Introduction

Dreadnought is an upcoming combat flight simulator game for PC developed by Yager Development, with a 2016 release date. In Dreadnought players will get to command a mercenary ship in the future where space travel is common. If you’ve been watching Dark Matter recently then you can only imagine how cool it would be to take command of a mercenary ship, but this free-to-play game is more than just a flight simulator.

But, is commanding a large spaceship as fun as it sounds? It depends on what’s fun for you. In this game, you will battle in a fleet of up to five other ships, and you might not like every ship in the game. For example, the Dreadnought is gigantic, but not necessarily fast. The Corvette is a bit more fast-paced, as you can sneak around the enemy and cloak yourself. This game is NOT about quick-reaction shooting like Halo or Call of Duty online multiplayer.

Ships

Dreadnought

The game is named after this ship for a reason – it’s the most badass ship in the game. This spaceship is huge, slow, but extremely powerful. During gameplay the Dreadnought will be the most obvious target, but it will also be the hardest one to take down. When you shift all your power to shields the Dreadnought is nearly invincible for a small duration.

Ballistic Cannons are the ship’s primary weapon, which is great for medium-range targets. Its primary ability, Gatling Broadside, lets off an array of ballistic gatling cannons from your targeted side of the ship. Since the ship is so huge this is the perfect ability to use when your enemy tries to creep up on you.

Destroyer

The Destroyer is your all-around ship, and the official Dreadnought web page describes it as “the first ship into combat and the last ship out.” This is because the Destroyer has skillful energy management, and its capable of helping the team with many different roles during battle.

Destroyer’s primary weapon is its Dual Repeaters, which deal good damage and are incredibly accurate at moderate ranges. Plasma Ram is the ship’s primary ability, that creates an energy field at the bow of the ship, dealing major damage to the enemy when touched.

Corvette

If you want something more fast-paced and exciting, the Corvette will likely be your ship of choice. It will allow you to speak up behind the enemy, dealing damage to the more vulnerable ships. The Corvette (like all the ships) can use Energy Management to shift power to its engines for a quick getaway, or attack. Just like the Destroyer, the Corvette’s primary weapon is its dual repeaters. The ship’s primary ability is Medium Cloak, which makes you invisible to the enemy for a short amount of time, or until you shoot.

Artillery Cruiser

The Artillery Cruiser has the most destructive power out of the fleet, but it’s also the most vulnerable ship in space. It’s basically the sniper of space, as it’s equipped with a long-range rail cannon capable of destroying enemy armor from miles away. It’s even more powerful when you shift energy to weapons, which will allow you to completely annihilate enemy ships with just a few shots.

It’s primary weapon is the Heavy Tesla Cannon, which deals high damage, with spot-on accuracy at incredibly long distances. The only downside to the Heavy Tesla Cannon is the slow fire rate. However, it’s ability is Rapid Fire Mode, which allows the Artillery Cruiser to increase the weapons fire rate by sacrificing the thrusters.

Tactical Cruiser

The Tactical Cruiser is basically the medic unit, as these ships can repair friendly armor, allowing a losing team to turn things around and claim victory. Tactical Cruisers can’t really defend themselves, so it’s best to stay close to an ally.

Medium Beam Turrets allow the Tactical Cruiser to repair allies or damage enemies, and that’s the ship’s primary weapon. It doesn’t deal too much damage, so it’s best used to help with repairs. The primary ability is its Beam Amplifier, which shifts the ship’s energy to its beam weapon and increases the output.

Customizing Your Ship

Since each ship has its own unique ability and is good for a specific role in battle, it only makes sense that Dreadnought will stick to class based customization. You will be able to define your ship’s role on the battlefield by mixing various abilities and crew members, but selecting a ship chassis is what will set the foundation for your customization.

If you’re interested in customizing the appearance of your ship then you’re in luck, because their website has confirmation that cosmetic options will be available for those of you “who wish to seek glory with style.”

Multiplayer Modes in Dreadnought

As of now, the developer has revealed two different multiplayer modes. Team Deathmatch and Team Elimination. According to their website, there will be more multiplayer game modes and they are “examining different game modes currently in development and the number of players they will support.”

We know that Team Deathmatch will support 10 players in a 5v5 scenario, either in space or over the “skies of exotic worlds”. It will be interesting to see the other multiplayer modes they decide to feature in Dreadnought, as well as how many people they can cram into one battle.

Single-Player in Dreadnought

If you ever wanted to explore the galaxy then here’s your chance! Dreadnought will feature a single player campaign mode that gives you the opportunity to travel the solar system and fight against some of the best commanders in the galaxy! It looks like Dreadnought will feature an excellent story as well, as comic book writer Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy and Warhammer 40K) put the narrative together.

The official Dreadnought website clearly states that the single player campaign might not get released upon launch, but it will give us something to look forward to after the initial launch.

Conclusion

Dreadnought has been delayed a few times and its now expected to launch in 2016. The free-to-play game will feature spaceship combat, in a way that will appeal to players who can appreciate a strategic battle. It will not feature that fast-paced shoot ’em up action you get in CoD, but it still looks exciting, especially with the different ships and the way their roles have an impact on the battlefield. Wait… is it appropriate to say battlefield when you’re fighting in space?