If you’re a fan of sandbox games like I am, you’ll be thrilled to hear that Tasharen Entertainment’s Windward, which has been in early access since October of last year, has received an official release date, and it’s coming up fast.
What is Windward?
Windward is an action-packed sandbox game developed by Tasharen Entertainment. In Windward, you take control of a ship sailing the high-seas in a large procedurally-generated world.
Originally, Windward was an arena-based action game that was prototyped in 2012 but later put on hold. After being restarted, basically from scratch, it entered early access in October of 2014 as an action-oriented naval sandbox game.
What kind of features will Windward have?
For starters, a procedurally generated world will ensure that the map you’re playing with never looks the same twice. Windward features cross-platform multiplayer, which allows you to sail your ship into your friend’s game and vice-versa.
Windward also features an automatic autosave, which saves you the trouble of having to manually save every 10 minutes in fear of a game crash or power surge.
Customizable ships, skill trees, RPG mechanics, and multiple play styles give the game a good deal of variety and replay value and the item system is procedurally generated as well, meaning that the game will reward you for playing on a higher difficulty level with higher level loot and gear.
Here is a breakdown of Windward‘s three primary skill trees:
- Defense – the ideal class for large ships. Skills include the ability to turn faster, converting the vessel into a powerful turret on the open oceans, dealing more damage when standing still and increasing damage absorption as their health goes down.
- Offense – great for quick ships. Offense enables increased agility, reducing the opponent’s armor and greatly improving the damage done by allies.
- Support – the perfect team member. The crew of support vessels specialize in repairing ships quickly and providing benefits to other nearby allies – like putting out fires, repairing other ships to a greater extent than their own crews can and forcing enemies to get closer before they can attack.
When will I be able to play Windward?
Windward officially hits the open seas on PC, Mac and Linux on May 12.
Tasharen Entertainment’s founder Michael Lyashenko had this to say about the game’s official release date:
“After more than four years of development, and plenty of blood, sweat and tears, I am thrilled to say Windward has an official launch date. Every PC gamer can find something to love about the open world and endless possibilities of Windward, no matter what genres they love.”
Where can I see the game in action?
You can currently try out the game in Early Access on Steam, or you can check out the gameplay video below for a glimpse at what Windward is like.
[IMG Credit: Tasharen.com]
