E3 2014 Coverage: The Secrets of World of Warships

June 16, 2014 9:59 ( Articles ) 0

 

We sat down with the folks at Wargaming to check out development of their newest edition to the “World of…” franchise: World of Warships. The game is the third instalment of the series, joining World of Tanks and World of Warplanes. Now the battle takes to the seas. Currently in its Alpha build and game idea looks very promising from what we saw, though final graphics and features are still being worked on and are expected to be more developed as the game closes in on baiter and ultimately release.

Set in the same timeframe as the other MMOs, ranging from before the First World War and into the mid-50s as a time period of where the developers are taking the inspiration for the different ships available in the game. There are three types of ship class in the game: battleships, cruisers, destroyers and aircraft carriers, each of which provides a different style of play and each has been recreated from either real-world constructions or real blueprints that never made it off the design table but have been created in the game.

While getting its cues from World of Tanks and having many similar features such as the gear system, World of Warships is a considerably slower and more strategic MMO in comparison requiring long-term planning and tactical thinking as opposed to the typical run and gun tactics seen in World of Tanks.

   

In the game at release there will be two main nations available: America and Japan, each nation having its own specific advantages that are based on their real-world achievements, for example Japanese cruisers were unique in their torpedo ships whereas the American cruisers during this period had better quality anti-aircraft guns.

The game combines both naval combat and air tactics with the inclusion of aircraft carriers and planes as well as the expected sea-based battles. Players fighting at sea must be conscious of positioning at all times and knowledgeable of the trajectory and available firing arc of their torpedoes, when a player fires a torpedo at an enemy it takes a long time for the shot to finally reach the target and so an observant potential victim can take evasive manoeuvres to dodge the shot. Typically what this means is that players must fire ahead on a ship’s trajectory hoping that they will not be able to outmanoeuvre it, a single torpedo can severely damage one of the different ship zones e.g. propeller, main hull, torpedo bays, and multiple direct hits will finish off a ship altogether.



Aircraft carriers are currently in Alpha testing, though were not available for the preview, however we were informed that aircraft carriers are a particularly strategic type of vessel that many players that lack patience and strategy may shy away from. The main core of gameplay for those who captain and aircraft carrier is the management of your different aircraft, with four plane types available: Fighters, Torpedoes, Bombers and Scouts, there are a wide selection of abilities and gameplay options for carriers. Scouts are typically used to seek out enemies and give the fleet and increased detection range, a vital component to finding victory in battle, whereas the other plane types are more aggressive combat orientated vehicles.

Planes all require fuel and the amount of fuel they carry will determine how far they can travel before they must return back to the carrier, on the one hand and aircraft carrier will want to stay out of the main battle due to their weak defences, so player must find a balance between being close enough to the battle to be involved in keeping out of harm’s way, as well as accounting for the return, landing, refuelling and reloading of their planes whilst enemy may be making their counter attack!

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