Windward is an indie role-playing game about ship battles from the 17th and 18th century. The player is sent to a randomly generated world with dozens of sub-locations. The newly minted captain (and many other players) will have to fight for power, gold and the cities that carry it.
I love the pirate theme and everything connected with it. Almost all modern and old games have been replayed several times, and from the Corsairs to this day I am bastard. As soon as I remember the long frosty winter evenings killed on it, I immediately fall into a whole pit of nostalgic memories … those were the times …
Recently, however, the pirates have begun to disappear. Everywhere there are “survivors” and a dense, completely impenetrable stream of AAA toys about all kinds of science fiction with aliens, elves and walking bipedal robots. The two penultimate games of the Assails Creed series (about pirates) became an outlet, and even then they somehow casually walked through my favorite thing – ship battles. I was pointed to Windward, as always, by my readers, who, by the way, understand good indie games much better than me Thank you, by the way, for the tip, the game is really entertaining.
Whistle everyone… somewhere already!
However, let’s finally move on to the game itself and what the developers are going to please us with. Windward is a fairly simple, if you squint at all, casual role-playing game. We will not be tortured with complex storylines, loaded with many incomprehensible functions, strained with a tricky economy and forced to force our way through the game interface. Everything is just the opposite.
We have one ship that replaces the usual naked-ass role-playing game hero for us; randomly generated game world, by the way, with the possibility of terramorphing and building; role-playing system divided into classes with three pumping branches; gear and the typical pursuit of performance. Oh yeah, and for dessert – a three-button combat system. And while those who were waiting for the next “Corsairs” or “Venice” did not begin to wrinkle their foreheads, let’s move on to the details.
About the combat system
There’s not much to say here, it’s almost the successor to the ideas and interface of “Sid Meier’s pirates”. You swim for yourself, shoot at the enemy, try to outflank him so that you hit, but he doesn’t – everything is simple. Management fits in a couple of command buttons, in addition to the usual WASD. Auto-attacks replace our usual volleys, but nevertheless, we can still use skills, and they are only on commands. AI aim for us, and we only give the order to fire. (this does not apply to throwing bombs and barrels).
The damage is not realistic and don’t even expect it. As in a typical role-playing game, everything is tied to “damage” and “defense”. However, the shells are divided into classes according to their purpose, and, for example, kippers still break more mast, knocking down the course of an enemy vessel than they do damage to the hull. It would also be worth saying that the launched cannonball flies towards the enemy, but there is no guarantee that it will hit. Even a whole volley can go into milk if it is wrong to swing at the right moment or shoot from a greater distance.
Boarding and storming of cities take place in a covert mode without extras, strictly on numbers. Otherwise, the combat is shitty, and even after a dozen skills appear on the panel, and entire fleets start to flood into the enemies, it will still not be difficult to fight. Even after death, you are sent to respawn, and are not forced to boot in the old fashioned way, although depriving you of part of the acquired property.
About the role system
Yes, yes, your boat is your “hero”, whom you will dress and shoe, nourish with precious experience, occasionally scattering talents and seating a new, more agile captain to steer. Of course, we start the game in a leaky vessel with a couple of drunken sailors and still firing rusty cannons. In the course of the game, we “evolve” into some deadly multi-story frigate (or airship, whatever you want) with top gear and frantic defense and attack indicators.
And the three-class role-playing system will help us in this. We have three talent trees and three specializations that can be upgraded to give us new abilities and advanced combat stats. In principle, a standard balalaika record about strength and endurance, only with a slightly different emphasis – critical damage, durability, distance, stealth, and so on. In this regard, inveterate RPG players will hardly be surprised, although fitting such a system on boats is at least interesting.
Skills, on the other hand, distinguish players by the style of the game and the accents on which they bet. Someone can release smoke, distracting the enemy and preventing them from being shot at; someone speeds up or slows down; someone spills oil on the water, giving the pursuers no room to maneuver. In general, they give us decent receptionists, which cannot but rejoice.
We figured out the skills, now let’s talk about gear, this has always been of great importance in a role-playing game. So, we will also wear clothes on our “heroes”, ugh… that is, on ships. Instead of a saber, we have rows of cannons, instead of a hat, we have sails, and a team badge replaces a smelly loincloth. Otherwise, no initiative: damage, defense, speed, maneuverability – these are just some of the parameters that we can attack with the help of items. The system is set up so that you do not rest purely on the best damage or speed. It is quite flexible and leaves room for experimentation, especially with skills and skill trees.
Do you want to bypass and beat the enemy from the dead zone at speed? Yes to health! Do you want to make an unsinkable tank out of your ship? It’s not a problem either. In general, the idea, I think, is clear. Role-playing in the game hood!
