When you head to a show like PSX, certain things are sure to be ‘winners’ from it – Uncharted 4: The Lost Legacy or The Last of Us: Part 2 (I’d been sitting on this for some time so I’m so glad everybody now knows about it) to name a few. Then there are always games that receive all the hype in the world and end up not really delivering (only time will tell which of the announced games this will apply to) – and lastly you have the gems. The games that went under the radar and have been under-reported, and I’m here to tell you that Dreadnought is one such game.

So what the hell is Dreadnought? This was the teaser/preview trailer which was shown during the PlayStation Experience keynote:

Awesome right? Except that’s not the game I played and let me tell you, I went back in line to play as many times as my time at PSX permitted. Despite what’s shown in the trailer, I’d say Dreadnought is a far slower paced game than what’s being depicted and I get that. Slow doesn’t sound sexy, especially in the twitch reflex world that we live in which has forever transformed even classic games like Final Fantasy. But you know what does sound sexy? Controlling the Battlestar Galactica or Pegasus from BSG and the USS Defiant from DS9 – and that’s exactly what the team behind Dreadnought has done.

Yes there are ships that can move fast (not Millennium Falcon speeds) but the core of the game is what RTS fans and anybody who has dreamed of controlling a giant battle-ready starship have been dreaming of. In the Dreadnought demo I played during a 5 v 5 match, players were given a choice between five different classes of ships, though ultimately there will be over 50 different types of ships. As you’d imagine, each class has its own strengths and weaknesses, much like when playing an MMORPG: do you want to be a tank, healer, fighter, etc.?

In my time, I went back and forth between the Dreadnought, their ‘flying fortress’ which is designed to sit back and bombard from a distance, and the tactical cruiser which is a support ship that can either fire on enemies or repair damaged ships. If you’ve ever played any type of RTS game, you’ll feel right at home though this is all about you controlling one ship and one ship only. Still, how you choose to play with that ship, what types of decisions you make (like should you fire your primary weapons or switch over to your long range missiles and allow them to cool down while you strafe left to hide from incoming torpedoes) is what makes the game so fun.
So unlike an RTS where it’s a bird’s eye view of the game, you are absolutely in control of one these massive battleships and it feels that way because speed for the most part isn’t their primary thing (unless you go with the Corvette class). To better get a feel for how Dreadnought plays and the different types of ships there are, I’d saying viewing the video below will go a long way towards giving you a better glimpse at the game.

As it stands, Dreadnought is slated to come to PS4 sometime in 2017, but those who want to get into the action a bit earlier can sign up for a chance to beta test the game here. If you’re at all like me and cannot get enough of Dreadnought, here is an hour+ livestream of gameplay footage.

So say we all.

With how busy SRN keeps me, you guys know that I don’t tend to cover specific games too often unless it’s something that I’ll be actively playing myself like Uncharted 4 or Destiny and I see this as the kind of game that I’ll be losing countless hours to. Best of all, once you get a hang of the game, the controls will feel natural for anyone who’s played an FPS or driving simulator, making it an ‘easy enough’ game to pick up for a beginner yet one with an endless level of depth. What do you think of what you’ve seen of Dreadnought so far? Is this the type of game you’d play?