While in Boston at PAX East there were so many booths that caught my eye, but there was only one that kept having me come back for more hands-on time. What game was this? It was the game Dreadnought created by Yager Development. As you can see in the picture below that is one of the many ships playable with-in the game. With so much happening in the game there is so much I’d love to write about it. However, this is a preview so I’ll be hitting as many areas as I can.
Personally, I can’t wait for this game to finally come out. If I had the chance to have a build of the game on my PC you wouldn’t see me writing this since I would be busy playing.
Now you may be asking yourself, what is Dreadnought? Dreadnought is a combat flight simulator game, which will be coming to PC later this year. While the game seems to be only multiplayer I can hope more features are announced to increase the replay value. Though since this isn’t a full game and only a fraction of what’s within the game there is more to it. There is nothing like a 5 on 5 battle between two teams. Later in this preview you’ll get to see some game-play from PAX East by yours truly. How is the game played? While in the build I played there was a limited number of ships to play, but even so it was just right. I’ve heard there will be more than the list below, but we’ll have to wait for the announcement or the beta to see them. What type of classes are in the game Dreadnought? Each class has a variety of ships, which include a light, medium and heavy attack ship. Here are just some of the ships playable in the build at PAX East 2015.
Ships in build of game:
- Heavy Dreadnought – Monarch class
- Medium Corvette – Fulgore class
- Light Destroyer – Vulcan class
- Medium Artillery cruiser – Svarog class
- Light Tactical Cruiser – Defender class
Classes are:
- Destroyer
- Dreadnought
- Tactical cruiser (healer)
- Corvette (scout)
- Artillery
Each is played differently, but my main choice was always Corvette and Artillery. However, while playing I would take a crack at being the Dreadnought in the picture below. I really sucked at being a Heavy class ship since I was better at sneaking around and taking out the enemies as a scout. The scout alone has the abilities such as cloaking so you can quickly get behind the enemy and take them down. As for the Dreadnought in the picture below. The ship packs in a punch and has high defense and it’s something not to mess with unless you got a few team members with you to take it down. Though it was interesting to have at one time the enemy team being all Dreadnoughts. It was fun yet hard to really get in without a couple dozen missiles being locked on.
The Artillery is interesting on its own since with any shooter there is always a class for snipping. Do you like to sit back and help out your teammates and take a little fire so they can sneak around? This would be the class of your choice, while its speed is slow you can sit back and avoid damage unless a scout gets close to you. As I’ve said all classes have an ability and for this ship its to drop. What do I mean? Let’s say I as a scout got near you and started to attack you, you push 1 on your keyboard and you’ll drop for a distance so you can have that small chance of getting away from my ship. While I’d like to get into the other ships provided in the build at PAX East I’ve only had more time with the two than the ones provided.
The plus side while playing is that once your ship is destroyed you can come back as the same ship or pick a different one. As with any shooter, of course, but it would be cool to see a mode in which you can only spawn as the one you picked at the start of the match. I’m going to now touch base on the controls of the game, which are quite simple. You’ll be using your mouse to change camera angle, WSAD for your directions, 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be your choice of abilities you can use in-game. Some will require you to be close to a ship for a lock-on with a cool down after. Other abilities you can use at any time with a cool down between each use. Q will let you change your weapon on the ship, while some do a barrage of fire, the other mode might something that’s more precise when being fired. As for E within the game that will bring up an option for you to transfer power. I often used E and selected to transfer my power to speed so I could quickly get behind the enemy, but other powers are adding more damage power and even turning on your shield.
As you can see with the graphics from each picture you’ll be pretty amazed at the quality. Of course at PAX East it stated it was a pre-alpha build of the game and with the look and play-ability of the game alone I’m sold. If you’re wanting to see some game-play in very great quality you can watch a few matches of me playing live on the show floor in the video below. I’ll be looking forward to the beta and the final release later this year. You’ll most likely see me and a few staff members here on Marooners’ Rock trash talking as we play. We can’t wait to have more hands-on time with Dreadnought so you can be sure to expect a review once the game is finally released.
