Games Database
PC
Strategy: Combat
| Requires: | Mouse, Keyboard | ||
| Also for: | PC, iPhone, Android, Mac | ||
| Viewed: | 3D Third-person, floating camera | Genre: | Strategy: Combat |
| Media: | DVD (also on Download) | Arcade origin: | No |
| Developer: | Paradox Interactive | Soft. Co.: | Paradox Interactive |
| Publishers: | Paradox Interactive
(GB) |
Released: | 31 May 2013
(GB) |
| Ratings: | PEGI 7+ | ||
Summary
Leviathan Warships might be a pretty fun and accessible turn-based strategy game - especially when compared to similar titles on the PC platform - but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t got its fair share of depth. Against the right opponent, it can be a rather tense and nail-biting naval battle experience.
Paradox Interactive likens its seafaring combat to ‘Frozen Synapse, but with ships.’ You could go one step further than that and say that playing Leviathan Warships is ever so reminiscent of the classic game, Battleships. The general idea: you select a fleet of four ships of varying size and capabilities, and attempt to blow up human or CPU opponents in a turn-based fashion.
Where it gets less traditional is in how the game executes these turns. Each player issues their commands at the same time, in what’s called a ‘Planning Phase’. When everyone’s done, the second phase kicks in which plays out everyone’s directions in real time for around ten seconds, before the next stage of planning begins. It’s a unique way of micro-managing your ships, allowing you to react to every single event that happens during play, offering a dynamic that a standard turn-based strategy simply can’t.
A large part of the game’s accessibility comes down to its rather intuitive controls. Commanding your ships works using a simple drag and drop mechanism, which allows you to direct your boats by ‘drawing’ a line on the map. Directions are colour-coded so that you know exactly how far you’ll get by the next turn, and you can also use the dragging option to directly target an enemy ship if they are in view.
There’s plenty of fun to be had in multiplayer. Up to four players can engage in deathmatches, and there is a variety of options to tinker with when it comes to map sizes and win conditions. The more humans involved in each game, the better the surprises and laughs as you deal with unpredictable tactics of all kinds.
Accessible and tense, Leviathan: Warships is a great way to get your feet wet with strategy gaming.
Paradox Interactive likens its seafaring combat to ‘Frozen Synapse, but with ships.’ You could go one step further than that and say that playing Leviathan Warships is ever so reminiscent of the classic game, Battleships. The general idea: you select a fleet of four ships of varying size and capabilities, and attempt to blow up human or CPU opponents in a turn-based fashion.
Where it gets less traditional is in how the game executes these turns. Each player issues their commands at the same time, in what’s called a ‘Planning Phase’. When everyone’s done, the second phase kicks in which plays out everyone’s directions in real time for around ten seconds, before the next stage of planning begins. It’s a unique way of micro-managing your ships, allowing you to react to every single event that happens during play, offering a dynamic that a standard turn-based strategy simply can’t.
A large part of the game’s accessibility comes down to its rather intuitive controls. Commanding your ships works using a simple drag and drop mechanism, which allows you to direct your boats by ‘drawing’ a line on the map. Directions are colour-coded so that you know exactly how far you’ll get by the next turn, and you can also use the dragging option to directly target an enemy ship if they are in view.
There’s plenty of fun to be had in multiplayer. Up to four players can engage in deathmatches, and there is a variety of options to tinker with when it comes to map sizes and win conditions. The more humans involved in each game, the better the surprises and laughs as you deal with unpredictable tactics of all kinds.
Accessible and tense, Leviathan: Warships is a great way to get your feet wet with strategy gaming.
Artwork
