I'm going to be honest, multiplayer games are something I steer away from in general, toxic communities and being headshotted by people way better than me are not my idea of fun.

Hello WoWS, tempted in by the loving care given to real historical ships I thought, hell, what's the harm in giving it a go.

100 hours later I'm addicted. The only game I've ever played where I choose full PvP every time. In over 300 battles so far I've yet to see anyone do anything other than take the game seriously and try to help their team, and the rants in the ingame chat are simply non-existent for the most part.

It's also anti-twitch, this is moves played out over minutes not seconds, and the joy of pulling it off, and the slow agony of getting it wrong and knowing you're doomed, all adds to a superb atmosphere.

A special mention too to the way the game opens up modes and sections as you progress through your first hours, never overwhelming, always exciting, and perfectly paced.

Also, loot crates done right imo. You can't buy them, it's not hard to earn at least one per day after 1-2 battles, and in 4 weeks I've had two super containers drop containing real world valuable items.

Finally, no pay to win. Yes, you can pay to advance quicker (premium increasing XP and Credits awarded) but all premium ships come with drawbacks to balance them out (just check the wiki for each). Nothing is a game winner by default, and yes a day one player can buy a high tier ship and jump into 'end game' battles but they won't have fun and they won't do it for long. The road to success, and the fun of the game, is learning to fight effectively through the tiers.

If you acknowledge the learning curve and take the time to learn how to play each class you're interested in at each level, there is a ridiculous amount to do here, with every battle unique, and a ton of campaigns and time limited events to focus on, what's not to love?

(edit: 227 hours in now and nothing has changed, this might just be the best game I've ever played on Steam)

(edit: Well over 500 hours in now, ok, this is the best game I've ever played on Steam :) )

(edit again: 1,125 hours logged, 3 years of solid play without any significant breaks and still so much to do and achieve, incredible...)

(edit 2022: 1,625 hours now, nothing has changed, this is an amazing game. I haven't bought ships for some time as I'm having a blast with tech tree Tier X and coal ships, the only game I've ever played daily for over 4 years now)

(edit 2023: Closing in on 2,000 hours and the story is the same, at this point I have my favourite ships and I tend to do just one or two battles a day but the feeling remains :) )

I'm going to be honest, multiplayer games are something I steer away from in general, toxic communities and being headshotted by people way better than me are not my idea of fun. Hello WoWS, tempted in by the loving care given to real historical ships I thought, hell, what's the harm in giving it a go. 100 hours later I'm addicted. The only game I've ever played where I choose full PvP every time. In over 300 battles so far I've yet to see anyone do anything other than take the game seriously and try to help their team, and the rants in the ingame chat are simply non-existent for the most part. It's also anti-twitch, this is moves played out over minutes not seconds, and the joy of pulling it off, and the slow agony of getting it wrong and knowing you're doomed, all adds to a superb atmosphere. A special mention too to the way the game opens up modes and sections as you progress through your first hours, never overwhelming, always exciting, and perfectly paced. Also, loot crates done right imo. You can't buy them, it's not hard to earn at least one per day after 1-2 battles, and in 4 weeks I've had two super containers drop containing real world valuable items. Finally, no pay to win. Yes, you can pay to advance quicker (premium increasing XP and Credits awarded) but all premium ships come with drawbacks to balance them out (just check the wiki for each). Nothing is a game winner by default, and yes a day one player can buy a high tier ship and jump into 'end game' battles but they won't have fun and they won't do it for long. The road to success, and the fun of the game, is learning to fight effectively through the tiers. If you acknowledge the learning curve and take the time to learn how to play each class you're interested in at each level, there is a ridiculous amount to do here, with every battle unique, and a ton of campaigns and time limited events to focus on, what's not to love? (edit: 227 hours in now and nothing has changed, this might just be the best game I've ever played on Steam) (edit: Well over 500 hours in now, ok, this is the best game I've ever played on Steam :) ) (edit again: 1,125 hours logged, 3 years of solid play without any significant breaks and still so much to do and achieve, incredible...) (edit 2022: 1,625 hours now, nothing has changed, this is an amazing game. I haven't bought ships for some time as I'm having a blast with tech tree Tier X and coal ships, the only game I've ever played daily for over 4 years now) (edit 2023: Closing in on 2,000 hours and the story is the same, at this point I have my favourite ships and I tend to do just one or two battles a day but the feeling remains :) )