One of my less openly talked about guilty pleasures that I happily delve into is WWII battle simulators. Ever since Battlefield 1942 came out, the scale of the battles was something that I really immersed myself into and delivered countless hours of enjoyment. After BF42, I found that the WWII airplane simulators were especially my jam, which eventually led me to naval combat games. There’s something about engaging in slow calculated battles that is tons of fun for me. One of the most popular of these games, World of Warships: Legends, finally caught my attention with a console advertisement for a Transformers cross over. Yes, Transformers as in: “more than meets the eye”, Autobots vs Decepticons, Transformers. I needed to see what this was about!
What are the types of ships available in World of Warships?
To start, Players are given a tier I starter ship per faction and a level one Captain to navigate her, there are 8 Ship level tiers total. Players can unlock higher tier ships as they progress in the ship research tree. Ships are separated by class: destroyers, cruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers. Each ship can be equipped with additional bonuses by leveling the ship via combat. These bonuses include hull, engine, and artillery upgrades. The player can also equip their ship with “boosters”. These boosters grant additional bonuses earned during combat like captain xp, currency, and ship experience.
Every captain is based on a real-life maritime legend, except for special character captains. All of the captain’s portraits are done in a comic book artistic style. These captains can be leveled up to level 17 with each level unlock granting additional traits that can help in combat, like survivability, torpedo speed, reload times, etc. These traits add additional buffs to in combat stats.
Players can take part in AI, standard, brawl, fleet, ranked and arena battles, when those seasons are available. Each of these games modes has a unique set of rules and benefits. A Training option is also available if players want to hone their skills a bit before swimming with the sharks.
Players can join Fleets based on their desired ships level. If players prefer a Tier III ship, they can join a T3 fleet and only engage in battles with other ship fleets of that level. Fleets are like guilds in World of Warships. Joining a fleet gives the player the option of joining in Fleet battles for additional prize crates, currency, and unlocks.
As I mentioned, the action of Naval combat isn’t the same as with flying combat games or first person shooters, these ships are massive and on water so, moving around the map can take some time, but not much. The game maps are capture the flag domination based missions where players have twenty minutes to either control all of the points on the map or eliminate all of the players on the opposing team.
Players are grouped together in teams based on the tier level of their ships, I-VIII. Ships in a match are all either similar level or usually just one level apart to keep things fair.
Becoming seaworthy: The Controls
The controls of the ships are extremely simple and easy to learn. The default position of the camera is a 3rd person above the ship view but the player can adjust the view to be at deck level. Captains can aim down scope to better control their barrages. The vertical horizon line in the scope tells the captains their guns range, how long it will take for their shells to make contact, and their targets location. The guns reticule slowly fills up while the guns are reloading for the next barrage. Players need to compensate for their movement as well as their targets. Players can set their ship to full, 3/4, 1/2, full stop, or reverse. Mastering the ships throttle is crucial and it can take a little time to get used to the physics of the ship but once players can aim and steer, they can rain down hell with deadly precision while avoiding obstacles and enemy fire.
Most ships can also launch torpedoes which are slow moving underwater missles that can cause serious damage if they make contact with a target. Depending on the captains abilities, torpedoes can be hard to see and can sometimes sneak up on players, so pay attention to the visual torpedo indicators and warning sounds. Torpedos take a lot longer to reload than normal artillery, players need to make sure that they make every torpedo launch count.
Some ships in World of Warships have the capability of launching planes! Aircraft carriers and some other ships can launch single or multiple aircraft at once. Most ships have antiaircraft guns that will automatically target these aircraft. Captains have to make sure that their ships AA guns can “see” the planes in order to shoot them down.
What are the graphics like in World of Warships: Legends?
I’m not an expert on the details of real world naval ships, but the ships in World of Warships are all based on real ships and are unique and extremely detailed. Ships have additional graphics that can be applied, like the ones available for special promotions. Players can have an actual transformer on the deck of their ship during battle! Ships can also equip camouflage that not only changes the exterior paint job of the ship but can also add additional bonuses like traverse time and rudder control.
The game maps are fun and a good size to keep combat exciting. Most maps have several small islands to give cover or impede movement. Captains need to be aware of their surroundings because they can beach their vessel. It not only damages the ship and leaves the player vulnerable to attack but it’s a little embarrassing, the opposing captain can totally see you do it.
What are the kinds of events in World of Warships: Legends?
World of Warships: Legends has several events that will keep players wanting to come back. It’s how the game caught my interest with an advertisement for their Transformers cross promotion. Players can earn doubloons, the games monetary currency, or buy special themed crates and unlocks. These promotions are not cheap or are they easy to achieve, for free. I was able to earn enough doubloons in game to buy one “Cybertron” crate, for 750 doubloons, which gave me “Grimlock” as a captain for my French faction of ships. These special captains change the dialogue voice over of the ships captains so “Grimlock happy” replaces the “good game” emote, and several more. The in-game music also changes to the Transformers soundtrack depending on the action and is entertaining, especially for fans of the cartoon like I am.
What’s the in-game currency in World of Warships: Legends?
A “freemeium” game wouldn’t be “free” if they weren’t trying to take your money another way and World of Warships isn’t any different. Doubloons is the in-game currency, and the developers apparently hold their content in high regard, because it’s not cheap! If a player is looking to unlock all of the available content for a promotion, they are going to be spending close to $100. There are some other ways to earn free doubloons, players can complete special projects in game to not only earn doubloons but also in game currency and legendary ships. This isn’t a quick process, but it does earn the player decent rewards. Players on the PlayStation app can also check the “add-ons” section of the game for any free rewards promotions.
What do I think of World of Warships: Legends?
World of Warships is an entertaining game that doesn’t require a lot of learning or time investing to have fun. Most of the game sessions launch within a minute so there is very little waiting, and the rooms are usually filled with a good number of players. The graphics, sounds, and gameplay controls are solid and don’t detract from the action itself. I could use more ways to earn doubloons, but aside from their expensive promotions, World of Warships is a great selection for anyone who enjoys Naval combat games! “Grimlock Happy!” See you on the high seas!
