Good concept, implementation needs improvement – WarShip HD Review

First, I like the concept of this game better than any of other gun battle games out there. The period boats, the graphics and setting of the game are all excellent. However, there are so many irritating implementation details that could be easily fixed, that it is a constant frustration to play. First, you never know which side of your ship the canons are going to fire from. It is unacceptable to spend all of the time getting in position for a master shot against an opponent, only to find the canon fire going off the wrong side of the ship into the sea. I would suggest something like tapping on one half of the iPad screen shoots one way and the other half the other way or something similar. Even a visual indicator of which side the shots will come off of would at least let you plan for it. Second, opponents seem to have deadly accuracy while my own canon fire often misses. This cannot be explained by my own poor aim, as I move a lot and they still get me, yet when I shoot them they easily dodge it. I don't like games that give the enemies an unfair advantage. Third, the stupid X to exit the game is right where I like to rest my thumb for shooting (I hold the iPad in landscape with a thumb on each side to play), in the lower right corner. This is a button someone is going to want to hit rarely, it should be along the top of the screen, not right in the way. Fourth, steering with the wheel works terribly. I thought I just touch the wheel and rotate it, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which way the wheel will turn no matter where you touch it. Then half the time it thinks you are off the wheel and fires the canon instead. Other irritations are minor but still detract noticeably from the gameplay, you can never count on how soon after one firing you can fire again, a displayed meter would be nice; other than your ship smoking you can never tell how much life you have left (the bar under the ship that I thought indicated life seems to have no relation whatsoever, it starts and stays the same length). Honestly, this is a game I would love to give a 5 star review and with a few simple improvements it would be vastly more enjoyable. However, in its current form it needs work and is frustrating enough that I want to delete it and get my money back.
Review by Mason Boswell on WarShip HD.