Support NeoGAF

[Neiteio]

You can look around the ship on the main menu by using the circle pad. Looks great in 3D.

Just did training. It has my favorite bit of music from the first game! This is really neat. It makes me want to play the first one again, though -- I loved the intricate obstacle courses in that game. In this one, it doesn't seem like you can even take damage from touching the ocean floor.

Using the periscope with the gyro or d-pad to look all around you and zoom in and out while continuing to steer the ship with the circle pad is really cool, though. Morse code is also awesome -- very easy to do, and they spell out the whole alphabet for you.

My favorite word wasn't censored in training. If this holds true for multiplayer, you'll recognize me when you see me.

EDIT: Oh wow, you can move the camera to look around on all of the menus. Nice way to check out the various subs.

 

[Neiteio]

I'd like to correct myself -- you CAN take damage by driving into the ocean floor!

I've played two worldwide random battles online. My team won both. The word "tits" is censored in Morse code, though. :-\

 

[AmyS]

Wow Geeeze, I'ma' complete F'ing idiot who needs to remember to actually read. Didn't realize Steel Diver: Sub Wars was not only F2P but also F'ing available to d/l right the F now!

Spoiler

d/l COMPLETE, off to play NOW!

 

[Camjo-Z]

Phew, finally got star medals on every mission. That final boss is pretty tough.

And after all that hard work, I unlocked...

Spoiler

absolutely nothing ;___;

 

[-Eddman-]

Really liked the free version. Won some matches online and now i'll proceed to buy the full game.

Never played the first game so I didn't know what to expect but this is fun.

 

[RMS Gigantic]

I'd like to correct myself -- you CAN take damage by driving into the ocean floor!

I've played two worldwide random battles online. My team won both. The word "tits" is censored in Morse code, though. :-\

As a veteran of the first game, it might be of interest to know that (in most cases, lengthened) versions of all three original subs can be found in this game as premium unlockables for reaching level something-teen, separated each by 3 levels.

Anyway, here's a picture of the I-400 class (from the premium shop) surfacing in the second mission on the third difficulty:

I said it earlier in this thread and I'll say it again, I'm a fan of the stylized historical submarines. For example, here's a scale model of the historical I-400 class submarine:

 

[antonz]

It is fun. I enjoyed the original steel diver for what it was though heavily flawed.

Wouldn't mind seeing them bring an HD version to the Wii U. Just a matter of higher quality assets etc. Gamepad does all the rest.

 

[AmyS]

Alright this game has very quickly made me realize how glad I am to have a 3DS.

Steel Diver: Sub Wars has won me over.

Nintendo, please

Spoiler

take my money, Premium version shall be mine!

Oh BTW, because this year marks the 10th anniversary of Steel Diver's first-ever reveal, in a sense anyway, two vids of the 2004 DS Submarine Tech Demo from E3 2004:

DS Submarine demo video #1

video #2


Steel Diver is truly a franchise now.

 

[RMS Gigantic]

It is fun. I enjoyed the original steel diver for what it was though heavily flawed.

Wouldn't mind seeing them bring an HD version to the Wii U. Just a matter of higher quality assets etc. Gamepad does all the rest.

The biggest hindrance to a WiiU version that I can think of is that F2P games require a very large userbase to be successful, since they rely on having only a small part of their audience get the full thing. The 3DS has that, while the WiiU doesn't.

Steel Diver is truly a franchise now.

If anyone claims that Nintendo's only franchises are more than 20 years old anymore, suggest Steel Diver as a counterexample. Heck, if you go by released games, it's only 3 years old and is already a full-fledged series. I would say that its presence as a Super Smash Bros. item is well-earned.

 

[Neiteio]

As a veteran of the first game, it might be of interest to know that (in most cases, lengthened) versions of all three original subs can be found in this game as premium unlockables for reaching level something-teen, separated each by 3 levels.

Anyway, here's a picture of the I-400 class (from the premium shop) surfacing in the second mission on the third difficulty:

I said it earlier in this thread and I'll say it again, I'm a fan of the stylized historical submarines. For example, here's a scale model of the historical I-400 class submarine:

Awesome! I miss my speedy yellow sub.

They should make a sequel to this on WiiU, with both the gameplay of the original and the gameplay of Sub Wars. Then amp up the graphics with lots of particle effects, lighting, shadows, etc. Would be grand!

 

[Gsnap]

Never played the first steel diver, but this is a cool little game. I could see myself getting into the multiplayer. Especially if I could convince friends to pick it up. I like how it really commits to what it is. The subs are slow and clunky. You know you're in danger, but it takes forever to get out of the way. You don't have a good grasp of what's around you except for sonar (which doesn't differentiate between enemy and ally from what I could tell). Adds a lot of tension. And Morse Code? Hilarious and cool.

Would love to see this game on Wii U, though. Just to see the beautiful underwater environments, hear better sound effects, etc. The game has a slick feel, and I just think it would feel better on the Wii U. And looking through the Gamepad to use the periscope sounds a little more fun than using the 3ds.

 

[RMS Gigantic]

Just a useful piece of information for anyone playing this game worldwide: if you see someone put into chat "4649," it's a sort of Japanese internet slang for "pleased to meet you."

You don't have a good grasp of what's around you except for sonar (which doesn't differentiate between enemy and ally from what I could tell).

You have a periscope as well, but that, too, has its limitations and adds to the game's atmosphere.

 

[Hale-XF11]

Listening to the music in this game makes me miss the original Steel Diver main theme. It's just sooooooo good. So perfectly written and appropriate, especially with the little ping sounds that follow the beat. One of my favorite pieces of original Nintendo music in a long time. If you listen carefully, there's a remix of it in Sub Wars.

Oh BTW, because this year marks the 10th anniversary of Steel Diver's first-ever reveal, in a sense anyway, two vids of the 2004 DS Submarine Tech Demo from E3 2004:

DS Submarine demo video #1

video #2


Steel Diver is truly a franchise now.

Oh wow, hadn't even realized it had been that long since the original demo. I remember downloading that during the height of the DS homebrew days and just hoping and praying that a full game would get made. So glad Steel Diver became a real thing and now Sub Wars.

 

[Gsnap]

You have a periscope as well, but that, too, has its limitations and adds to the game's atmosphere.

It does. I haven't quite gotten used to it yet, though, so I'm not really enjoying the periscope at the moment.

I was trying to use it while moving. Is it best to stop first?

 

[Neiteio]

Never played the first steel diver, but this is a cool little game. I could see myself getting into the multiplayer. Especially if I could convince friends to pick it up. I like how it really commits to what it is. The subs are slow and clunky. You know you're in danger, but it takes forever to get out of the way. You don't have a good grasp of what's around you except for sonar (which doesn't differentiate between enemy and ally from what I could tell). Adds a lot of tension. And Morse Code? Hilarious and cool.

Would love to see this game on Wii U, though. Just to see the beautiful underwater environments, here better sound effects, etc. The game has a slick feel, and I just think it would feel better on the Wii U. And looking through the Gamepad to use the periscope sounds a little more fun than using the 3ds.

Yes. Yesss. YESSS.

All of this.

Wonderful game. A big-budget sequel on WiiU would be mind-blowing. :-O

I mean, imagine if you had a floodlights you had to use to navigate the dark, in addition to sonar and your periscope.

Imagine if there was a map in a raging storm, where the skies are dark and stormy and the water is whipped into frothing waves.

Just imagine!

 

[AmyS]

^Reading your replies while taking a break between internet matches.

IMO, and for the kind of games that I personally enjoy, SD: SW is one of the best things Nintendo has done in good long time.


Haven't even begun to scratch the surface / dive of this new game.


fun as hell!

 

[Hale-XF11]

Imagine if there was a map in a raging storm, where the skies are dark and stormy and the water is whipped into frothing waves.

Just imagine!

Man...there should have been a multiplayer map like this.

^Reading your replies while taking a break between internet matches.

IMO, and for the kind of games that I personally enjoy, SD: SW is one of the best things Nintendo has done in good long time.


Haven't even begun to scratch the surface / dive of this new game.


fun as hell!

110% agreed. This kind of game is a gem and a rarity and I'm grateful it exists.

 

[Neiteio]

I just shouted "NIPPLE" in Morse code to a room full of Japanese players.

You can also type "POOP," but you need to use zero instead of "O."

Important business.

 

[Gsnap]

Yes. Yesss. YESSS.

All of this.

Wonderful game. A big-budget sequel on WiiU would be mind-blowing. :-O

I mean, imagine if you had a floodlights you had to use to navigate the dark, in addition to sonar and your periscope.

Imagine if there was a map in a raging storm, where the skies are dark and stormy and the water is whipped into frothing waves.

Just imagine!

Yessssss. Multiplayer survival sub horror. Sounds like so much fun. Seeing someone else's lights and then turning off your own and sneaking up on them using only your sonar and their lights as a guide.

 

[Neiteio]

Yessssss. Multiplayer survival sub horror. Sounds like so much fun. Seeing someone else's lights and then turning off your own and sneaking up on them using only your sonar and their lights as a guide.

OH MAN

Too early to start a hype thread...

Must resist...

 

[RMS Gigantic]

It does. I haven't quite gotten used to it yet, though, so I'm not really enjoying the periscope at the moment.

I was trying to use it while moving. Is it best to stop first?

Just keep in mind that the periscope essentially uses tank controls: just remember where the front of your sub is, and remember that your periscope turns completely independently of how your sub moves.



About a WiiU game, again, unfortunately WiiU isn't selling enough for a F2P game to be particularly viable yet, I don't think.

However, speaking of Steel Diver's future, I've been throwing the idea around for a while of a Steel Diver stage in the next Super Smash Bros. Imagine it at whatever scale you like, either miniaturized where submarines and ships are little platforms, or full-scale where you battle well aboard the decks of these things. Just picture ships breaking in half and sinking, with submarines popping up just in time for players to land on them, before diving back down and letting another ship or surface-dwelling sub act as a platform for fighters.

Now that I think of it, deck guns on these submarines could make for really neat stage hazards! As well as the bomber aircraft seen in the second mission of this game.

 

[Neiteio]

Steel Diver would make a cool stage in Smash Bros., but if nothing else, it's already represented as an item:

Also, I'm now Lv. 10.

I'm going to upgrade to Premium!

 

[RMS Gigantic]

I'll be interested to learn what the player numbers are like for this game, and how many people are getting premium, or even some premium shop submarines on top of that (I fall into that last category, as the proud owner of the I-400 I keep talking about!). If this thread is anything to go by, it seems as though Nintendo has a sleeper hit on their hands, so I'm wondering if they will 1) Update the game as time progresses (maybe even balance tweak?) and/or 2) add more or rotate in and out submarines in the shop.

 

[Gsnap]

Just managed to survive my first significant multiplayer encounter. It's a good feeling. Died shortly afterwards because I ran into a teammate. He was directly underneath me and I didn't notice it.

And on topic of the Wii U game. The f2p version is basically an unlimited demo, so it wouldn't be hard to see that work on the Wii U.

Besides, I don't care. I want it!!

 

[RMS Gigantic]

Just managed to survive my first significant multiplayer encounter. It's a good feeling. Died shortly afterwards because I ran into a teammate. He was directly underneath me and I didn't notice it.

And on topic of the Wii U game. The f2p version is basically an unlimited demo, so it wouldn't be hard to see that work on the Wii U.

Besides, I don't care. I want it!!

I have a strategy for surviving head-to-head engagements: fire a torpedo at the person while they're still a ways away, mask, turn out of the way of their inevitable torpedoes (including the frequent homing ones), stop the engines, turn until they pass me, reveal myself by shooting them in the side and then pursue them from behind, where they become a very easy-to-predict target and can't fire back. If I start gaining too much ground on them, I again stop or even reverse for as long as it takes to give additional separation.

Using this, I have turned my I-400 into a force to be feared. I'm often getting 1-2 sunken enemies per match this way, along with a host of other tricks I learned from the game's training tutorial and pre-match tips.

 

[John Harker]

How does this work, is it really f2p in that its micro transactions or you can pay small increments to unlock more, or is it really just a full game and a free demo?

 

[Hale-XF11]

I'll be interested to learn what the player numbers are like for this game, and how many people are getting premium, or even some premium shop submarines on top of that (I fall into that last category, as the proud owner of the I-400 I keep talking about!). If this thread is anything to go by, it seems as though Nintendo has a sleeper hit on their hands, so I'm wondering if they will 1) Update the game as time progresses (maybe even balance tweak?) and/or 2) add more or rotate in and out submarines in the shop.

I'm hoping to see more subs, multiplayer maps and solo missions in the future. More of everything!

 

[EmCeeGramr]

How does this work, is it really f2p in that its micro transactions or you can pay small increments to unlock more, or is it really just a full game and a free demo?

It's basically a full game with a couple microtransactions, and a free demo where your save data and unlocks (many of which you can't use in the free version) transfer over if you upgrade. Both can play together online.

 

[Shiggy]

I'm hoping to see more subs, multiplayer maps and solo missions in the future. More of everything!

Not sure, but Vitei moved over to iOS development last fall when this game was finished.

 

[RMS Gigantic]

How does this work, is it really f2p in that its micro transactions or you can pay small increments to unlock more, or is it really just a full game and a free demo?

It's a sort of infinite demo, where you have all of the multiplayer functionality, but two submarines to choose from in the free version. You also get two out of 7 missions in the free version with 3 difficulties each (granted, even in the full version, you need to do well in the existing missions to unlock the rest). There's also a limitation on crew of some kind, but with only two submarines in the free version of 1 or 2 crew each, this shouldn't be much of an issue. Similarly, there's also apparently some kind of limit on the camouflage options you get, but in the entire day that I had spent playing the free version nearly nonstop, I never encountered said limit.

Even when you get the premium version (a 10 USD unlock), if that's the first thing you do before even playing the game, you will still only have that one free starting submarine until you play in the single player or multiplayer modes enough to unlock the other roughly 20 submarines.

If you advance to a high enough level in the free version where you could unlock submarines in the premium version, the game will unlock them for you and let you view them in your drydock, but you'll only be able to play in them if you do the $10 transaction.

Currently, every possible thing I've seen that can have money spent on it would cost just under 16 USD altogether. This breaks down into the $10 to get the premium version, 99 cents for each of five stylized historical submarines, plus taxes on all of them. There's no way that I know of to spend money on anything else.

 

[SkyOdin]

How does this work, is it really f2p in that its micro transactions or you can pay small increments to unlock more, or is it really just a full game and a free demo?

It is a free demo where you can pay to unlock the rest.

With just the demo, you have full access to the multiplayer, but can only use a couple of the subs. You also can access the first few levels of the single player. Upgrading to premium gives you the rest of the single player, as well as the abiltiy to acquire the rest of the subs via building up your multiplayer rank or completing the single player mode. Different subs have different capabilities, such as turning speed and sailing speed, so having more subs definitely opens up new options. But the free version gives you all the basic you need to have fun torpedoing other people's submarines.

 

[RMS Gigantic]

Not sure, but Vitei moved over to iOS development last fall when this game was finished.

Their website consists of a Blue Shark on the main page that takes you right to the Steel Diver website, so I'm not seeing any evidence of them cutting ties with Nintendo:

http://www.vitei.com/

Granted, that was the case since the days when that website was for the original Steel Diver. Still, they haven't changed it.


Edit: I found the games you refer to. They don't list their iOS games anywhere on the main site; they link to them within the tabs at the top of their blog section, calling them "Backroom Games."

 

[Shiggy]

Their website consists of a Blue Shark on the main page that takes you right to the Steel Diver website, so I'm not seeing any evidence of them cutting ties with Nintendo:

http://www.vitei.com/

Granted, that was the case since the days when that website was for the original Steel Diver. Still, they haven't changed it.

http://blog.vitei.com/how-were-using-a-sowing-machine-to-design-an-ipad-game/
Could be one among others. Just read about an Oculus Rift game from them.

 

[RMS Gigantic]

http://blog.vitei.com/how-were-using-a-sowing-machine-to-design-an-ipad-game/
Could be one among others. Just read about an Oculus Rift game from them.

Indeed, as I said in the edit above, they call their iOS projects "Backroom games." Their "Company" page, however, states that they "maintain [their] close relationship with Nintendo Co., Ltd."

 

[AmyS]

It's a sort of infinite demo, where you have all of the multiplayer functionality, but two submarines to choose from in the free version. You also get two out of 7 missions in the free version with 3 difficulties each (granted, even in the full version, you need to do well in the existing missions to unlock the rest). There's also a limitation on crew of some kind, but with only two submarines in the free version of 1 or 2 crew each, this shouldn't be much of an issue. Similarly, there's also apparently some kind of limit on the camouflage options you get, but in the entire day that I had spent playing the free version nearly nonstop, I never encountered said limit.

Even when you get the premium version (a 10 USD unlock), if that's the first thing you do before even playing the game, you will still only have that one free starting submarine until you play in the single player or multiplayer modes enough to unlock the other roughly 20 submarines.

If you advance to a high enough level in the free version where you could unlock submarines in the premium version, the game will unlock them for you and let you view them in your drydock, but you'll only be able to play in them if you do the $10 transaction.

Currently, every possible thing I've seen that can have money spent on it would cost just under 16 USD altogether. This breaks down into the $10 to get the premium version, 99 cents for each of five stylized historical submarines, plus taxes on all of them. There's no way that I know of to spend money on anything else.

^Ah, alright, thank you for explaining all of that.

Was about to post a few questions, but everything I was gonna ask you covered with this post.

So yeah, I do want those additional subs, though I am really short on sleep at present.

So tomorrow, once I've increased my level, played more SP & MP, unlocked some things and become a little better at SD:SW in general, I'll go for those premium subs.

 

[NandN3DS]

The morse chat rooms are.. um.

 

[Neiteio]

Oh man, these $1 historic subs in the shop are tempting. They're all sexy designs (based on real-life ships, apparently), but they're all so balanced that something is lost for everything gained. For example, the Type VII U-Boat has a Turn Rate of 8, Surface Speed of 6, Submerged Speed of 4, Health of 4, and Dive/Surface of 6. For reference, your default ship in the free version is 4 in all categories. So sounds like a real upgrade, right? But here's the rub: The missile range is "Short" -- vs. the starting ship's "Medium." Yeah, the DLC ship is probably still better on the whole, but... Dat balance!

 

[Hale-XF11]

Hot damn, just had a 5 game winning streak and am at level 20 now.

http://blog.vitei.com/how-were-using-a-sowing-machine-to-design-an-ipad-game/
Could be one among others. Just read about an Oculus Rift game from them.

Indeed, as I said in the edit above, they call their iOS projects "Backroom games." Their "Company" page, however, states that they "maintain [their] close relationship with Nintendo Co., Ltd."

Well, in any case it sounds like they're pretty busy, but hopefully not too busy that they can't work on extra content.

 

[RMS Gigantic]

Oh man, these $1 historic subs in the shop are tempting. They're all sexy designs (based on real-life ships, apparently), but they're all so balanced that something is lost for everything gained. For example, the Type VII U-Boat has a Turn Rate of 8, Surface Speed of 6, Submerged Speed of 4, Health of 4, and Dive/Surface of 6. For reference, your default ship in the free version is 4 in all categories. So sounds like a real upgrade, right? But here's the rub: The missile range is "Short" -- vs. the starting ship's "Medium." Yeah, the DLC ship is probably still better on the whole, but... Dat balance!

Indeed, even the paid stuff is balanced with the free(-er, in the case of the historical-based ships) submarines, especially the second free sub. It's all a matter of what you want to specialize in.

Also, there's no "apparently" to be had: they are indeed all (currently, at least. there's a few things in the store suggesting that they might add or swap out submarines in the future, and there's no telling whether or not those will be as historically inspired) stylized historical submarines:

Sen Toku I-400
Gato Class
Surcouf
Type VII U-Boat
HMS X1

I find it interesting how some, if not most, of these were well-kept secrets by their respective countries during World War II (The British government seized all copies of a newspaper that contained pictures of the HMS X1), and at least one of them (Surcouf) is even at the center of a slew of conspiracy theories!

 

[J.W.Crazy]

Oh man, these $1 historic subs in the shop are tempting. They're all sexy designs (based on real-life ships, apparently), but they're all so balanced that something is lost for everything gained. For example, the Type VII U-Boat has a Turn Rate of 8, Surface Speed of 6, Submerged Speed of 4, Health of 4, and Dive/Surface of 6. For reference, your default ship in the free version is 4 in all categories. So sounds like a real upgrade, right? But here's the rub: The missile range is "Short" -- vs. the starting ship's "Medium." Yeah, the DLC ship is probably still better on the whole, but... Dat balance!

One of the pre-game tips says something about torpedoes with greater damage being slower too. I've played a lot since yesterday and even when I'm up against premium players it feels fairly well balanced. I'll probably make the jump to premium myself at some point but for now it doesn't seems like free players are at too much of a disadvantage.

 

[RMS Gigantic]

One of the pre-game tips says something about torpedoes with greater damage being slower too.

Another of those pre-game tips says that a long-range torpedo hit (from my experience, a short-range submarine's torpedoes detonate before they can reach such a distance) does more damage than a close-range one.

This game has enough strategy to it where a part of me wonders if there can be a competitive circuit for it even though it's on a handheld. After all, it supports local multiplayer!

Speaking of which, I should try that out when I can.

 

[Neiteio]

There was a tip that mentioned a fish tank level where you can drive through the bubbles from the aerator to replenish your ship's oxygen without needing to go to the surface. It also said you can shoot the treasure chest to get a power-up (I think).

Sounds awesome, but I haven't seen this map yet. The maps, in general, are really awesome. One is sandwiched between a low ceiling and rock floor in a submerged cave; another is in what appears to be a swimming pool, and yet another is in a Japanese hotspring/bathhouse on a snowy winter day (suggesting the ships are toy-sized). You have some intricate archipelagos, some deep trenches with branching paths to elude foes and set up ambushes. And I still haven't seen the fish tank!

 

[Gsnap]

One of the pre-game tips says something about torpedoes with greater damage being slower too. I've played a lot since yesterday and even when I'm up against premium players it feels fairly well balanced. I'll probably make the jump to premium myself at some point but for now it doesn't seems like free players are at too much of a disadvantage.

I agree. I'll get premium eventually because I'll want to find my favorite sub, but I don't feel like I'm getting outclassed. And having a team helps of course. Double teaming an enemy sub is pretty satisfying. More so than in other multiplayer games. Even though he was several levels above us, he stood no chance.

 

[Neiteio]

I agree. I'll get premium eventually because I'll want to find my favorite sub, but I don't feel like I'm getting outclassed. And having a team helps of course. Double teaming an enemy sub is pretty satisfying. More so than in other multiplayer games. Even though he was several levels above us, he stood no chance.

I upgraded to Premium and it's just nice having access to these new subs. You still have to unlock them, but it extends the replay value knowing they're there. And like you said, the subs are well-balanced so you don't feel cheap for using them, or at a disadvantage when facing them.

As you also noted, teaming up with someone is a smart thing to do. I noticed in a couple matches that my teammate would be tailing me or vice-versa. It's reassuring skimming the surface and turning the periscope around to see a same-colored friendly following in my wake!

 

[jnWake]

This sounds so cool... Like a submarine version of Star Fox. If only I had a 3DS...

I hope this becomes succesful and Nintendo releases a Wii U version (ever for cross platform play!).

 

[RMS Gigantic]

There was a tip that mentioned a fish tank level where you can drive through the bubbles from the aerator to replenish your ship's oxygen without needing to go to the surface. It also said you can shoot the treasure chest to get a power-up (I think).

There's an open treasure chest on this map where there looks to be a whole bunch of gold coins inside. Shooting a torpedo into the lock causes one of these gold coins to pop up, which turns out to be (the one time I did it, at the very least) a repair token that works just like the repair powerup.

And yeah, I've had times where I managed to get my entire team sailing together as a sort of underwater convoy (often called a wolfpack). Even the view of it (from the periscope, or from being in the back of it) is a sight to behold. What's even better is that it was once a legitimate real-life submarine tactic, from the era that the historical submarines are from!

 

[Neiteio]

Some of my favorite phrases to type in Morse code:

"THANKS OBAMA"

"P00P ON FACE"

"SHIET"

 

[Gsnap]

I upgraded to Premium and it's just nice having access to these new subs. You still have to unlock them, but it extends the replay value knowing they're there. And like you said, the subs are well-balanced so you don't feel cheap for using them, or at a disadvantage when facing them.

As you also noted, teaming up with someone is a smart thing to do. I noticed in a couple matches that my teammate would be tailing me or vice-versa. It's reassuring skimming the surface and turning the periscope around to see a same-colored friendly following in my wake!

I feel like a lot of multiplayer games want to emphasize teamwork, but in my experience most of them fall short and everybody ends up running around and doing their own thing. In this game, being on your own is really scary. Everybody is weak and everybody is slow. Makes one on ones a bad option. First thing I do in matches is try to find teammates, rather than enemies. In other games, I might be annoyed with a teammate "kill stealing", but in this game I love it when a teammate comes to save the day.

EDIT: It's just a really good example of taking a set of specific mechanics that, while limited and seemingly unfun from the outside, become something more than the sum of their parts when they are allowed to evolve naturally via the players. No fluff, just subs.

 

[Neiteio]

I feel like a lot of multiplayer games want to emphasize teamwork, but in my experience most of them fall short and everybody ends up running around and doing their own thing. In this game, being on your own is really scary. Everybody is weak and everybody is slow. Makes one on ones a bad option. First thing I do in matches is try to find teammates, rather than enemies. In other games, I might be annoyed with a teammate "kill stealing", but in this game I love it when a teammate comes to save the day.

The best part is when you find a teammate engaged in battle and the enemy is too distracted to notice you coming up the rear like a raptor in Jurassic Park. >

It's also super-satisfying when you lead with a shot, firing a torpedo halfway across the ocean, aiming well ahead of your target, and by the time it gets there the target runs right into it.

 

[RMS Gigantic]

I feel like a lot of multiplayer games want to emphasize teamwork, but in my experience most of them fall short and everybody ends up running around and doing their own thing. In this game, being on your own is really scary. Everybody is weak and everybody is slow. Makes one on ones a bad option. First thing I do in matches is try to find teammates, rather than enemies. In other games, I might be annoyed with a teammate "kill stealing", but in this game I love it when a teammate comes to save the day.

I play World of Tanks, and this is the case in that game as well.

The fact that there's no such thing as kill stealing, and the emphasis on teamwork, are the result of two factors that this game shares with World of Tanks:

1) You play as a vehicle that is far slower to maneuver and aim than a human character. This puts more emphasis on strategy and less emphasis on twitch-based reflexes.
2) You don't respawn during a match. Once your vehicle is destroyed, you can only spectate the match. Experienced players will learn that rushing into the open is not wise, and rushing headlong by yourself into where you know an enemy will be is only a good idea if you know exactly how you're going to handle the situation to engage the enemy on your terms, not theirs.

I personally prefer this far more than other competitive multiplayer systems. It makes you feel a thrill as you approach destruction, having the weight on your mind that if you can't make it out of this situation, that's it for the match!