World of Warships is a ‘Free to Pay’, sorry, ‘free to play’ game from Wargaming who also make World of Tanks and Wold of Warplanes. While you can play it for free in theory, in reality it is going to cost you if you want to progress and have fun in the game.
You start the game with a tier 1 ship from each nation. You can only access the Co-op arena games to begin with where you learn to play the game at a basic level and should learn about not shooting your own team, although this seems somewhat lost on a lot of players. As you earn XP on a ship you can unlock new modules and then new ships. There are many famous ships in the game, most are premiums though (you have to buy them for real money) but there are some in the actual Tech Tree like the might Yamato at tier 10 in the Japanese Battleship (BB) line.
So, there are Battleships, there are also Cruisers, Destroyers and Aircraft Carriers although Submarines are on the horizon, so to speak. The original idea of balance in this game was this:
Battleships (BB) hunt Battleships and Cruisers
Cruisers (CA*) hunt Cruisers and Destroyers
Destroyers (DD) hunt Destroyers and Battleships
And everyone ignores the irritating planes from aircraft. However much has changed since the early days of this game; there have been new ships lines introduced that alter the dynamic somewhat. The Russian heavy cruisers for example are virtually battleships and hunt everything!
Then there’s the re-worked Aircraft Carriers (CV) or as I like to call them “Sky Cancer”. In the old days of this game, cruisers tended to have good Anti-Aircraft guns (AA) and if they worked together and stayed with their BB’s or DD’s they could protect them with withering AA fire but since the rework, CV’s can direct their aircraft much more effectively and render much of the AA they encounter as insignificant, even directly bombing a CA that is fully build to defend against air power. I should not have mentioned the Sky Cancer; I knew this would happen. Let me move on…
Note: * Cruisers are designated CA for heavy cruisers and CL for light cruisers.
When you first start the game it will take you through the basics and introduce new game features as you gain experience so as not to bombard you with information at the start. Like with most multiplayer games WOWS is much more fun when you can group with friends so if you don’t have any that play this, your best bet is to join a clan and make new friends. There are plenty of casual clans that just want regular players rather than really good players. Playing with others is also a good way to learn the tricks of the game.
Here’s a tip. Never launch torpedoes if you have friendlies ahead of you. If they sail into your torps, it’s still your fault and you will be punished by the game and most likely ridiculed by your team. Team killers are turned pink for a few games. If it’s a one off, it is just that. If you continue doing it, you will eventually get banned. Mistakes happen, repeat offenders are not welcome however.
If you ever wanted to sail the legends of WWII and fire big guns then this is the game for you. A match typically lasts up to 20 minutes so you can easily play 1 round and come back later or you can play a whole day.
I mentioned starting in Co-op, this is against AI bot ships which are stupid! When you’ve learned how to play, the game will let you into random battles against other players, although at the low levels you may find it is still against bots and 1 or 2 other real people. The bots are identified by a : at the start and end of their name.
There are also ‘Operations’ that are unlocked as you progress. These are usually for tier 6 or 7 ships (depending on the mission) and are cooperative events based on a specific scenario like the evacuation of Dunkirk or rescuing a stricken Aircraft Carrier. In these operations the bots are still stupid but there tend to have overwhelming numbers.
There really is lots to do in this game but if you do decide to download it make sure you sign up to and get the right version for your geographical location. If you are UK/Europe, you do not want to sign up on the North American servers or your gaming experience will be somewhat laggy.
Originally published on 27 January 2021.
