Warship Gunner 2 Preview

Sixty stages, 100 missions, 100 new aircraft, 250 new ship upgrades, and over 1,000 components. That might sound like nothing more than an overabundance of statistics, but it is actually the core ingredients of the sequel to Naval Ops: Warship Gunner. The sequel, titled Warship Gunner 2, is an action-oriented war game with plenty of deep tactical requirements to keep you on the edge of your seat.

The game is a little confusing at first, with more options than you can shake a frigate at. A frigate, for those of you who were wondering, is a vessel type similar to destroyers. They're designed to protect other warships and convoys, and are said to be most useful in anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). 

Warship Gunner 2 is moderately difficult to learn, and it's going to be very difficult to master. There are a lot of elements that most war games never approach, like being able to customize the bridges of ally warships. Electronics, propulsion, aircraft, ship hulls, and a couple of other features may be customized to your liking. (Hence the need for 1,000+ components.)

Torpedoes, machine guns, depth charges, high-elevation guns, sonar and radar -- these and other tools and weapons may be applied to your ship for optimum performance. Take advantage of five different types of aircraft for greater attack and defensive measures. The aircraft types include fighters, bombers, interceptors, reconnaissance, and helicopters.

Once out on the open sea you'll have dozens of ways of dealing with each situation. Automatic steering: yes/no? Attack now, or wait till you get closer to the enemy? Retreat when surrounded, or fight to the death?

Several icons and symbols appear on the screen, none of which are overly clear as to what they are at first. Warship Gunner 2 provides several tutorial options on the mode select screen, and as complex as they are they are definitely worth taking the time to complete. Should you choose to skip them, the game will try to help you along by teaching the necessary functions to get started. This is a lengthy (but vital) tutorial that takes some time to get through, and takes even longer to understand. Each section of the tutorial (yes, it's divided into sections) may be skipped, but doing so means you'll miss out on a lot of information.

Fortunately for eager gamers there are several difficulty levels, ranging from very easy to very hard, that'll help you out in that trial-and-error phase.  

Controlling the ship is a different kind of experience than you have had in other war games. Since the actions are based on one-touch buttons and/or on-screen displays, the camera is free and highly flexible. You can change the view at virtually any time. Zoom out to get a wide view of the sea. Spot your enemies with a close view. Spin the camera around and adjust its angle while fighting to survive. This probably doesn't sound like much, and in a perfect world where all games were equal in camera control it wouldn't be worth mentioning. Warship Gunner 2, however, is one of the few games that lets you take full control over every aspect – the camera view being one of the most important. 

Warship Gunner 2's graphics don't go above and beyond what the PlayStation 2 can handle, so chances are you've seen these effects before. Chances are, however, that you have not seen realistic-looking water in a long time. This game spends its life on the sea, making water a key ingredient to its visual package. It delivers the goods with a nice, realistic texture that gives the water a rough appearance. Its waves appear to be random, changing in size frequently. One minute the water will be somewhat calm, then it gets harsher with larger waves that rock the ship back and forth. Shots come flying in with an amount of intensity, blasting your ship with an unexpected force – or blasting the ships of your enemies, if you're the one who launched the attack.

Warship Gunner 2 is also noteworthy for its score, which is sounding like a cross between war films and the PSone/PS2/PC classic, Medal of Honor. The sound effects are quite good, with explosions and other destructive sounds taking center stage. 

Sailing the high seas March 21st, Warship Gunner 2 is set to take the series to the next level of tactical action warfare. The deep combat and intricate attack, setup and customization schemes are at the top of their game. Both action and strategy fans have something to look forward to, but ultimately it’s the gamers who appreciate a new, difficult-to-master experience that will become enamored with this sequel.