By Nathan Grayson on February 1st, 2013 at 10:00 am.
You know, for all their Poseidon-defying majesty, there aren’t actually that many games about boats. I mean, sure, there are some sims, and World of Warships is on the way at some point, but the most recent high profile bout of virtual Boat-Fu that springs to my mind is, um, Assassin’s Creed III. And those parts were super great! The rest? Not so much. But still, we need more boat games. That is my decree. And Paradox, ever the opportunistic purveyor of digital delights, has decided to heed my call. With itsy bitsy baby toy boats. They’re BIG baby boats, though. Somehow. I mean, the name Leviathan: Warships doesn’t really conjure up images of rubber duckies and bubble wand adventures, now does it? But then, it also doesn’t really make me think of turn-based strategy, even though that’s exactly what it is.
So, first things first: Paradox is developing this one with a big eye toward cross-platform play between PC, mobile, and tablets. Wait, don’t leave! It actually sounds kind of promising. There’s both co-op and competitive options, and all of them span each platform in whatever configuration you’d like. Plus, saves transfer between PC, Mac, iPad, and Android, kept afloat by the gentle sea of clouds that now envelops all our existences. But how does it play? Well, kinda like this:
“Leviathan: Warships is a strategic action game where players can build and customize their own fleet of warships to play with or against their friends. Play together in the co-op campaign missions against the growing Marauder threat or fight through special Challenge Missions with your friends. If you rather want to test your admiral capabilities, you can fight against your friends or foes in multiplayer skirmishes across 14 different maps.”
So it sounds like a pretty standard selection of options, though I worry it could end up slightly barebones – especially given Paradox’s recent track record in that respect. I do like the dedication to true, non-Windows-8-gated interaction between devices, though. Also, boats! Have I mentioned that I like boats? Oh, wait. OK, I just noticed that Leviathan’s official tagline is “Ship Just Got Real.”
Maybe I don’t like boats anymore.
01/02/2013 at 10:07 pakoito says:
I like the design and mechanics, I just hate the naval battles theme ;____;
Will try and play anyway, it’s going to be F2P.
01/02/2013 at 18:56 Triplanetary says:
Who the hell hates naval battles? (I mean, you, obviously. I was using a rhetorical device.)
01/02/2013 at 10:11 Mrs Columbo says:
This floats my boat.
01/02/2013 at 10:28 Squishpoke says:
It’s all sink or swim from this point onwards.
01/02/2013 at 10:33 Arathain says:
I’m not sure about getting this one. Maybe I should wait for a sail.
01/02/2013 at 12:05 Gap Gen says:
Luckily for you this doesn’t seem to be developed by Ironclad.
01/02/2013 at 12:12 wolfinexile says:
I dunno about you but I can’t wait to sea this game ship.
01/02/2013 at 12:24 Fanbuoy says:
Me neither. I’ll devour everything Paradox throws at me. I’m a total fanbuoy. (I can’t believe I got to use that one!!!)
01/02/2013 at 12:55 DarkFenix says:
Well you should keep an eye out for beta quays then.
01/02/2013 at 15:08 squareking says:
I like the cut of this game’s jib.
01/02/2013 at 15:36 Llewyn says:
Yes, it’s good to see the TBS boom continue.
02/02/2013 at 13:17 yurusei says:
It’ll definitely pick up steam once released. I see a wave of new fans.
01/02/2013 at 16:21 Bweahns says:
I think many will soon bow to Paradox after they play this game and no longer be so stern. Paradox can truly be prowd about this game. Propeller.
01/02/2013 at 10:30 frightlever says:
I used to play a sea battle game on my BBC B. Can’t remember the name of it.
Ironclads is a fairly well-established ship combat franchise which goes in a very different direction:
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/8211/
01/02/2013 at 10:35 Gurrah says:
‘But still, we need more boat games.’ – absolutely! Naval battles in Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander were amazing. Can’t wait for World of Warships.
01/02/2013 at 11:23 Sc0r says:
It also looks kind of like Supreme Commander
01/02/2013 at 12:37 Gap Gen says:
I heard fairly luke-warm things about Arctic Circle, which is a shame as it looks like an interesting concept.
01/02/2013 at 15:58 KDR_11k says:
Stellar Impact was pretty much naval combat IN SPACE. Combat is about broadsides and slowly turning behemoths, of course with some active abilities strewn in. It’s a MOBA but more accessible than DotA and such because there’s no direct level grinding, the tech level goes up by holding onto capturable objectives and there are no items to buy, just direct upgrades to ship aspects and the faction in general.
01/02/2013 at 10:42 Christo4 says:
Does Sins of a Solar Empire count as a boat simulator? Because they pretty much are boats… Just in space!
01/02/2013 at 11:04 f1x says:
Paradox got the right direction in terms of launching “original” games, I just wish they could put more effort into every game
A game of Dwarves could’ve been great if they actually invested more on it
01/02/2013 at 11:12 Hmm-Hmm. says:
No oceans! We do have a sea, though, apparently.
01/02/2013 at 12:21 solidsquid says:
Annoyed they stole your original tag line for the article?
01/02/2013 at 12:33 peanut says:
The ‘Pirates!’ games always had a fair bit of boaty content.
01/02/2013 at 13:43 Lord Custard Smingleigh says:
I think any game which has mobile things with turrets is automatically superior to a game which does not have mobile things with turrets.
If you care to dispute me, bring your finest facts and we shall have facticuffs.
01/02/2013 at 19:26 Rich says:
Indeed. There’re a whole load of sports games out there that I have no interest in. If they included mobile things with turrets, then my level of interest would increase substantially.
01/02/2013 at 14:10 maninahat says:
The problem with most naval games is that they like to remove you from the action, and put you in a high altitude, standard strategy set up. Personally, I prefer the more immediate tactics in naval simulators, like Silent Hunter III, which actually put you in the damn boat. That way, you get a sense of peril when being fired upon, and a sense of satisfaction when you hear your own guns firing about you. I might try out AC3 just for that opportunity in the naval sections. What I really want though, is to be in the Admiral’s seat on a major flag ship.
01/02/2013 at 14:18 Koozer says:
TBS? Sold! I’ll take anything I can get.
(I don’t have a problem, I can stop pressing End Turn any time I like!)
01/02/2013 at 15:01 Lev Astov says:
Blah! Everything about this is right up my alley, except that it’s turn based. I’m horrible at turn based strategy games. I’ll still give it a go, though.
01/02/2013 at 15:40 Reapy says:
This reminded me immediately of the “Leviathans” game I stumbled upon on board game geek. I thought it would make an interesting pc game actually.
I saw this session report on the site that I really enjoyed looking through to get a feel for the game.
01/02/2013 at 16:25 Master_of_None says:
For some reason the terrain/water graphics look to me like what the Godus team is going for.
01/02/2013 at 18:35 Joshua Northey says:
I hope there is construction and resource management. Those always add a lot to light combat strategy games for me.
04/02/2013 at 19:56 Vercinger says:
“Wait, don’t leave!”
I left.