All aboard the D.S. Flexington

I’ve a mushy spot for naval warfare. I attribute this to both the hours I pumped into Microsoft Fight Flight Simulator 2 or that point my appendix determined it was time to return out whereas I had P.T.O.: Pacific Theatre of Operations rented on SNES. Nice reminiscences.

I don’t, nevertheless, discover myself drawn to naval simulators. I would like a while to mirror on this thought, however within the meantime, Waves of Metal found out a solution to ramp over that barrier and into my coronary heart. It simply wanted a solution to make naval warfare extra radical.

Waves of Metal (PC)
Developer: TMA Video games
Writer: TMA Video games
Launched: February 6, 2023
MSRP: $19.99

Whereas Waves of Metal sells itself on the promise of kickflipping warships, its buildup to ridiculousness is way more gradual than it lets on. Issues begin off with out you even being able to customise your ship. You’re merely despatched into battle with a pre-built ship, and issues appear fairly unfastened however regular. Don’t fear, that gained’t final lengthy.

Waves of Metal is a recreation that will get by on its customization factor, and it is aware of precisely what gamers are going to do with that. You choose up further components as they’re dropped by enemies, however if you happen to’re actually intrepid, you’ll plumb the environments for secrets and techniques. Sometimes, the strangest weapons are present in these secret treasures. Stuff like a drill for the entrance of your ship and even the mighty kickflip are present in these secret caches.

You gained’t be capable to go fully bananas, nevertheless. Waves of Metal is fairly cautious about what it is going to allow you to get away with. The components which might be dropped aren’t solely random; every mission has particular ones that it’ll drop. This implies, you’ll be able to’t simply grind earlier ranges to play the RNG for the very best components. You gained’t get them till later.

Likewise, the quantity you’ll be able to plug onto your ship is restricted to how a lot weight its hull can carry. If you would like the largest armaments, you would possibly have to sacrifice luxuries elsewhere. Whereas a general-purpose ship will get you furthest, if you happen to’re actually caught on a mission, dropping into the ship maker and creating one thing that’s tailored for no matter impediment you’re rubbing up in opposition to may be your greatest wager for achievement.

Ship them to Davey Jones’ locker

Moderately than set itself as alternate historical past, Waves of Metal tells the story of an odd group, Jormungandr, slowly overtaking the world’s militaries. Appropriately, Jormungandr’s profitable technique is “extra ships,” and there’s really a proof each for the way they crew such an enormous fleet and produce so many warships.

There’s a unusually heavy concentrate on narrative, and in opposition to all purpose, it’s not dangerous. Whereas it largely serves as a framework for the motion, the narrative units up some fulfilling characters and units most of them up with worthwhile growth.

It’s mild fare, nevertheless. The forged is about as much as be as numerous as potential, and the plot intentionally avoids mentioning any potential atrocities that may come up from a fascist faction regularly gaining management of the globe. It’s a blatantly principled story, which struck me as relatively refreshing. Whereas I don’t frequently flip my nostril up at tales rife with martyrdom and darkness, I admire when a story proves that these issues aren’t mandatory to inform one thing compelling. Nessa Cannon is proving to be a worthwhile author to look at, having additionally lent her pen to Endoparasitic.

All fingers higher discover one thing to carry onto

As fulfilling because the story may be, it’s undoubtedly not the main focus right here. No, it’s huge naval battles. Regardless of the infinite plenty of enemies, you’re usually alone for a lot of the marketing campaign. Lots of the missions have you ever bombarding bases and sinking swarms of dangerous boats. The marketing campaign is prolonged at round 15 hours if you happen to’re taking your time, however there’s numerous selection on show. A lot of the actually outrageous stuff occurs within the ultimate stretch, however relaxation assured, you’ll be taking down a hover service inside the first couple of hours.

The customization does get actually good. Past merely slapping higher engines and extra weapons onto your ships, you’ll be able to select their colours, flags, and even import your personal designs. The ship editor can get a bit finicky, but it surely’s simple sufficient to make use of that I by no means had a lot situation delving again in to make a wholly new ship from scratch.

Nonetheless, this leads considerably to my greatest situation with Waves of Metal; it’s as ugly as a deep-sea fish. Each the graphics and presentation are sinful. A number of the fashions are simply lined in flat textures, and the lighting results don’t play nicely with it. The water appears to be like okay, which is sweet because you’ll be taking a look at it quite a bit. Nonetheless, the UI is horrible. I’m not the kind to fixate on this type of factor, however I couldn’t recover from the selection of font. Often, after I’m considering of the way a recreation might enhance the ultimate product, UI isn’t excessive on the record, however right here, it’s the highest entry.

It’s useful, however that’s so far as I’d go along with reward. The drab graphics at the least imply that there’s a metric gigaton of components and options to mess around with, however the visible eccentricities can actually be distracting.

You’re good. You’re good. You’re good.

Waves of Metal delivered splendidly on what it promised. I got here right here for a ridiculous naval warfare recreation the place I might strap a wall of weapons to a bathtub, and I acquired precisely what I wished. It’s a light-weight, straight-to-the-point title that merely needs to entertain. Regardless of that, it manages to be considerate and well-measured. It’s layers upon layers of leisure.

I’m hoping that TMA Video games continues with the idea, whether or not increasing Waves of Metal with further content material and quality-of-life additions or if it strikes onto a sequel that additional explores the ideas they’ve put collectively right here. Within the meantime, I feel it’s time I gave a more in-depth take a look at the naval warfare subgenre. It looks like one thing I might sink my fleet into.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}