Originally released in 2003 (with special re-releases in 2006 and 2011) Ghost Master is a niche puzzle / strategy game with a small but loyal following. Basically imagine The Sims except instead of controlling the people you control the ghosts who mess with the people. The more afraid of you they are the more powerful your ghosts become and the more they can affect the physical world. You have to decide which ghosts to take with you on new missions, where to place them, and which abilities they should use. Watch out though, if a ghost is located by paranormal investigators or a coven of witches then they will try to banish it from the level. The controls and the graphics are definitely of an older generation, but if you can look past that and relish the idea of scaring the living daylights out of some Sim-like persons then this is right up your alley.
You begin each level with a description of the place you'll be haunting and why your haunting it. The reasons can range from "because we can," to solving a mystery, to stopping certain persons from interfering in the matters of the deceased. You also unlock new ghosts in every level so there's that as well. You get to pick a 'squad' of ghosts, each one with its own unique set of powers and sphere of influence. When you enter the level you'll see a layout similar to The Sims where you can see inside the building(s) one floor at a time with people walking, talking, reading, sleeping, and otherwise moving about their business. You place your squad members at different places throughout the map and then either manually execute their powers or tell them which powers to auto-use. The mortals can't see the ghosts but they can see the affects of their powers (some do make a ghost visible). Each power requires that you have a certain amount of energy stored up which you gain from scaring the mortals. Thankfully using abilities does not drain energy which means that if you have 100e then all of your ghosts can use all of their powers that cost up to 100e indefinitely. Your power (very) slowly decreases to keep your ghosts attached to the physical world but for all except a few levels this will not affect how you play.
A gremlin causes a power surge to zap sorority girls around the TV. If this happens a few more times they might think that it's possessed...
Your ghosts can only be placed according to their type. Gremlins, for example, can be attached to electronic items and all of their abilities have to do with the item they are attached to. They can make it malfunction, act 'creepily', zap nearby people, etc. A water spirit, by contrast, can be attached to a body of water or a piece of equipment / furniture to do with water and they would have water-like abilities from fog to flood to turning water to blood. A wraith, by another contrast, can only be placed on things associated with death and while its abilities are more fear inspiring than malfunctioning electronics and mysterious fog you won't have as much opportunity to use them without being creative. Creative in this case means luring mortals to where your heavy hitter ghosts can scare them. Strange sights and sounds may make mortals curious to investigate while scary things can make them flee in a certain direction. You can re-locate ghosts to another valid position on the map with ease but for some of the stronger types there may only be one or two spots on the map where they can go. Using ghosts also grants them experience which can be used to unlock further abilities.
A 'spook' ghost can be attached to any room and is by far the most maneuverable ghost. With so many mortals gathered here it would be a perfect time to turn visible or start moving the furniture around.
Each mortal has a number of stats for you to take into consideration. The first is their amount of fear. If it gets high enough the mortal will flee the map. The second is there insanity. If you get it high enough they will go bonkers and run around the map disturbing the other mortals. The third is their belief in ghosts, their susceptibility to being scared. Each mortal also has a secret consciousness fear and subconsciousness fear that can be used to your advantage. If a mortal simply does not believe in ghosts then their otherworldly powers will rationalized as a strange occurrence and you will have a hard time scaring them, although providing enough evidence of the existence of ghosts will increase their belief and start making them susceptible. Chaining scares on a group of mortals that is already scared is a good way to create an avalanche of fear and belief which should give you enough energy to use the higher tier abilities on that level. Exposing a mortal to their conscience and subconscious fears will eventually make them go insane with hilarious results.
Don't worry it's not real fire... but try telling that to the mortals who are running for their lives!
More than puzzles and strategy this is a game about messing with things and this is where I had the most fun. It may not be quite as efficient to toy with the mortals but it's the only ghost simulator in existence where you get to be the ghosts so who cares!? This is a game where you can zap unsuspecting people, turn the lights off on them, and make them run screaming with a thunderclap! This is a game where your goal is to create chaos and confusion and you have an arsenal of very capable ghosts at your disposal who specialize at doing just that. The setting and the theme are amazing and even though the execution was a bit clunky (still quite good by 2003 standards) I can not for the life of me figure out why this game never caught on and why nobody made a sequel. You get to set people on (illusory) fire and watch panic ensue as spiders and ghosts and hurricane force winds and falling fish (and more) appear out of nowhere... who wouldn't want that? Granted there are some levels where you need to be strategic and not scare the mortals and while most of these levels are very particular about what will and will not work, the game as a whole is sweet candy.
The one of a kind God Game RTS, Populous The Beginning, (or Populous 3) is my favorite game from the legendary BULLFROG Studio. This 97 gem was ahead of its time and I have no idea how many hours I've logged on it but lets just say I've memorized each of the maps in the single player campaign and multiplayer matches. Basically, take a simple RTS where you control hoards of cavemen, add a shaman with god-like abilities, and a crazy physics engine and you have Populous 3.
The game's premise is played out in the intro cinematic. A young woman from a tribe of otherwise unremarkable cave persons is able to channel magic. She has visions of other worlds full of hostile tribes that would destroy them if left alone, so she becomes the shaman and leads her people to these other worlds to preemptively destroy their enemies picking up all manner of powerful magics along the way so that she can become a god and they will all live happily ever after (except for everyone on the worlds they burn on their interstellar / interplanar path to victory). It's not a very deep story, but it doesn't have to be.
Each map starts out with your shaman and a handful of villagers around your incarnation circle. As is customary in RTS games your villagers can build buildings, gather resources, and fight things (but are not good at fighting). In Populous they can do all this and train to become warriors, priests, spies, or firewarriors but unlike every other RTS everything they do they do with gusto! Their animations are hilarious and this is the first part of what makes this game so great. If they are building something they actually run around building it, not just hitting the ground next to it, they are literally running around the structure hammering things, hauling things, and jumping up and down to raise / lower the land. If the shaman walks by they immediately fall on their faces in reverence. If you tell them to attack they start running and screaming as fast as they can and then punch, kick, push, pull hair, fall over, roll, get up, run inside a building and shake it all to pieces until it collapses... they're super fun to watch.
You'll use your starting villagers to build huts which will produce more villagers over time depending on how many huts you have. Villagers living in huts allow your shaman to recharge spells faster and also increase the speed at which new villagers are spawned. Extra non-house villagers can be used to grab map spells from magic nodding head statues or trigger a map changing spell from a totem. These are often valuable in your fight against the enemy as they usually contain spells that would otherwise be unavailable. Each map also holds at least one vault which bestows the permanent knowledge of a new spell or building unto your shaman that she can take with her to all future levels. The formula for going through a level is simple, grab the goods in the vault(s) then use said goods to your advantage and kill everyone who is not your color.
The star of the show is your shaman. With an arsenal of spells at her disposal she will eventually be able to level entire cities and send hundreds of enemies to their deaths in the blink of an eye. Her starting spell is the humble fireball which will send small groups of enemies flying, killing villagers it directly hits, starting the pants on fire of enemies that survive (they run around waving their arms and screaming trying to put their pants out). If you are particularly skilled with your shots you can use the physics to your advantage and control which direction the enemies get flung, preferably down a hill for greater damage or into water / lava which is an instant kill. The fact that little people will be sent flying (sometimes quite spectacularly) and then run around yelling and screaming in terror makes this game an absurd amount of fun. Lets just say I wasn't the only one who played the demo over and over, perching my shaman in a tower on top of the hill overlooking the red village and spent hours tormenting the enemy. "Oh look, you just finished repair that house..." wait for everyone to go back in, LIGHTNING STRIKE! House catches fire (again), villagers run out yelling and screaming with their pants on fire. "Oh look, you're sending your army up the hill to kill my shaman..." FIREBALL they all roll back down the hill, many of them die. SWARM SPELL the survivors scatter yelling and screaming before swarms of wasps. Eventually you will be able to call down tornadoes that comically suck the roof off buildings, then suck up everyone inside the building, erode spells that will send buildings and people into the sea, and volcano which creates a lava spewing mountain in the middle of someone's town in addition to many other goodies that are not named here.
Although very powerful your shaman is also quite vulnerable and your enemies also have one shaman each who will be gunning for yours. A stray lightning bolt, falling into water, or straying a little too close to the enemy armies will quickly see her dead. She comes back at the reincarnation circle after a little while but your mortal warriors will have to contend with the enemy in her absence and the enemy team who killed her will get a substantial boost in spell regen for a short time.
It's worth mentioning that every map is spherical. You can zoom out and spin the map to get a satellite view of the action. This may throw new players but I thought it was freaking awesome, especially back in 1997. Similar to Planetary Annihilation, a spherical map means that you can expand, attack, and be attacked from any direction. Most of the beginning levels (and a few multiplayer levels) restrict this because both you and your enemies do not yet have the ability to build boats or hot air balloons. Oh, did I forget to mention that your shaman can cast spells from a mobile hot air balloon? Even once these options are unlocked the strategic affects of the spherical map isn't as potent as PA's.
It's also worth talking about what sort of strategic value can be had with the few unit types available. Villagers can be trained into one of 4 other units by telling them to go train at the appropriate building (they line up to go in one at a time). Warriors are your tough melee hoard members. They will punch, kick, push, and pull the hair of enemies, ganging up on them 3 to 1 if numbers permit and make short work of all but other warriors in melee combat. Firewarriors are ranged combatants whose fireball spell isn't nearly as powerful as your shaman's, but if they all fire at once it will wreck havoc on enemy armies and quite possibly send some into orbit. These are best placed behind your warriors or stationed in a tower which greatly increases their range and firepower. Preachers, instead of fighting, will pull out a holy book and preach to the enemy. All who hear their voice (and are not already in combat) will sit down to listen and over time they will swap there pants colour to join you. If an enemy shaman or preacher goes up and slaps your preacher (for blasphemy?) everyone who was sitting down to listen to him jumps to their feet and beat him up. Spies will appear to be friendly villagers to enemy players who view them but will start their buildings on fire until caught.
The selection is small and simple. The focus really isn't on the units but on your shaman and sort of mayhem you can unleash but don't discount what your army can do. Your shaman can only do so much and even in the late game the enemy shaman or a small group of enemies that get too close can put an end to her. A large army though, not only is that tactically sound but hilarious to watch as they push over buildings, send enemies flying, and possibly lay a beat down on the enemy shaman for you. (An army of preachers is also very frightening, just saying). Add to this the fact that your shaman can make them invisible and immune to spells and they can become nearly unstoppable.
The game ending Armageddon spell sends every player and all of their people into an arena to have it out. Winner takes all.
The computer doesn't play very smart but it was pretty good for 1997 AI. They mostly just sit back and let you build up, sending their shaman and a small raiding party to your village every so often. A well placed lightning bolt or swamp spell usually stops them before they get anywhere close to your village. Later in the campaign they are a bit more aggressive and the map terrain has you at a disadvantage. It's enough to be challenging to casual and beginning players but intermediate RTS players will be underwhelmed. Thankfully the campaign mixes it up with a puzzle map every so often in which you must win by figuring out the solution, usually under an unforgiving timer, instead of by power.
As for multiplayer this game was a blast. Who doesn't love sending hoards of yelling and screaming cavemen to your friend's village and who doesn't love blasting said hoards off a cliff? Who doesn't enjoy a spell slighathon of lightning, dragons, earthquakes, and tornadoes tearing up the map? This is where strategy and experimentation with the physics engine can yield incredible and hilarious results, especially with terraforming spells like land bridge, flatten, volcano, and erosion.
Populous 3 is not a serious strategy game, but it is incredibly fun and very well put together. You play this game for the physics and for messing with the poor little AI villagers. If you can stomach the graphics (which were pretty awesome back in 1997) then the campaign is fun, if a little samey by the end. If you have a group of friends who are willing to go in with you then this is a blast to play multiplayer.
Now there is a light theological point that needs to be addressed. Populous includes blatant idol worship. The little cavemen will literally fall down on their faces to worship the magic nodding heads, totems, and the shaman. Now for anyone who has read through their Bible you know that idol worship and the pursuit of magic are anathema and were a major point of contention between ancient Israel and her God. Obviously Christians should not worship idols so how could I recommend a game that includes idol worship?
My answer is that this is a silly caricature of idol worship in general, nothing that encourages, endorses, or even resembles Old Testament Baal / Ashera / Molech worship.
World of Tanks, World of Warplanes, and World of Warships. Three great games made by one company. As far as war simulation goes you will be hard pressed to find anything so robust, balanced, good looking, and exciting as these three titles. Each is uniquely different and all were crafted with love and care. Special attention was given to making these historical tanks, planes, and ships accurate and realistic but not to the point where realism throws off the balance of the game. The matches are quick and exciting with a moderate learning curve for new players and enough strategic depth to keep pro-gamers coming back for more. Each title is also free to play with a fair monetization model that does not interfere with gameplay. I have personally logged tons of time into these titles and am pleased to call them my action war simulations of choice.
World of Tanks
The first of the Wargaming series launched for PC in 2011. I originally scoffed at the game thinking it was some sort of World of Warcraft clone for tanks but was pleasantly surprised to find an action strategy World War 2 gem instead. Matches consist of two teams of fifteen players duking it out to either be the last team standing or to capture the enemy base before time ends. Playing smart, using terrain and cover to your advantage, and good teamwork are the keys to success.
World of Tanks rewards skill and teamwork. It is realistic enough that playing the game like an arcade will get you blown to bits in the first minute but the realism is offset by enough arcade gameplay to keep things balanced, fair, exciting, and fun. The mechanics take geometry and physics into account which makes positioning very important for deflecting enemy fire and landing critical hits on your enemy's more vulnerable components. Each vehicle is different and offers diverse styles of play.
Light Tanks are small and fast with great handling and superior spotting capability. They are ideal scouts and artillery hunters. Once an enemy has been spotted every team member within radio distance can see them, which makes these little guys an essential part of any team.
Medium Tanks are larger and more heavily armoured than their light cousins. Most can be upgraded to pack a heavy punch and are maneuverable enough to intercept lights and surround heavies.
Heavy Tanks are the backbone of a platoon, with thick armour and hard hitting shots they are a force to be reckoned with. Their lack of mobility and slower firing rate, makes them vulnerable if not supported.
Tank Destroyers are the snipers of the tank world. Their long range guns and heavy front armour make them deadly at a distance but lack of maneuverability and weak side and back armour make them vulnerable up close.
Artillery has little to no armour but carries the biggest punch of all. "Arty" can fire all the way across the map and destroy unwary enemy tanks in one shot. However, the reload time is agonizingly slow.
World of Tanks has seven tech trees full of authentic historical war vehicles to upgrade, customize, and master.
What sets world of tanks apart from the other two titles is the importance of cover and geometry. Despite what most cinematics for this game will show you the bulk of your time will be spent hiding behind cover, not zipping about going toe to toe with other tanks in the open. Positioning behind a sturdy building, trench, line of trees, or sand dune makes it so the enemy team can't see you and allows you to get off some good shots when they move about in the open. Cover is also important for deflecting enemy shots and keeping you safe from lethal artillery strikes. To do well in this game you need to minimize your tank's exposure to damage while also keeping line of fire on your enemies. This is more exciting than it sounds as you try to gauge when to re-position yourself either to move up with your team, gain line of sight over the next ridge, or avoid being surrounded. Likewise failing to properly scout enemy positions and just rushing forward can get you ambushed by enemies lying in wait. This game makes you think like you're in a real tank battle.
When a team works together the game is gold. Getting a surprise surround on a heavy tank and taking it out with two or three allies never gets old. Focus firing enemies with a platoon of friends safely out of the line of sight of the enemy team as your scout spots their locations is a blast. Getting into intensely close matches is always exciting. When your team is dysfunctional... well... thank goodness the match will probably be short.
World of Warplanes
The second of the Wargaming titles, this one was released in 2013. Much more than just 'World of Tanks' in the air, World of Warplanes looks and feels like an action filled dogfight simulation. Two teams of fifteen pilots each are tasked with either eliminating the other team or gaining victory points by destroying enemy ground targets. The action is fast but the controls are intuitive and players can choose between keyboard, mouse, and joystick without any real disadvantage putting everyone on equal footing. Warplanes is more arcade-like than World of Tanks but the simplification of flying a plane makes for exciting matches and a reasonable learning curve for new players.
The progression of Warplanes follows the same pattern as World of Tanks, you begin with access to the first planes that were used in WWII for a handful of nations including the US, Britain, Germany, Russia, and Japan. Each match you play earns you experience and silver according to your performance which can be used to research new components, upgrade your plane, and purchase consumables and new planes. There are four different classes of plane to choose from.
Fighters
The nimble fighter exercises aerobatic superiority, able to out maneuver larger planes in close combat and evade enemy fire with tight turns, barrel rolls, and other creative high-speed tricks. Fighters excel at getting into enemy blind spots and punishing less maneuverable targets for straying too close.
Multirole Fighers
An all-purpose fighter capable of filling multiple roles on a team. While less nimble than their smaller fighter cousins their larger design fields more powerful armaments and engine. Some can be outfitted with rockets and bombs or high caliber machine guns to damage ground targets. The key to playing this role is versatility.
Heavy Fighters
The hunters of the sky, these large fighters are usually equipped with two powerful engines, a devastating armament up front, and a rear gun to defend the back. Heavy Fighters are very fast and out perform other planes and high altitudes. Their low maneuverability makes them vulnerable to close combat but their speed and power make them ideal for high altitude diving and fly-by attacks. They can deal moderate damage to ground targets and some heavy fighters can be equipped with bombs.
Attack Aircraft
The anti-ground target aircraft, these large and heavily armoured aircraft boast heavy front machine guns, bombs, and rear gunners. The least maneuverable class, what they lack in speed and turning radius they make up for in armour, hit points, and firepower. Unwary fighters will find themselves quickly scrapped if they wander into the line of fire of one of these flying fortresses. Attack Aircraft are best played at either high or low altitudes to sneak past enemy planes on their way to important ground targets.
The matches are quick and fun, especially quick (and perhaps less fun) if you don't know what you're doing. World of Warplanes rewards player skill and proper use of flight dynamics. Different planes should use different tactics according to what they encounter and endlessly turning to get a shot on an enemy is an unimaginative and often easily countered tactic. The key to out maneuvering other pilots in equally performing aircraft is to use speed and potential energy against them. Put in layman's terms: "always try to stay above them." You have more potential energy if you are higher up. You can descend to pick up speed, out maneuvering your foe, and get some good shots off while they are either unable to hit you or have to use up their speed to climb up towards you. This is what makes heavy fighters so powerful, as they can climb higher and faster than other planes and then turn around and descend at very high speeds while enemies are either still and their original altitude level and most now evade or foolishly attempted to follow on the ascend and are sitting ducks because they used up all their speed.
The maps are understandably larger and more open than World of Tanks. Each map features a variety of terrain types which provide cover for low flying planes and hazards for low flying pursuers that range from canyons to trees to bridges. Both factions will be responsible for protecting several ground targets while attempting to destroy the ground targets of their enemy. For each enemy destroyed (plane or ground target) the victory count down speeds up in your team's favor. For each ally lost (plane or ground target) your victory timer is reset and the enemy's timer speeds up. Each team also has a head quarters which increases the accuracy of the various AA guns which automatically shoot at enemies within range. The HQ is a prime target for enemy attack aircraft.
Where you position yourself on the map has tactical value. Different planes perform better at different altitudes and there are ground features and cloud cover to mask your presence from the enemy team. When you are targeting an enemy the icons in the HUD will indicate their firepower, speed, and maneuverability in relation to you own which will greatly affect how you deal with that target. If you have superior firepower then a head on assault will be favorable but if you do not then you will need to evade their assault and try to hit them from a different angle. If you have superior speed then it will be easier to use altitude to your advantage and safely disengage from close combat. If you have superior maneuverability then it will be favorable to engage in close quarters dogfights with tight turns.
Teamwork is important in Warplanes. Attack Aircraft need to be escorted and zippy little fighters will quickly be scrapped out of the sky if they are solo and encounter a group of enemies. Enemy planes are easier to hit when they are zeroing in on an ally so breaking off from your current target to assist an ally is both helping your team and hurting the enemy more than if you had done otherwise. Situational awareness is also very important for navigating the angry swarm of enemies and allies in close quarters combat as collisions are fatal... and surprisingly common. I have witnessed too many allies colliding and killing each other while chasing a wily enemy pilot. Baiting enemy pilots with one or two low flying fighters may convince the entire squadron to descend and upon them up to attack from hidden allies up high.
Warplanes is my combat flight sim of choice. It's beautiful, fast, and fun. I love games that reward skill over luck or reflexes and Warplanes does just that. I like that it's realistic enough to feel like you're engaging in a dogfight but arcade-like enough to not have to bother with controlling multiple flaps, landing gear, and tail fins while also manning a machine gun. It's just pick up and go and while die-hard flight sim fans and history buffs will probably look down upon the liberties taken to make the game fast, fun, and balanced, I love it.
World of Warships
The newest game of the Wargaming series, World of Warships was recently released September 2015. After my exceptionally good experiences with World of Tanks and World of Warplanes I had high expectations for World of Warships and am pleased to say that it did not disappoint. Warships is, as far as I know, the only multiplayer modern naval combat sim in existence but it is also well made, with polish and depth just one would expect from Wargaming.net. Part World of Tanks, part Artillery sim, part slow motion chess, and part telepathy World of Warships is unique, engaging, and fun. Just like the games that have come before it Warships allows you to engage in 15 v 15 multiplayer battles and rewards teamwork and skill.
The layout and progression follows the same format as Tanks and Warplanes but with some notable exceptions. At the time of this writing Warships only has 2 nationalities, the US and Japan and you begin with their first tier cruisers. Every game you play nets you experience and silver according to your performance which you can use to upgrade your ship and unlock other ships through the national tech trees. Where warships differs from the others is that the game introduces upgrades, crew skills, and consumables one at a time as you level up making for a more gentle learning curve. In addition to this the tier of your ship does not have as great an effect on how you fair in combat and players have the option of teaming up against the AI (useful for trying out a new ship or upgrading from stock).
The maps are very large and even the low tier ships have guns with a firing range of 10km. Piloting your vessel through the water is a different experience than driving a tank or flying an airplane. It takes longer for your ship to gain and lose inertia which means that once you commit to an action you cannot take it back. This means that you always need to be thinking a few steps ahead, anticipating what the enemy will do and acting accordingly. The slower reaction time combined with the fact that most ships fire a dozen guns at once make the game feel epic rather than sluggish. These ships are titans of the sea and their grace and power make them feel the part.
Since the guns on your warship are so big you will be able to hit enemies from a fair distance. This means two things, first it means that you will need to fire where you think the enemy ship will be once your shots land, second it means that you need to be aware of enemy lines of fire or you will be taking shots from every part of the map. Similar to world of tanks it is important to stay in cover, although the cover for a battleship will be different than the cover for a Tiger I. Most maps in warships are dotted by islands big and small which will hide ships from view and block enemy fire. Destroyers are able to put down smoke screens to mask allies and a change in course soon enough can evade artillery fire.
Another interesting point that sets Warships apart from Tanks and Warplanes is the way to get critical hits against your foes. Every ship can fire either explosive rounds are armour penetrating rounds and the strength of your guns determines their effectiveness. If you are able to penetrate the armour of an enemy ship you can try to aim for the 'citadel' points (boiler rooms + gun magazines) for extreme damage. These citadel points are located directly below smoke stacks and gun turrets and the option to target them offers more skilled and daring captains a risk / reward scenario that always feels fantastic when pulled off successfully.
There are four different classes in World of Warships, each plays significantly different than the others.
Battleship
Historically battleships were made obsolete by torpedo carrying aircraft even while they were being created. In Warships though they function as the heavy hitting damage soakers that tear smaller ships to bits and can fire half way across the map. Equipped with multiple primary heavy artillery, a large arsenal of secondary short range guns, and AA defense these ships are big, heavily armoured, and slow. The thick armour on a battleship makes it invulnerable to critical strikes from all except other battleships. While powerful and boasting the most hitpoints and thickest armour the Battleship is vulnerable to torpedoes, bombers, and being surrounded by other ships. A smart Battleship captain will go with an escort and use his presence to support fellow team members and leading a charge, not going solo which is a good way to die.
Cruiser
Cruisers are the multipurpose ships capable of filling multiple support roles and acting as the natural counter to enemy destroyers. Smaller and lighter than battleships cruisers are faster and more maneuverable while still capable of firing full artillery salvos. Each cruiser is different, some are heavier and play like a fast firing mini battleship, some are very fast to hunt down destroyers and out maneuver larger ships, some have torpedoes, and some have special anti-aircraft guns. Cruisers play a very valuable support role for battleships and the team as a whole.
Destroyers
Destroyers are the stealthy killers of the seas. They are small, lightly armoured, very fast, and are capable of launching devastating torpedo attacks. Their low profile allows them to get closer to enemy ships without being spotted and their maneuverability makes them a difficult target to hit. Destroyers also come equipped with smoke screens and engine boosts to make them even more elusive. When firing torpedoes captains have the choice of using a wide or narrow spread to either maximize number of hits or chance of hitting. Torpedoes deal massive damage and will often cause enemies to flood taking additional damage over time. It is possible to sink a Battleship with full health by hitting with a full round of torpedoes.
Aircraft Carriers
Aircraft carriers play very differently than the other ships. Instead of firing artillery and trying to zoom your sights in on distant targets aircraft carriers zoom out to get a tactical view of the entire map and command squadrons of fighters, torpedo planes, and bombers. Aircraft carriers are powerful support class ships and the highest priority targets as they are capable of superior scouting, long distance torpedo attacks, and superior anti-aircraft defense.
So there we have it, three games, one review, all of them recommended on their own merit. The folks at Wargaming.net know their stuff. Their titles strike an excellent balance between historical realism and gameplay to make them exciting, challenging, balanced, beautiful, and fun. I love free to play games that actually let you play for free and have a quality experience, and Wargaming.net has put out three titles that do just that.
