Another game we checked out during E3 2015 was Wargaming's World of Warships. Players have fought over 3 million battles in the beta version of the game, with an average session length of around two hours. These impressive stats seem to showcase a strong trajectory for the game as it enters open beta later this month. I took a look at some of the new features that the game will have in this new phase of the beta, including the signal flags and consumables system.

Signal flags were an important means of ship-to-ship communication during World War II, and Wargaming has implemented its use in an interesting way. In a game with various means of chat, using signal flags for communication is unnecessary. Instead, signal flags are a means of giving you ship buffs for that match, such as boosts to your credit gain. These flags are gained by completing achievements in the game, such as getting first blood. It allows for another layer of customization for your ship, but it can also be a way of showing off how much of a badass you are.

Enemy ships peering at you with their telescopes and seeing a bunch of signal flags may see you as a higher priority target. Similarly, if you know the meaning of the flags, such as the Japanese Zulu flag, you can figure out which buffs the enemy is using and adapt your strategy accordingly. It's a smart system, and I'm curious to see how it pans out during the open beta.

Additionally, the new consumables system was shown off. In this particular case, the example was the smoke screen option. As your ship steams forward, it emits a vast cloud of smoke that lingers for about a minute on the battlefield. This smoke obscures the vision of friend and foe alike but allows you to mask your movements. It doesn't do anything for the ship emitting the smoke, but it could certainly be used to great effect to help teammates maneuver to a better position.

During the course of the presentation, I asked if the team behind World of Warships has taken away anything from the rocky release of the sister title, World of Warplanes. Though specific details weren't given, the presenters seemed genuinely more confident in the current status of World of Warships. The game is hitting all of the company's internal metrics, but more importantly, Wargaming learns from all of its products. Given how much change, both large and small, has occurred within the gameplay of World of Warships since it was first shown, it seems that Wargaming is not afraid to retool the game to make it as good as it can be. Other details about the game, such as mod support, could not be gained at this time.

With the launch of the open beta, World of Warships will increase its ship count to over 100 ships, including new additions to the U.S. and Japanese tech trees and new British and Russian premium ships. I've been looking forward to the release of the game for quite some time, and though it seems like we still have some more waiting to do, it's great to see the game continue to gain new features. We'll have more information about the game as it continues in its development.