Take the battle to sea in World of Warships

Tanks, shmanks. Developer Wargaming made a splash with its free-to-play tank/fighting game World of Tanks. The company will be releasing World of Warplanes later this year, and to bring the fight to land, air, and sea, Wargaming unveiled its upcoming title World of Warships. Like its land-faring predecessor, World of Warships will give you direct control over your preferred warmachine--but this time, you'll be at the helm of ships in a World War II armada to compete in 30-player naval battles.

Where Tanks gave you control over your vehicle's devastating cannon and machine guns, the warships have a much more versatile arsenal at their disposal. The massive cannons on a battleship can bombard enemy ships from across the map, and torpedoes fired from cruisers are a surefire way of sending your foes to the bottom of the sea. If you take control of an aircraft carrier, you can launch recon planes that will highlight enemies on the radar, or divebomb opposing vessels.

We watched two different sea-battle scenarios unfold in our E3 demo. In the first, Japanese and American ships clashed in an effort to capture a central flag in the middle of an archipelago. The second match challenged players to assault an enemy base far across the map in their opponent's starting zone; first team to destroy the base was the winner. Although the premise sounds like it might not be as fast-paced as driving a tank or flying an airplane, that was certainly not the case. The warships' weapon variety, multiple battle tactics and technical adjustments that need to be made in a fight will definitely keep you on your toes.

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