This past weekend I was given a code to enter the closed beta for Dreadnought, an upcoming space battle game where you and 4 others are pitted against another team in massive space cruisers hell bent on winning the war. Dreadnought is an interesting concept due to the fact that so many space style games only have you flying around in a starfighter destroying enemies while massive destroyers are seen in the background dishing out massive damage. Well, Dreadnought aims to bring those dreams of flying massive destroyers around.
After playing for a few hours, Dreadnought uses some interesting controls when flying around by letting the player’s use the entire environment to unleash all of your ordinances against your opponent. When I mean the entire environment, you can dive down to the ground until you come from underneath your opponent or get as high as possible to reign hell down on unsuspecting foes. Another thing that Dreadnought utilizes is a power diverting system which allows the player to use stored energy to ether increase movement speed, enhance weapon systems and power up shields for damage reduction which can help to turn the tide of the battle in your favor if you choose.
Dreadnought brings a massive ship system with Dreadnoughts, Destroyers, Artillery Cruisers, Corvettes and Tactical Cruisers, complete with their own unique abilities.
Dreadnoughts: The Dreadnought is the largest ship in the game, built for survive-ability and to dish out massive amounts of damage, specializing in a broadside attack, Dreadnoughts are the most fearsome on the battlefield. However, these ships are extremely slow making them easy targets for Artillery Cruisers.
Destroyer: The Destroyer is your all around workhorse with a stable complement of both offensive and defensive abilities to give you the right tool for about any battle. The Destroyers employee traditional missile systems along with standard cannons for mid to close range battle. A perfect starter vehicle for those starting out.
Artillery Cruisers: The Artillery Cruisers are more of a long range support ship that comes with an energy sniper shot useful with keeping your distance but has very little armor which if anyone can get in close, the battle will be over really quick. However, this little vehicle does come with anti missile lasers, micro missiles and a cloaking device which give you a least a fighting chance to get out of the battle.
Corvettes: The Corvettes are fast, nimble vehicles that excel at hit and run tactics using the blink ability to get in and out without being in a drawn out conflict. However, the Corvettes are very weak and if caught in a drawn our conflict, won’t survive without reinforcements.
Tactical Cruisers: The Tactical Cruiser comes armed with healing beams and auto repair abilities that allow them to heal any destroyer that is willing to take the fire of any enemy. However, much like the Snipers, these support ships cannot sustain a one on one battle for long so keeping an ally nearby is always a smart choice.
With such a small contingent of ship classes, Dreadnought employs a rich research tree that allows players to continually find better and better weapons, abilities and ships. This is all done via stars and coins. In Dreadnought, you are awarded stars and coins upon completing matches, with the better you do, the more you get. Once you accumulate enough stars and coins, you can research new tech to help you gain an edge on the battlefield. However, with good comes bad, the bad news is as you gain new ships and tech, you are broken up into Recruits, Veterans and Elite pilots which means if you upgrade to a higher tier ship and you don’t have enough credits to upgrade your ship a little more, you are going to be hurting for awhile.
Dreadnought is an impressive concept that truly gives people (like myself) unprecedented control over massive starships. As of right now, there is no end seen for the closed beta, which you can go here to attempt to gain access. Unfortunately there is no real release date for Dreadnought as of right now, but we will let you know as soon as we know anything. Until then, enjoy the premiere trailer of Dreadnought below.
