Every once in a while you have the opportunity to play a new game that you hadn’t touched before. To be honest, I didn’t think I would ever play this game, because there were just so many other games out there to play, and some that were similar to this one. Games like World of Tanks, Star Conflict, and War Thunder are out there with bigger crowds of people to play with. Sometimes that is what drives people to or from a game. Dreadnought does bring its own features to the ship battle game type though.
From Developers Yager Development, Six Foot, and YAGER, and Publisher Grey Box comes the first true capital ship battler. In this free to play MMO, you will take control over different types of heavy ships called Dreadnoughts. As the game's namesake, it will not disappoint as you pick your ships, level them up, and take them into battle against other similarly tiered ships. Released originally on PlayStation 4 in December 2017, Dreadnought has now been officially released on Microsoft Windows as of October 2018. With this release comes a new wave of players ready to take the dive into the battles yet to come.
Dreadnought starts with a brief tutorial mode, and some a very well done set of voiceovers. It explains to you what you have to do in terms of flying, and fighting. Along with the release comes some new UI improvements, updated audio, and balance enhancements are just the tip of the iceberg or asteroid? Much like the games mentioned previously, Dreadnought is similar in many ways. There is a tech tree that you can walk through with your battle points and credits. You will be able to upgrade the weapons that you have on your ship, and then once you upgrade enough your ship can also be upgraded.
There are three manufacturers of ships in this game that you can pick from. Jupiter Arms, Oberon, and Akula Vektor bring different levels and types of ships for you to use. From Corvettes to Sniper Ships to Dreadnoughts, you will be able to pick any of the starter ships that you want to play, and then you will level them up. When you level up enough equipment on the ship level you can then move on to the next tier ship. You will go from tier 1 to tier 2, and so on and so forth. As you can see in the chart there are recruit level ships all the way up to hero ships. Also depending on which type of ship you choose there will be tech trees for those ships weapons and powers as well. Fight your way through your enemies to gain experience and credits to purchase your upgrades. The better you do in a fight, the more you can earn to better your ship.
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Once you have earned enough points and leveled up enough ships you have the chance to unlock the mighty hero ships. Each hero ship brings its own identity to the battlefield. With different and powerful weapons, sleek individual designs, and overall heavy hitting power you will find out why they call them hero ships. Taking one down in battle will take a lot of coordination and teamwork from everyone on your team. Take one down and take out the other ships to win the battle. Remember each ship has its own style of play. One ship is designed for close-quarters dominance, while another is set up to take you out from long range, and another is designed to shove their torpedoes down your throat.
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Dreadnought currently offers a few different ways to play the game, all of which are multiplayer at this time. Team Deathmatch, Team Elimination, Onslaught, and Proving Grounds are the choices you are given to play with and against other human players. TDM will pit you against other players where your team will have to get as many kills as possible. The team with the most kills at the end of the time limit, or score limit, will win the battle. Elimination will have your team going against another team where you have to take out the capital ships to win the round. This is a best of three rounds mode, so make sure you don’t lose! Onslaught is a massive mode where you play against humans and AI alike to dominate the skies or space. Proving grounds is exactly what you would expect, a way to hone your skills and try out new weapons against only AI controlled ships. Each mode is normally set at 8v8 which means a total of 16 players could be active per match.
Overall, Dreadnought is a capital ship battler set in the future where giant ships dominate the galaxy. Each different ship will offer you a different way to play, and more options as you upgrade. Currently only available on PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, Dreadnought is a free to play game with optional packs to buy, and premium services to purchase to increase the number of rewards you receive. If you want to get away from the real world games like War Thunder and the World of series of games, give this one a try.
