I’m hoping for something with some of the depth of Port Royale or the Patrician series, but with the fun of Sid Meier’s Pirates. Details are still sketchy at this point, but from what the developers have published, we can expect the game will let you sail from island to island, exploring, trading, fighting, or even engaging in good old piracy. Naval Action will eventually grow beyond just being a multiplayer arena, with the addition of a promised Open World mode. Or, at least, the more I understand how I got out-sailed and sunk. I previously had very little interest in the Age of Sail, but Naval Action inspired me to read as much as I could-I’ve been reading the Horatio Hornblower series, the Aubrey/Maturin novels, and Six Frigates, the history of the early US Navy-and it’s gratifying that, the more I know about the era, the better I get at the game. To be honest, I’m still not a very good sailor, but it’s a mark of just how much fun the game is that I can be bad at it but still want to keep playing. Again, luckily, the community is there for you I highly recommend the video series by RamJB as introductions to how to do all those complicated things that steamships don’t have to fret over. Just like a real captain of the era, you have to pay very close attention to the wind direction and understand how to place your ship at the optimal angle, how to tack, and how to manually angle your sails. The depth, which may frustrate a newcomer, is where the real meat of the game can be found. Where things get complicated and deep is when you get into larger, square-rigged ships and need to deal with things like manual sails. And to sail the small starting ships, that’s all you really need to know. Changing ammunition types, controlling your crew, and activating special abilities are done through the number keys. That said, once you know them, the controls are intuitive and easy to remember (w and s increase and decrease sails, a and d operate your rudder), and simple navigation and aiming your guns will come easily to you.
One complaint is that there’s no real manual or tutorial-it’s virtually mandatory that you watch YouTube videos or read forums and blogs before getting started-but this is a very early Alpha/Beta product, so I can excuse the lack of documentation. Your ship is alive with sound and motion: crewmen serve the guns, sails billow in the wind, timbers creak, and the bosun’s pipe sounds out your orders. The second thing you’ll notice while getting used to the control scheme (more on that later) is how immersed you are in the game’s world. Luckily, the game has a thriving YouTube community if you want to see for yourself. Static screenshots don’t fully do it justice-you have to see the ships in motion to appreciate them. Even on low graphics settings it looks nice, thanks to solid art direction, but on maximum settings it is jaw-droppingly pretty. The first thing you’ll notice upon joining a game is how lovely it is to watch. If the Open World is anywhere near as good as the fighting we have right now, this game will be brilliant. In its current form, it’s just a multiplayer team death match, though developer Game Labs is hard at work at an Open World mode that will allow players to sail the open sea to explore, trade, or fight as they please. Naval Action is a beautiful multiplayer game that puts you at the wheel of a man-of-war from the Age of Sail, from a tiny Lynx or cutter to the colossal Santisima Trinidad. I crack a predatory grin as I bring the ship back around to starboard, preparing to give him another raking. A single gun booms as I check the range, then I unleash a smashing broadside, sending up a fountain of wood chips and debris from the enemy ship. The ship’s timbers groan as I bring her hard to port, sliding in onto the stern of an enemy frigate.
The bosun’s whistle pipes as I order Battle Sails. Unlocking higher end ships requires a long grind. Worrying: Steep learning curve with no tutorial or manual (yet). Open World (in development) sounds like fun. Intuitive controls, but deep and challenging gameplay. $30, but preorders are temporarily suspended at the time of this writing see note at end of preview. Naval Action – MMO Preview By Matt Richardson
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