Piracy... I think it's safe to say in the world we live in today that the majority of people who own a PC have dipped their toes in the salty depths of piracy at some point in their lives. Whether it be a film, a game, an album or 2. But there was a time when Piracy was more taboo, and the punishment was far more severe. I mean times have changed, nowadays you get a disgruntled letter from your ISP, go back 150 years and you'd be hung in chains.
Anyway recently i've
been watching Black Sails. I had heard of it before but never watched it and so
was a bit of a latecomer to the series. After the first couple of episodes I
was completely addicted and binge watched every series and episode up to present
date. It's safe to say i'm thoroughly enjoying it. After the great binge I was
chatting to Rich and said wouldn't it be great if there was a game where you
could set sail in a ship in an mmo style format with a huge map and plunder
till your hearts content. Well the very next day Naval Action was released on
steam and Rich sent me the link. (Eerie I know) I bought us both a copy as the
chub in my trousers said we need to play this......now!!!
So here I am a few weeks after release just doing a small write up about what i have found with this game, my experience, my opinions and so forth.
Naval Action is created by Game-Labs which if you haven't heard of are a studio based in Kiev who have also brought you the title Ultimate General. It's made up of staff who have previously worked on: Darthmod, World of Warplanes, World of Tanks, RaceRoom, IL2-Sturmovik, Metro and Stalker to name a few.
So here I am a few weeks after release just doing a small write up about what i have found with this game, my experience, my opinions and so forth.
Naval Action is created by Game-Labs which if you haven't heard of are a studio based in Kiev who have also brought you the title Ultimate General. It's made up of staff who have previously worked on: Darthmod, World of Warplanes, World of Tanks, RaceRoom, IL2-Sturmovik, Metro and Stalker to name a few.
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Your first ship a
Cutter (Great Britain) Small fast but built of paper...
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Naval Action is an MMO which puts the player, as a captain of a ship,
for a chosen nation, in the middle of the Caribbean. From here in the Open
World you are free to explore, fight, trade, and craft. Depending on the Nation
you chose to play as, you start at a different home port.
Nations you can play as:
Nations you can play as:
- Britain
- France
- Spain
- United States
- Denmark
- Holland
- Sweden
I chose to place as Great Britain as I'm British and have always been keen on
history and especially the history of the British Empire, and its navy around
the time.
Each of those Dots are a Port, I think to sail from the top by South Carolina Down to Venezuela or Panama if you can navigate would take 4-5 hours. HUGE!!!
Each of those Dots are a Port, I think to sail from the top by South Carolina Down to Venezuela or Panama if you can navigate would take 4-5 hours. HUGE!!!
Now the rules are
simple each nation has a home capital and depending on who you are fighting
for, has a number of ports in regions of the Caribbean. The idea is to expand
your nations reach across the seas which for the most part is done by capturing
ports from other countries which opens up new resources and trading
possibilities. Fighting for these nations has a great deal of camaraderie, if
you see a fellow captains trade ship being hunted down by a group of enemy
ships a quick type in your countries chat box and you'll see a mass of ships come
together from miles around to help and repel the hunters. Everyone is willing
to help each other due to the fact that 20 mins later it could be them being
hunted down, and them asking for support.
Cerberus 5th Rate Frigate Supporting a Trade ship under attack...
Now the game has a somewhat sinister side to it as well for example say a British Traders Brigg is in trouble its carrying precious cargo and it's being hunted by a French Renommee Frigate. The Frigate is fast the Traders Brigg although very fast itself just isn't going to out run the Renommee. So the Brigg crys for help, and you respond you're in the area and have nothing better to do, you're sailing a British Bellona Third Rate, ok you are no where near as fast as the Renommee but you out gun them by a huge amount, he doesn't pose a threat long as you keep him in your broadsides aim.
Now the game has a somewhat sinister side to it as well for example say a British Traders Brigg is in trouble its carrying precious cargo and it's being hunted by a French Renommee Frigate. The Frigate is fast the Traders Brigg although very fast itself just isn't going to out run the Renommee. So the Brigg crys for help, and you respond you're in the area and have nothing better to do, you're sailing a British Bellona Third Rate, ok you are no where near as fast as the Renommee but you out gun them by a huge amount, he doesn't pose a threat long as you keep him in your broadsides aim.
So you fight, you sink the
Renommee, you end up chatting to the Traders Brigg he accidently slips and
tells you what hes carrying in his cargo hold and you decide, it would make a
fitting reward for the work you just undertook. So you turn on the Traders
Brigg which doesn't put up any fight, and you take the Cargo for yourself. So
you've created a Blue on Blue encounter you've stolen what isnt yours, which
now has lead to you becoming a Pirate. Now the Pirate rules are different in
the sense that there arn't many. Pirates can fight other nations like the other
nations can, they can also capture ports and expand the Pirates reach across
the caribbean. But pirates can also fight other pirates, meaning the
camaraderie isn't quite as clear cut as the main nations. So you have to be
weary about who you make friends with as a pirate.
Not so friendly Pirates chasing...
Once you've explored the starting location and home port of which ever nation you chose, you are going to want to start some missions and begin to get some XP to start leveling up. Now this is the kick in the teeth but it is a pain stakingly long ass grind. Which on average takes about 8 hours to go up one rank, yes 8 hours.....8. I mean in its defence there aren't many ranks, only 10 going from (as the British) Midshipman to Rear Admiral. It's not like CoD which has about 70 odd ranks so by the end you are Admiral Super Sayan General Commander Cheif XXIV. But I guess we've been spoilt with the likes of CoD in the sense where its a only a small XP grind and you get some more toys to play with.
Now with every rank you go up you get more crew, more crew equals bigger ships. You can actually if you have the gold buy any ship you like at any rank at any point in the game so say i was Rank 1 a Midshipman i could go buy a 1st Rate Victory for like a Million Gold and set sail from Port Royal and see how far i get. The issue is the Victory needs 850 crew to be fully operational, The rank of Midshipman gives you a following of 40 men, which means it would take a life time to set sail, turn, reload canons. you'd be a sitting duck for anyone who can see that a midshipman can't captain a Victory. You would be quickly boarded and have your Victory taken from you, there would be tears. and nothing you could do to stop it.
Once you have done a few missions on your own, try to make some friends and try and get a small fleet working together doing missions together takes the grind away and is much more fun playing with friends than on your own, the game forces you to try and make friends after 3-4 ranks or so by taking away your AI fleet which will help you on the early missions till you find your sea legs
Team work equals Pirate Sandwiches...Om Nom Nom...
Two Clans coming together to support each other repelling a Pirate assault.
If you join a clan they really open the game up for you and truly unlock the potential of Naval Action and that's when the game really comes to life. Similar to how EVE works its OK on your own but if you can make friends get in a group then eventually join a clan the game all of a sudden opens right up and you can see all the possibilities, enabling you to join clan wars where 60 ships can meet and go head to head for territory gain or defense.
Renommee 5th Rate Frigate using its speed to get out of trouble...
Anyway I'm going to sum this up. Love the game, love the potential as this is still alpha, word on the grape vine is they will be bringing in diplomacy soon which hopefully will have an awesome twist to how the nations are ran by the bigger clans and also on a smaller individual scale. Love the graphics, the sounds, the attention to detail on the ships, love the camaraderie of the players. what i don't love so much, the XP grind can be a bitch, try and play with friends takes the sting off of it. It has its occasional bugs but its an alpha. The game has zero official help or manual or how to get started guide what so ever, so relies on the community to provide that for you, YouTube, Unofficial wiki's and of course ask in game on the help chat group. Other than that, I'm loving it. thoroughly worth the investment if you like EVE style MMO's or fancy being Charles Vane.
Bye for now
George...Something... Something... Something...
Anyway I'm going to sum this up. Love the game, love the potential as this is still alpha, word on the grape vine is they will be bringing in diplomacy soon which hopefully will have an awesome twist to how the nations are ran by the bigger clans and also on a smaller individual scale. Love the graphics, the sounds, the attention to detail on the ships, love the camaraderie of the players. what i don't love so much, the XP grind can be a bitch, try and play with friends takes the sting off of it. It has its occasional bugs but its an alpha. The game has zero official help or manual or how to get started guide what so ever, so relies on the community to provide that for you, YouTube, Unofficial wiki's and of course ask in game on the help chat group. Other than that, I'm loving it. thoroughly worth the investment if you like EVE style MMO's or fancy being Charles Vane.
Bye for now
George...Something... Something... Something...
