Waves of Steel review: An amazing ship combat simulator

Waves of Steel is easily one of the most unique experiences I have had the opportunity to experience firsthand. It's a game dedicated to people who like ships and naval combat.

While I do not consider myself someone who enjoys ship combat games, I was genuinely surprised by the amount of fun I had playing Waves of Steel.

My experience with ship combat and naval combat is limited to games like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and a few hours of Sea of Thieves. These games are in stark contrast to Waves of Steel. If I were to compare Waves of Steel to something, it would be the Forza Horizon games, particularly the recent few entries (Forza Horizon 3 to Forza Horizon 5).

Waves of Steel caught me offguard with its quality customization system and fun combat mechanics. However, I found the game to be lacking in a few aspects, keeping it from becoming the best ship combat and naval exploration title that I have played.

Waves of Steel: Arcade naval battle simulation perfected

Developed by TMA Games, Waves of Steel is essentially an arcade naval combat simulator with a ship-building title baked into its rather addictive gameplay loop. It has a surface-level story that gives you the gist of why you need to build these huge and powerful ships. However, the story is not the focal point of the game; it's just there to drive the gameplay systems.

Battles can get really chaotic in the game (Image via TMA Games)

The highlight of the whole experience is the enthralling naval combat and the amazing ship-building and customization system. I was genuinely surprised by the number of options available for every ship type.

While Waves of Steel's main focus is its combat system, most of my time in the game was spent building and customizing my ships and preparing them to wreak havoc on enemy forces.

Although I loved every second of the time I spent playing Waves of Steel, it's hardly a title that I can blindly recommend to anyone, especially those outside its niche "naval combat simulation" genre. The game also has a litany of bugs that, while not game-breaking, can get annoying.

Waves of Steel is not a perfect game, far from it. However, it is one indie title that had me glued to my computer screen for hours, and all for the right reasons.

What I really liked about Waves of Steel

Among the many other games that I've blindly spent hundreds of hours into are Forza Horizon 4 and Super Mario Maker 2. Both titles are among my favorite games of all time.

Surprisingly, Waves of Steel, with its arcade-like ship controls and the immaculately detailed customization system, reminded me of both my all-time favorites.

There are short cutscenes that lay down the overarching plot of the game (Image via TMA Games)

The ship-building screen is laid out very much like a level-building layout in Mario Maker, with multiple parts housed to the side and the main frame being situated at the center.

The objective of the ship-building system is to install weapons, navigation, and other mechanical parts and balance them so that the ship does not get overencumbered.

While the customization system is nothing ground-breaking, it held my attention for longer than I initially anticipated. Given I have little to no knowledge about ships and the technicalities surrounding them, I was truly surprised by the intuitiveness of the ship-building system.

I really loved the addition of the weight management meta-game, where I had to install parts and weapons on my ship while also making sure I do not overload it.

To balance the extra weight, you can remove parts of the weapons system, reducing your ship's overall damage potential. Alternatively, you can sacrifice hull armor, leaving yourself open to counterattacks while boosting your damage output.

The customization apparatus in Waves of Steel reminded me of the car upgrade and personalization systems in the Forza Horizon games. Once you build and upgrade your own ship, you will need to set sail into the open seas and test your vessel's combat capabilities.

As for the combat in the game, imagine Assassin's Creed IV: Blag Flag's naval combat system but with a higher emphasis on maneuvreability. While the naval combat system in the game is nothing new, it is still pretty enjoyable. Mixed with the stellar customization system, it is enough to keep players engaged with the gameplay loop for hours on end.

The ship customization screen (Image via TMA Games)

As a side note, developer TMA Games has taken quite a few steps to ensure the game is as accessible as possible, with multiple difficulty options, catering to both newcomers and veterans of the ship combat simulation genre. This is something I, as someone who is alien to the concepts of ships and their inner workings, really appreciate.

Things I did not like about Waves of Steel

As I previously mentioned, Waves of Steel is an awesome representation of how an arcade-like ship combat game should feel like. However, it is still not perfect and is severely lacking in certain areas.

Firstly, the game has plenty of technical issues, ranging from funny visual glitches to bizarre performance hiccups that were enough to ruin my enjoyment of the title.

The fun and engaging ship combat (Image via TMA Games)

I understand that bugs and glitches are something that come with a game that is in early access. However, Waves of Steel was virtually flawless in the first few hours, with no graphical or performance issues. It was after having played the game for around two hours that I noticed odd performance dips and glitches.

I played Waves of Steel on a system with Intel Core i5 8400, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650Super, and 16 GB DDR4 memory. For the most part, I was getting pretty solid performance.

It was during the tail end of my playthrough that I faced issues. The game randonly crashed twice and had some odd performance issues where the framerate took a nosedive to mid-20s. However, I am confident that these issues will get patched with the title's full release.

Lastly, Waves of Steel is a game for ship nerds. It isn't something that will appeal to a majority of players since it is part of a very niche genre. TMA Games has taken major steps to ensure that the title is as inclusive as possible. The developer made the difficulty fairly lenient for newcomers while offering plenty of challenges for hardcore ship combat veterans.

However, it may not be enough to win over the average player, who might not have any interest in delving into a ship combat simulation game.

In conclusion

Waves of Steel is a fantastic game that I will go back to playing from time to time as a breather between work and other household chores. The addictive gameplay loop of building your own ship and testing it against enemy forces is truly amazing. While the title might not be for everybody, it is great for anyone who is a fan of ship combat simulation games.