Ginormous capital ships laying into each other with nukes, lasers and devastating broadside attacks is my idea of heaven, a loud, terrifying heaven. It was also Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager’s idea for a game: Dreadnought. After being announced at E3, the studio is now showing off some of the multiplayer clashes.
Take a gander at the video below to see two teams of five, all commanding capital ships, blasting each other out of the atmosphere.
Dreadnought captains will be able to pick between five classes, each with several ships, further customisable with different loadouts and crews.
While the video shows that, when surrounded and outgunned, ships can go down quickly, it isn’t simply a matter of pointing and shooting at a target. Positioning is important, taking advantage of where the ship’s firepower is at its strongest, and where the enemy is vulnerable. A broadside attack might do more damage than a frontal assault with laser cannons, but it takes time for larger ships to turn, creating a gap in their DPS.
Captains will need to support each other, too. Support vessels can repair damaged ships, keeping them in the game and able to continue dishing out damage. But, as was the case in the video, some attacks can lead to both the support vessel and the ship its defending both taking a lot of damage, like nasty nukes.
Dreadnought is due out in 2015, with a beta planned for early next year.