Warship Gunner 2 review

Back in the day, if you wanted some exciting naval warfare action, you'd have to play "Battleship," a game played with paper and pencils and a friend. If you didn't have a friend, your naval engagements were limited to toys in the bathtub. If you didn't even have a bathtub, we'll just assume you had other things to worry about.

At any rate, we're all better off having Warship Gunner 2,an alternate-universe World War II naval-combat game. You'll dive into real-time shooting action, set in 60 aquatic stages with over 100 individual missions.

The focus is on turning foes into undersea scrapyards for divers to explore 100 years from now, but it's more than just basic pointing and shooting. You can build your own ship (there are many different hulls to select, from destroyers to super carriers); choose the type and number of propulsion systems; arm it with everything from plasma generators to slingshots (okay, we're kidding about the slingshots); anddecide if you want air support (fighters, bombers, attack planes). Heck, later in the game, you even get to engage in submarine warfare.

Ah, but it's not all beer and Skittles! There are a few things that will irk you. The camera is controllable, but you might want to take some Dramamine before swinging the damn thing around. Warship Gunner 2 isn't a real easy game to just pick up and start playing, either. A tutorial mode will ease you into the action, but you can still count on getting confused during your first few big engagements.