World of Warships
| World of Warships | |
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World of Warships cover art
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| Developer(s) | Wargaming Saint Petersburg (Lesta Studio) |
| Publisher(s) | Wargaming |
| Producer(s) | Alexander Bogomolsky[1] |
| Designer(s) | Anton Oparin[2] |
| Composer(s) | Artur Tokhtash[3] |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows MacOS Steam |
| Release | September 17, 2015 |
| Genre(s) | Tactical shooter |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
World of Warships is a free-to-play naval warfare-themed massively multiplayer online game produced by international game developer and publisher Wargaming. The game features aspects similar to World of Tanks and World of Warplanes, having several types of warships fulfilling different roles within teamed player versus player battles. Besides random battles against others, player can play cooperative battle types against bots or an advanced PvE battle mode called Operations. For the most skilled players, two seasonal competitive modes are available – ranked and clan battles. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on September 17, 2015.
Gameplay
The gameplay is team-based. There are four different types of vessels: destroyers, cruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers;[4] these vessels span across ten tiers within the technology trees of eleven nations. Many of these premium ships are either sister ships of normal tech tree ships or a different, legendary ship. Through research of each ship from each tier, a player can progress through the game. Each specific ship has a number of modules that can be accessed through experience. This experience is used to unlock modules, and when a ship’s modules are completely researched, the player can continue to the next ship and the previous ship, if fully upgraded, becomes an Elite ship.
Warships presented in this game cover periods from early twentieth century, at the dawn of dreadnoughts battleships, up to warships in the 1950s, including ships that never existed, but were projected – so called “paper ships”.
Warships can be further customized by assigning Commander with skill trees and unique perks, by developing clan base for clan players and by equipping modification kits and mounting consumables like signals and ship camouflage, most of which provide mechanical benefits.
In game screenshot with the HUD visible and a Colorado-class battleshipunder the player’s control, one of many ships the player can acquire through gameplay.
Players are randomly assigned to teams and generally play with and against similar-tier vessels. The game’s co-operative mode involves teams of players battling against computer-controlled opponents, while the Random Battles battle type features teams of human players battling against one another. Battles take place on a limited number of specific maps, each map depicting a specific location with different geographical layouts. Criteria for victory in a given scenario are outlined at the start of play, and typically requires occupying one or more specific locations on a map for a given period of time, or destroying all enemy players.
Divisions allow a group of up to three players to join and fight battles together. Clan battles are also featured in World of Warships as well as ranked battles.
Development
On August 16, 2011, the company website of Wargaming.net, developer and publisher of World of Tanks and World of Warplanes, announced World of Battleships, a free-to-play naval action MMO, intended to complete the World of war trilogy developed by the company.[5] On August 2, 2012, the game was renamed World of Warships.[6] On November 14, 2013, the game entered closed alpha testing.[7]
During Tokyo Game Show 2014, Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi announced a collaboration between World of Warships and the Arpeggio of Blue Steel anime.[8] The collaboration involves allowing players to unlock ships of the Fog Fleet from the anime, and doing special missions involving them. Another collaboration with Haifuri was later announced in September 2016.[9]
Closed beta testing for World of Warships started on March 12, 2015, shortly after closed alpha ended, with the non-disclosure agreement covering the alpha being lifted at the same time.[10] On April 9, 2015, pre-order packages consisting of premium warships and access to the closed beta test became available for purchase by players.[11]
Open beta testing for World of Warships started on July 2, 2015, as the final step prior to the game’s formal launch.[12] During a Famitsu interview with global director Ivan Moroz, it was revealed that as of the open beta test, approximately 85% of the core game development was complete, and that there were future plans to introduce weather effects and night battle after the game’s official release.[13]
On September 3, 2015, Wargaming announced that the game had exited open beta. The game was officially launched on September 17, 2015 for Microsoft Windows.[14]
A version for mobiles devices, named World of Warships Blitz, is also available. A version for console, World of Warships: Legends, has been announced on June 20, 2018 and is currently in alpha testing stage.
World of Warships has a score of 81% on Metacritic.[19] IGN awarded it a score of 8.3 out of 10, stating that the combat feels good and that the game’s teamwork is satisfying.[16] GameSpot awarded it a score of 8.0 out of 10, saying “The thrills that await, along with the promise of unlocking advanced ships down the road, make World of Warships an enticing expedition into the sometimes turbulent waters of free-to-play games.”[15] The Escapist awarded it four out of five, saying “With its tense naval battles and huge array of historical vessels, World of Warships is the free-to-play MMO that can make a wargamer out of anyone.”[22] In 2015 the game was nominated to British Academy Games Award for Multiplayer, but eventually lost the nomination to Rocket League.[25]
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