Some of you may or may not have heard of this game, and I must say, if you have an interest in a game completely dedicated to World War II era war machines, then you really should check this game out. The best part, is that it's absolutely free to play, unless you want to get exp 50% faster and play with friends, it's then 10 bucks a month. Still not too bad in the end.
Ok where to begin, first off, the game as the name implies, is an MMO that glorifies the tanks of the second World War. When you first start the game you are granted three stock starter tanks, all three being in the Tier 1 bracket, the lowest of the low. You get three factions to choose from, American, USSR and Axis, each one actually has very different characteristics, and excel in certain situations and are just as deficient in others. From here, you'll wet your feet by clawing your way through dozens upon dozens (More like hundreds if you're not a premium member or don't buy in game currency with real cash) of matches to grind your experience up for better equipment for your tin can, which eventually leads to more powerful tanks.
Gameplay: The game plays out in many ways like an TPS, your camera starts you off in every match with a clear third person view of your vehicle, but if you wish to place accurate shots down range, you simply would switch into what the game calls "Sniper mode" this mode has you zoomed into your tanks spotter scope and allows you to get a better shot at tanks at range or that are behind cover. The game is not as simple as you might think though, it is extrememly punishing on players who rush off on their own, since in most cases, it will get you killed within moments. There is no respawns, so if you happen to be the unlucky sod who dies early in the match, you'll have to wait until the match is over before you can enter another. HOWEVER, you can leave the match after dieing without any penalties to exp earned, or currency won from that particular game, but you will have to wait until the match is over before you can use the particular tank you used in that match. Since the game offers you multiple slots for different tanks, it encourages you to have a wide selection of vehicles to play around with.
Currently there are 12 different maps, and players are broken up into 15 vs 15 games pitting you against similar tanks within your tanks particular tier if not one or two higher. The play styles differ greatly from each type of tank, which come in a number of players, Light, Medium, Heavy, Self Propelled Guns, and Tank Destroyers. Light tanks feel zippy and very agile but lack in firepower, while the heavier tanks like the Tiger 1 feel sluggish and ponderous compared to the smaller swifter vehicles. Ambush tactics and making sure you're using cover plays a large role in the outcome of combat, as well as communication. Well coordinated strikes will trump brute force in this game any day, so this game promotes clan play a lot. Currently there is only 1 map type, which has your team trying to achieve victory by destroying all of the enemy players tanks or by capturing their home base. Games can be as slow as a snail at times, but can also be just as intense as some FPS games.
Graphics: For a freemium game, the graphics and audio is actually quite impressive, it is immediately apparent that a great deal of care was taken in trying to make the tanks in game as accurate as they could to their real life counterparts. Trees can be run over by heavier tanks, and you can sometimes fire through the lesser buildings to surprise and un-suspecting tanker on the other side. Audio is fantastic with the scream of tearing metal as shells strike your armor, all the way to the shouts of your crewmen when you score a hit or fail to penetrate the enemies armor.
Design: The game is actually very well made for a game that has a player base that will most likely being playing it for free. The maps are large and don't feel imbalanced, and offer many routes and plenty of cover for you to dart between as you advance. Servers are solid, without any real lag (I've never encountered lag) and matchmaking (At least for free players) has you thrown into combat most of the time in less than a minute or two. The only complaint that I and many other free players have is that you must be a subscriber to be able to join friends games and create parties with them. Many have said that the biggest selling point of this game is that it's team based, and many just don't have enough to really get drawn into the game, and really see what it could be like when played with another person in which they could communicate with, via Ventrilo or some other voice chat program.
World of Tanks is not without it's flaws, a faulty matchmaking with the subcribers will sometimes pit you against seemingly god like vehicles and leave you plinking away while causing little more than an annoyance for the other player. The developers are however very responsive, and acknowledge the problems and have been working on a series of balancing patches to remedy the current issues plaguing the game. Hit detection is solid, and does matter, faster moving tanks will want to strike at a heavier tanks tracks in order to immobilize it from which leaves it nearly helpless to flanking attacks and allows your Tank Destroyers or Self Propelled guns (Artillery) rain down hell. Striking the ammo rack can cause a catastrophic explosion, heavily damaging if not outright destroying the tank, and setting it ablaze, from where the crew must try to put it out before your health depletes and you are now an oversize toaster oven.
The game also awards players for simply helping their team, and kills don't necessarily mean more points. The aggressive player or a player that prefers the role of a scout may in the end receive the most exp and cash at game end, even if they died. In most cases, simply causing damage, getting within detection range of enemy vehicles and lighting them up for your snipers will yield better EXP than the individual who camped in a bush the entire match waiting for that tank which has been whittled away at so they could take the killing shot.
K/D is not the focus, in fact, players who do the aforementioned tactic of laying in wait to "steal a kill" will in fact receive less points than usual due to the fact that they did not cause the majority of the damage, so in the end all it does is pad a nonresistant K/D score.
Overview: The game is not without it's quirks, such as Tiger 1 tanks with paper armor, and inaccurate reflections of their guns being unable to penetrate certain thickness' of armor, as well as the match making issues for subcribers, but they are all being addressed which is more than can be said for other Freemium game developers.
World of Tanks has a fairly high learning curve for the nooby, but it is certainly a great experience if you enjoy romping around and destroying hostiles in a historical war machine, the polish put into this game is very impressive considering it's background.
My advice, is to at least try it, after all, what do you have to lose? You didn't pay anything except for the time it took you to download its client.
Ok where to begin, first off, the game as the name implies, is an MMO that glorifies the tanks of the second World War. When you first start the game you are granted three stock starter tanks, all three being in the Tier 1 bracket, the lowest of the low. You get three factions to choose from, American, USSR and Axis, each one actually has very different characteristics, and excel in certain situations and are just as deficient in others. From here, you'll wet your feet by clawing your way through dozens upon dozens (More like hundreds if you're not a premium member or don't buy in game currency with real cash) of matches to grind your experience up for better equipment for your tin can, which eventually leads to more powerful tanks.
Gameplay: The game plays out in many ways like an TPS, your camera starts you off in every match with a clear third person view of your vehicle, but if you wish to place accurate shots down range, you simply would switch into what the game calls "Sniper mode" this mode has you zoomed into your tanks spotter scope and allows you to get a better shot at tanks at range or that are behind cover. The game is not as simple as you might think though, it is extrememly punishing on players who rush off on their own, since in most cases, it will get you killed within moments. There is no respawns, so if you happen to be the unlucky sod who dies early in the match, you'll have to wait until the match is over before you can enter another. HOWEVER, you can leave the match after dieing without any penalties to exp earned, or currency won from that particular game, but you will have to wait until the match is over before you can use the particular tank you used in that match. Since the game offers you multiple slots for different tanks, it encourages you to have a wide selection of vehicles to play around with.
Currently there are 12 different maps, and players are broken up into 15 vs 15 games pitting you against similar tanks within your tanks particular tier if not one or two higher. The play styles differ greatly from each type of tank, which come in a number of players, Light, Medium, Heavy, Self Propelled Guns, and Tank Destroyers. Light tanks feel zippy and very agile but lack in firepower, while the heavier tanks like the Tiger 1 feel sluggish and ponderous compared to the smaller swifter vehicles. Ambush tactics and making sure you're using cover plays a large role in the outcome of combat, as well as communication. Well coordinated strikes will trump brute force in this game any day, so this game promotes clan play a lot. Currently there is only 1 map type, which has your team trying to achieve victory by destroying all of the enemy players tanks or by capturing their home base. Games can be as slow as a snail at times, but can also be just as intense as some FPS games.
Graphics: For a freemium game, the graphics and audio is actually quite impressive, it is immediately apparent that a great deal of care was taken in trying to make the tanks in game as accurate as they could to their real life counterparts. Trees can be run over by heavier tanks, and you can sometimes fire through the lesser buildings to surprise and un-suspecting tanker on the other side. Audio is fantastic with the scream of tearing metal as shells strike your armor, all the way to the shouts of your crewmen when you score a hit or fail to penetrate the enemies armor.
Design: The game is actually very well made for a game that has a player base that will most likely being playing it for free. The maps are large and don't feel imbalanced, and offer many routes and plenty of cover for you to dart between as you advance. Servers are solid, without any real lag (I've never encountered lag) and matchmaking (At least for free players) has you thrown into combat most of the time in less than a minute or two. The only complaint that I and many other free players have is that you must be a subscriber to be able to join friends games and create parties with them. Many have said that the biggest selling point of this game is that it's team based, and many just don't have enough to really get drawn into the game, and really see what it could be like when played with another person in which they could communicate with, via Ventrilo or some other voice chat program.
World of Tanks is not without it's flaws, a faulty matchmaking with the subcribers will sometimes pit you against seemingly god like vehicles and leave you plinking away while causing little more than an annoyance for the other player. The developers are however very responsive, and acknowledge the problems and have been working on a series of balancing patches to remedy the current issues plaguing the game. Hit detection is solid, and does matter, faster moving tanks will want to strike at a heavier tanks tracks in order to immobilize it from which leaves it nearly helpless to flanking attacks and allows your Tank Destroyers or Self Propelled guns (Artillery) rain down hell. Striking the ammo rack can cause a catastrophic explosion, heavily damaging if not outright destroying the tank, and setting it ablaze, from where the crew must try to put it out before your health depletes and you are now an oversize toaster oven.
The game also awards players for simply helping their team, and kills don't necessarily mean more points. The aggressive player or a player that prefers the role of a scout may in the end receive the most exp and cash at game end, even if they died. In most cases, simply causing damage, getting within detection range of enemy vehicles and lighting them up for your snipers will yield better EXP than the individual who camped in a bush the entire match waiting for that tank which has been whittled away at so they could take the killing shot.
K/D is not the focus, in fact, players who do the aforementioned tactic of laying in wait to "steal a kill" will in fact receive less points than usual due to the fact that they did not cause the majority of the damage, so in the end all it does is pad a nonresistant K/D score.
Overview: The game is not without it's quirks, such as Tiger 1 tanks with paper armor, and inaccurate reflections of their guns being unable to penetrate certain thickness' of armor, as well as the match making issues for subcribers, but they are all being addressed which is more than can be said for other Freemium game developers.
World of Tanks has a fairly high learning curve for the nooby, but it is certainly a great experience if you enjoy romping around and destroying hostiles in a historical war machine, the polish put into this game is very impressive considering it's background.
My advice, is to at least try it, after all, what do you have to lose? You didn't pay anything except for the time it took you to download its client.
Last edited by Artimise Flare on 2011-05-04, 14:09; edited 1 time in total
