World of Warships Legends is great. It’s that simple. It’s a tonne or 45,000 tonnes of fun and for fans of historical warfare, it’s an absolute blast.
Much like when I played the beta late last year, World of Warships Legends early access release features excellent gameplay, stunning visuals and massive feats of human engineering.
Unlike the beta, the early access release includes heaps more content, ships, tech trees and content.
World of Warships Legends Review
On booting up World of Warships Legends, Wargaming has cleverly locked most content away. It’s clever because it forces the player to learn the basics before getting lost in the various menus and options.
After learning how to sail and fire against AI enemies, the game opens up to include battles against human players. From there, as you level up, you gain access to tech trees, campaigns and missions, crates (loot boxes) and more.
When you first start playing World of Warships Legends you may feel that it’s a bit undercooked. However, after spending the better part of the last month playing it (almost) religiously, I can tell you that there’s an awful lot to get your head around.
An Absolute Boat Load of Stuff
From the main menu you’ve got your choice to play against AI or human players. Regardless of which option you choose, though AI units will fill out any gaps in the teams, you’re then given your choice of ships.
I was lucky enough to have my account fully pimped out by Wargaming which gave me access to lots and lots of ships, both free and premium. When selecting your ship you’re able to choose its loadout which can include weapons, firing systems, ammo, upgrades and more.
Free ships receive upgrades through use and XP. To install them you also need to spend credits; World of Warships Legends free currency. The more you use them, the more XP you get and the better equipment they can use.
Premium ships though, require currency to upgrade. Either way, the more you play, the more you earn and the better your ships get; free or premium.
Pimp Yo’ Ride
In addition to credits, World of Warships Legends also includes Doubloons (premium currency), XP and Elite XP and containers.
Doubloons are what you use to buy most things as World of Warships Legends is free-to-play. However, you are easily able to play without ever spending real-world cash. It’s just going to be more of a grind and you’re going to miss out on lots of content.
That being said, if you never want to spend any money, you’re going to have a good time.
The real meat of World of Warships Legends is the gameplay. Wargaming has used its considerable experience with World of Tanks to craft an even better naval experience. As I noted in my preview, being set on the open ocean gives the impression that World of Warships Legends is a much more two-dimensional affair.
However, after getting to grips with it, you’ll find that Warships is similar to Tanks, but is also a beast all its own.
Ship Ship Hooray
At first, it all seems a bit overwhelming. You need to set your speed, scan the horizon for enemies, try to stay out of harm’s way, account for speed and distance when firing and somehow avoid torpedoes. Honestly though, it all sort of becomes second nature after a few rounds.
Instead of sneaking and waiting for your moment to attack like in World of Tanks, World of Warships Legends is a more action-orientated game. While there are often small islands with which to hide behind, it’s not really possible to stay hidden for long.
Instead, it’s best to work with your team on picking off enemies one by one. It’s riskier but pays dividends when done correctly. And it makes the game feel far faster. Matches certainly seem to be over more quickly than in World of Tanks and for me, that’s a win.
Overall, World of Warships Legends is as polished and rewarding as you’d expect from Wargaming. It is free-to-play, so expect to either pay or grind to unlock a fair chunk of the content. Based on what I’ve played and the amount of stuff there is to do, if you do pay, you’re certainly getting your money’s worth.
If you don’t, well you’re getting an excellent maritime combat simulator, a free history lesson and a look at some of the most impressive feats of engineering from the 20th century. How could you go wrong?
World of Warships Legends was reviewed on PS4. Wargaming provided game code and premium content for the purposes of this review.
PowerUp! Reviews
Game Title: World of Warships Legends
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Easy to learn, intuitive combat - 8.6/108.6/10
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Starts Slow and speeds up quickly - 8/108/10
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Lots to unlock and lots of content - 7/107/10
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Sailing through History - 9.2/109.2/10
