[Adster94]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to share something with you, that I have been meaning to start for quite a while, which is game reviewing. Now this is my first review, and hopefully the first of many - but we'll have to wait and see, and I wanted to share them with everyone in this community. Hopefully you'll enjoy, and find it information - any constructive comments are welcome. Thanks.

Action stations! A sound that I have become very familiar with over the past couple of weeks, whilst I have been playing a highly anticipated game of mine – World of Warships. A game made by the World of Tanks MMO experts, Wargaming.net, has been in closed beta for the past couple of months now, and is getting very close to final release and it is looking like it’ll take the internet by storm.

With the numbers becoming increasingly large, it is undoubtedly going to be very popular, with the only way to get into the closed beta now – until a couple of days ago – was via buying pre-order bundles, which included a number of different premium high tier ships, that could easily take on other high tier ships, but aren’t in any way overpowered. However, now it is in Open Beta and anyone can join in, and play one of the best naval warfare games I have played for a long time.

I personally got into the beta by buying the USS Sims pre-order bundle, a tier 7 US destroyer, a beautiful ship very similar to the Fletcher-class destroyer, with a high top speed and manoeuvrability it is one of the ideal ships for fast paced combat. With World of Warships it is always non-stop action, except for the very beginning of a match of course, from the moment you are in the line of sight of a battleship, you know you’re in for trouble.

There are four different classes of ship with WOWS: destroyer, cruiser, battleship, and aircraft carrier, each with their unique abilities, strengths and weaknesses. The destroyer (or DD), is sadly one of my least favourite classes as its overall health is very low, and relies heavily on manoeuvrability and speed to survive. One good volley from a battleship, and sometimes even a cruiser can finish a destroyer before it can do anything, many times I have found myself in a position where my game is over in the first five minutes, because of a lucky shot – however, this is quite accurate historically. To aid in its defense capabilities DDs are also armed with the smoke screen ability, which covers the area immediately around the destroyer with smoke, rendering ships within the smoke invisible.

The next class is one of my favourites, the battleship (or BB), designed for damage and survivability, it is the brute of every fleet and is designed to take and pack a punch. The ideal ammo for this class is AP rounds, as these do significantly more damage to cruisers and battleships, which BBs are designed to combat. This class relies on its high health and large cannons to provide the DPS and tanking required to turn the tide in any battle. BBs are ideal for both long-range fights, and close quarters combat, as most are able to withstand multiple torpedo hits, and often 100+ hits from cruisers, and have very useful health regeneration ability.

The class that is a cross between both the destroyer and the battleship is the cruiser (CL or in later tiers, CA), whilst its health is lower than the battleship; its overall damage is more than the destroyer. Whilst the majority of the DPS from a destroyer comes from Torpedoes, but with the cruiser it’s relying on its fast firing cannons. However, with some of the classes of cruiser, or in the case of the IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy) cruisers they also contain torpedoes. These ships are designed to act as AA cover for battleships, and other ships in the fleet as well as a general combat ships for each team. Due to it’s speed and manoeuvrability it is hard to hit from long range, but a competent cruiser captain always knows to stay within medium to long range of enemy cruisers and battleships. The ideal ammo used by the cruisers are HE (high explosive) rounds, as these have the chance to cause fires and deal an average amount of damage – AP isn’t effect with this class, and the cannons aren’t large enough to pierce the thick armour on battleships and sometimes even cruisers.

The final class within WOWS is the carrier (or CV). First available at tier 4, the carrier class has no offensive weapons, and relies heavily on the air squadrons available to it to cause both damage to enemy ships, and protect the entire team from other aircraft. There are three different squadrons fighters, bombers and torpedo bombers. Fighters are used to take down enemy planes whether it be fighters or bombers; bombers are dive bombers that use HE bombs to cause small amounts of damage, with the possibility to cause fires; and finally, torpedo bombers use torpedoes to deliver high amount of damage to enemy vessels. Carriers have a completely different view on the battle, compared to the other ship classes, as they have to hang at the back of the map and use a top down strategic map to control their planes and their carrier.

There are a variety of different classes available depending on your playstyle, which provides a dynamic to any battle as the combination of vessel types on your team, can often determine the outcome of a fight before it has begun. With the variety of choice, anyone can play and be comfortable within the game.

The mechanics of the game are simple enough to pick up in a small amount of time, and provides the best naval combat I have seen since the Battlestations: Midway and Pacific games. The game runs smoothly at 50/60 FPS on full graphics, and looks astounding making my whole experience more enjoyable, and immersive. This is naval combat at it’s best, the only thing that is missing is the inclusion of submarines, hopefully they’ll be included and add an extra dynamic but we’ll have to wait and see.

My scores (out of 10) for World of Warships are broken down as follows:
- Asthetics = 8 – high details on all ships, and explosions provide a good-looking environment for naval warfare.
- Mechanics = 7 – easy to pick up, and simple enough to enjoy yourself thoroughly, although possibly too simple for those who prefer complex mechanics.
- Community = 6 – whilst some of the players are respectable and want a game focused around teamplay, there are a lot of people who act like spolit teenagers.
- Enjoyment = 8 – this score is always subjective, based on the person and their tastes, but I get thorough enjoyment from WOWS.
- Length = 6 – whilst only multiplayer, it can take quite a while, even with a premium account, to get to the top of any tech tree branch – this can be a good, and bad thing.
- Overall = 7 – I really enjoy the game, but the only problem with WOWS is the foul mouthed community, and the long time it takes to get to the higher tiers.

Too Long; Didn’t Read

World of Warships has been brought to us by the company that is famous for the titles World of Tanks, and World of Warplanes, with their latest release into open beta, they now cover the three types of warfare within WWII: ground, air, and sea.

There are four main classes within the game: destroyers (DD), fast and manoeuvrable, relying on torpedoes to deal high amounts of damage to opponents; cruisers (CL/CA), medium speed and fast firing cannons, provide AA support for the entire team and deal quick DPS against cruisers and battleships; battleships (BB), slow speed, high health and high damage, they focus on the battleships and cruisers, strong at both long and short range; and finally carriers (CV), no offensive weapons high AA, and rely on air squadrons to defeat enemy ships, and planes.

A beautiful game that provides both simple mechanics, and ideal gameplay for any naval warfare game, making it a fun and reliable experience. Overall score of 7 out of 10.

[Sysil]

Nice review Adster.

Nothing to add except it's still in beta, but it's open so everyone can join. I've been playing on and off since the start of closed beta and I enjoy the game.

[Jake Tyler]

Nice review Adster,

Just got into my first Battleship myself as i don't play too often, but have to say, so far, this game has been worth the wait.

[Phoenix]

I've finished the Phoenix Tier IV Cruiser atm waiting for the Long grind to the next one

[Adster94]

I'm glad you guys like the review. I'm experimenting with reviews for several different games, and hopefully will be release more soon, and in a better more organised format - maybe even with pictures :O Several games I am planning on writing for are as follows: Dying Light; SoaSE: Rebellion; Star Wars: Battlefront; Gears of War: Ultimate Edition; Destiny, and many more! I hope you guys keep reading them, and will find them at least mildly interesting.

Thanks again!

[Phoenix]

Keep at it Adster, reading people's opinions on games that i've actually spoken to rather than a random on the net, believe it or not makes a ton of difference

[Jake Tyler]

I did a very brief one on dying light a few weeks ago if i recall, just a recommendation of it really though, looking forward to reading your thoughts on it

[Thalos]

Just checked out this review. It's pretty spot on. The only thing I find somewhat difficult in WoWS is playing as a carrier. I find it somewhat difficult if you don't have someone defending your carrier while you are on the offensive. But that said I just pretend I'm a Jem'hadar Dreadnought and enjoy the game.

[O'Neill]

Thank you for your review. It's pretty accurate for the most part.

I managed to get into the late stages of the Alpha test for WoWS. CV combat is interesting but not everyone thinks it is. I've played RTS games so it wasn't hard for me to play CVs in the game. The real challenge is managing your air groups properly and setting up the optimal angles of attack for torpedo bombers and dive bombers.

Cruisers, USN in particular, have great anti-aircraft weaponry and overall have decently fast rates of fire for their main artillery batteries. I like these ships a lot.

Battleships I have taken a liking as well. When I feel like playing something with more armor and AA, I play these.

Destroyers. I had fun playing them during Alpha testing but not as much now

I have to say that the game has changed a lot since the review. Honestly, I feel the game was actually better during late Alpha than it is now.

The smoke screen ability for destroyers suffered some nerfs to its duration and the number of smoke charges was reduced by one. The only real defense a destroyer has is it's stealth and speed, the devs basically tied an arm behind the backs of those ships.

AA was nerfed as well and was added catapult launched fighters to some cruisers. I did not think AA needed a nerf and the catapult fighters are just plain ridiculous. Ridiculous in the fact that not only they never existed on most of the ships they are mounted on (though Wargaming play the "historical accuracy" card when it suits them), they are basically carrier fighters with floats attached to them. Since their introduction any enemy air group that gets into range of these "float fighters" literally get stuck in the air until either the "float fighter" is destroyed or the entire air group is wiped out.

As for the toxic player environment that is a side effect of Wargaming's other title, World of Tanks. Player behavior has taken a nose dive since the end of closed beta in that game and only gets worse. I haven't played that game for weeks at a time and I log in once in a while during special events but playing less than an hour because I get fed up with the terrible players.

World of Warships has potential but only if the developers start listening to players who report legitimate issues instead of players who complain about game mechanics of which they have no understanding of.

[Sunfire]

Great review, pretty spot on. I play WoWS on and off, grinding through the US cruiser tree. I managed to get up to the Pensacola in closed beta but currently I am stuck on Tier V and can't find the motivation to finish the grind to Tier VI. Because we all know the Cleveland is kinda awesome

[Bryan]

Installed it yesterday for the first time. Although I am only at Tier 2 cruisers I really enjoy the game. Seems that in the lower tiers the griefers are not that common, at least haven't experienced it so far or I was just lucky.

[Minnow Raydor]

It is a good game but it has its moments where it frustrates the hell out of you Am always looking for people to play this game with so if you see me on team speak drop me a message.

[Bridger]

Well written review I also enjoy the game, I have reached T10 for Japanese Battleships and I am working now on the US Battleships.

[Husker]

I play this quite a lot. I reached the New Mexico Battleship in beta before it was all wiped. Now i'm currently on the New York Class Battleship. I'm a huge Battleship lover so i adore this game although it does get a bit tedious sometimes when playing alone.

Look me up in game, username is Husker. I play on the US server even though i'm in the UK.

Also i don't know if i'm a good player or just lucky but i have a win rate of 92%.

[Minnow Raydor]

You should join us on TS Husker we are around most days from anytime around 8PM to 3AM GMT or at the very least am always about to play the game.