I should begin by saying that a fully fledged PvE mode is in the works, though there is no ETA of when it will be done.

This game is a bit of something most people always wanted to have, but never did. If you played the final fantasy games as a kid, like I did, then you probably wondered what a full on battle with your airship would be like.
Guns of Icarus neatly fulfills that by combining slick killer airships, steampunk glory, and the dear old dreams of flight. It's you and three other players, who must steer the airship itself, fire the weapons to take down the enemy, and keep the ship repaired at all times.
Pilot, gunner, and engineer - not a toughie to figure out who does what. While it's worth noting that any role can do anything, pilots gets more items to enhance the performance of the ship itself (at the expense of slowly damaging the systems), gunners get more ammo types, and engineers have more tools to fix the ship.

Decking out your ship is where the real depth lies. There are a lot of weapons at this stage of the game, and knowing what to have when, and at what place of the ship, and with what ammo, is the key to victory. You could be a sniping minelayer, a harpoon'ing flamerboat, or a pure on rocket speedster. There's a lot of combinations, and you will still be learning new ones hundreds of games later. The ships are as varied as the weapons, offering multiple roles per ship depending on what guns and ammo you use. Playing into all of this are the items the pilot is using, be it moonshine to make the engines go faster, kerosense to make the balloon better, or phoenix claw to turn faster - it all comes down to making up for the various ships inate weaknesses.

But, as previously mentioned, that comes at the cost of constantly damaging the affected sub-systems, so pilots needs to take care of that.
See, damage to systems makes them less effective - an engine that's barely alive won't perform anywhere near a full repaired one, and the same goes for everything else. It's all a matter of making priorities under fire, which makes every game intense but rewarding. And because every part of the ship has it's own health, a lot of tactical precision fire comes into play. Aim is important.

The scenery is beautiful - I sometimes forget to do my job as an engineer because I get distracted by all the effects and cool visuals around me. No other game did that to me. It's that good to look at. It's not just scenery though, things like hiding in clouds is definetly a thing. The soundtrack is great, it's subtle but powerful, and often you won't notice it there - you will just suddenly realize how well it sets the mood, and you will quickly learn to fear the sound of hwacha rockets whistling through the air.

But should the soundtrack dissapoint, your teammates can of course play their own over the mic - or whatever else they want to share. Guns of Icarus is extremely voice driven - you simply don't have the time to type under fire. Luckily, it's functional and simple. And better get used to it, because there will be a lot of banter going on in the ship. And that's what makes me adore this game so much, more than anything - people work very closely together to achive a common goal. That makes getting along so extremely important - if you don't have a good chemistry with your crew, then you simply won't do really well. Even in the pre-match lobbies, I often find myself heartily laughing at all the jokes, singing, stories, and general merry banter. It's sorta like a pre-match party!
So yes, if you don't like social games, then this game is not optimized for you. But the community is incredibly inviting and nice!

BUT, if you like airships, epic dogfights, flying in pretty landscapes, and just having a grand old gamer time with people from all over the world, duking it up high above the ground in all it's steampunk glory, and feeling the gratification of achieving success as a team, then this game is impossible to pass up. It's pretty much the only one of it's kind, and it's only getting better. The developer team constantly plays games with the players, so they're never out of touch or lack common insight.

I hope to see you in the skies!

PS: Two advices...
Don't opt out of novice.
Don't fly a galleon if you're not experienced.

I should begin by saying that a fully fledged PvE mode is in the works, though there is no ETA of when it will be done. This game is a bit of something most people always wanted to have, but never did. If you played the final fantasy games as a kid, like I did, then you probably wondered what a full on battle with your airship would be like. Guns of Icarus neatly fulfills that by combining slick killer airships, steampunk glory, and the dear old dreams of flight. It's you and three other players, who must steer the airship itself, fire the weapons to take down the enemy, and keep the ship repaired at all times. Pilot, gunner, and engineer - not a toughie to figure out who does what. While it's worth noting that any role can do anything, pilots gets more items to enhance the performance of the ship itself (at the expense of slowly damaging the systems), gunners get more ammo types, and engineers have more tools to fix the ship. Decking out your ship is where the real depth lies. There are a lot of weapons at this stage of the game, and knowing what to have when, and at what place of the ship, and with what ammo, is the key to victory. You could be a sniping minelayer, a harpoon'ing flamerboat, or a pure on rocket speedster. There's a lot of combinations, and you will still be learning new ones hundreds of games later. The ships are as varied as the weapons, offering multiple roles per ship depending on what guns and ammo you use. Playing into all of this are the items the pilot is using, be it moonshine to make the engines go faster, kerosense to make the balloon better, or phoenix claw to turn faster - it all comes down to making up for the various ships inate weaknesses. But, as previously mentioned, that comes at the cost of constantly damaging the affected sub-systems, so pilots needs to take care of that. See, damage to systems makes them less effective - an engine that's barely alive won't perform anywhere near a full repaired one, and the same goes for everything else. It's all a matter of making priorities under fire, which makes every game intense but rewarding. And because every part of the ship has it's own health, a lot of tactical precision fire comes into play. Aim is important. The scenery is beautiful - I sometimes forget to do my job as an engineer because I get distracted by all the effects and cool visuals around me. No other game did that to me. It's that good to look at. It's not just scenery though, things like hiding in clouds is definetly a thing. The soundtrack is great, it's subtle but powerful, and often you won't notice it there - you will just suddenly realize how well it sets the mood, and you will quickly learn to fear the sound of hwacha rockets whistling through the air. But should the soundtrack dissapoint, your teammates can of course play their own over the mic - or whatever else they want to share. Guns of Icarus is extremely voice driven - you simply don't have the time to type under fire. Luckily, it's functional and simple. And better get used to it, because there will be a lot of banter going on in the ship. And that's what makes me adore this game so much, more than anything - people work very closely together to achive a common goal. That makes getting along so extremely important - if you don't have a good chemistry with your crew, then you simply won't do really well. Even in the pre-match lobbies, I often find myself heartily laughing at all the jokes, singing, stories, and general merry banter. It's sorta like a pre-match party! So yes, if you don't like social games, then this game is not optimized for you. But the community is incredibly inviting and nice! BUT, if you like airships, epic dogfights, flying in pretty landscapes, and just having a grand old gamer time with people from all over the world, duking it up high above the ground in all it's steampunk glory, and feeling the gratification of achieving success as a team, then this game is impossible to pass up. It's pretty much the only one of it's kind, and it's only getting better. The developer team constantly plays games with the players, so they're never out of touch or lack common insight. I hope to see you in the skies! PS: Two advices... Don't opt out of novice. Don't fly a galleon if you're not experienced.