wargaming.net has put out yet, and when it drops, you can expect to find me on the front lines sinking ships and laughing maniacally while my torpedoes chase you down.

Please don’t make the same mistake I did prior to playing, DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE World of Warships! See you on the front lines!

If you want to hear more about World of Warships and day 3 of PAX Prime 2014, listen to our podcast, Nerd Farmcast Episode 26.