World of Warships: Legends is bringing back its bathtub duck battles

Wargaming is bringing back the Duck of War event to World of Warships: Legends this April. The 6v6 PvP bathtub battles return with a new action-movie parody theme. This is the first time the mode has appeared since its original run as the game's very first April Fools' Day event back in 2020.

World of Warships: Legends is the console and mobile counterpart to the main PC naval combat game. It usually focuses on historical accuracy. Players have to memorize ship armor layouts, shell types, and optimal engagement distances for World War II vessels. The April Fools' event throws all of that out the window in favor of pure arcade combat.

The original 2020 event was a chaotic 12-player free-for-all where players piloted "Ultra Cruisers" shaped like bath toys and competed on a global leaderboard. Players had to choose between ducks with forward-firing or aft-firing torpedoes. The developers have structured the combat into team-based matches for Duck of War 2. Players take command of weaponized rubber ducks and shoot bubbles and torpedoes at each other in a giant hot tub of boiling water.

Action movie parodies

The new roster of ships leans heavily into classic action cinema. A dramatic voiceover introduces a squad of parody ducks, each based on a specific movie hero. The lineup includes Luigi McQuacci (a Die Hard John McClane parody who drops the line "Yipee-kai-yay, mother ducker"), Quackaducko (Rambo), Duck Punchis (Walker, Texas Ranger), and Don de la Duque (Zorro).

There is also a Terminator parody simply named D.U.C.K. The cybernetic bird naturally promises "I'll be quack." It even sinks into lava while giving a thumbs up. This is a direct recreation of the ending of Terminator 2: Judgment Day in rubber form.

The visual contrast is the main joke here. These bright yellow plastic toys are surrounded by dramatic sparks, explosions, and intense lighting. All of the ducks fight together in the same oversized bathtub environment. The map includes giant bathroom tiles and soapy water.

Commanders and platforms

Players can assign one of two new commanders to their ducks. Diego Pato Bravo and Admiral Quackston both have different playstyles and skill trees to tweak before heading into the tub. In standard World of Warships gameplay, commander skills dictate everything from reload speeds to concealment ranges. The bathtub version simplifies this. Players can adjust their commander skills to focus on aggressive torpedo attacks or more defensive maneuvers depending on their preferred strategy.

The announcement trailer was posted on the PlayStation channel, but World of Warships: Legends is fully multiplatform. The game and the Duck of War 2 event are available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, and Android. PC players can also access the game via the current Steam closed beta.

The event runs for three weeks starting in early April. It arrives alongside a larger game update that includes early access to Pan-American cruisers and a collaboration with the heavy metal band Sabaton.

Live-service military games usually take themselves entirely too seriously. Taking a break from calculating armor penetration angles on a dreadnought to shoot bubbles from a rubber John McClane is a welcome change of pace. It proves that even tactical simulators can benefit from a little nonsense.