World of Tanks Review - It's Tankalicious! Like Coffee!

World of Tanks(WoT) is a free to play massively multiplayer online tank combat game where two teams of fifteen tanks blast each other into flaming hunks of metal to claim victory on the battlefield. Is WoT a tank buster or tank busted?

Gameplay

WoT features numerous tanks from several nations from the mid-20th century where players progress through a nation centred technology tree to access new tank parts and even new tanks, similar to Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games where players level their characters to gain new skills. By participating in battles, players earn Credits and Experience to assist in gaining new tanks and tank upgrades. Tanks are categorised in tiers, where Tier I being the lowest and Tier X being the highest.

Grinding in WoT is initially easy, players will be unlocking many of the low tiers tanks within a few days. However, once at the mid tier, grinding will be a lot slower. Not only are unlocks more expensive in terms of Credits and Experience, using higher tier tanks cost more to use in battle. Tier X tanks can result in negative income if the player is on the winning team!(since maintaining and outfitting your tanks are significantly more expensive).

This could be looked at as an attempt to get players to purchase Gold to acquire a Premium Account or Premium Tanks which makes grinding easier. However, this grinding system is actually important for the game’s Match-Making system. It ensures a healthy pool of varied tanks for players to experience different battles every time, instead of seeing the same top tier tanks over and over again which is the case in Clan Wars and other tournaments.

                                          Slow, lumbering and solid, these make up a heavy tank.




Gold is an in-game currency which can be purchased with money, earned from a game mode called Clan Wars or prizes from contests. The main use of Gold is to purchase a Premium Account or Premium Tanks which ease the grind by providing increased experience and credit generation. Other uses include buying Gold ammunition which have very high penetration values to ensure shots damage their targets and special consumables to improve tank performance.

 Despite the in-game advantages Gold exclusive items give, their effect is minimal. This makes WoT not so much a pay to win game, great news for gamers on the cheap. In fact, a lot of players do not use Gold at all and are as competitive as Gold users. As mentioned earlier, Gold is given away by the developers through contests which occur every week, so theoretically, one never have to pay a dime to enjoy everything the game has to offer.

                        Tier 8 tanks, when these bad boys start rolling out you better pray you never run into them.


Another aspect of grinding also includes the tank crews. As players work their way through a technology tree to get new tanks, they are also improving the tank crew they take into battle. The better the tank crew, the better they can use the tank to its fullest capacity. Tank crews can also gain Skills such as improved gun accuracy on the move or increased camouflage for better concealment so they are just as important as getting better tank modules. Crews can make two identical tanks perform vastly different and equipments further improve tank characteristics.

There are a range of Equipments to outfit tanks with and each provides a specific bonus. Only three can equipment can be loaded at any one time, so players have to carefully decide what they want most out of their tank as the purchase cost of equipments can be as much as a tank and some equipment cannot be removed without destroying it or using Gold. With equipments and Crew Skills, players can customise their tank performance to their liking.

The classic saying of “easy to learn, hard to master” definitely applies to WoT which makes it an addictive experience to always trying to improve oneself and working towards that next new tank

                                                                              Someone asked for a BBQ?


As for the actual gameplay, WoT plays like any other First Peron Shooter, but with tanks obviously. Players move around a map and engage each other until there is a winning surviving team or the time limit has been reached in which it the game concludes to be a draw. However, it is the simulation portion that makes it a lot deeper than the typical point and shoot affair of first person shooters. Factors like angling armor to increase the chance of deflecting shots and aiming for weak spots for guaranteed damage against tougher opponents give the game a lot of subtle complexities and tactics. The classic saying of “easy to learn, hard to master” definitely applies to WoT which makes it an addictive experience to always trying to improve oneself and working towards that next new tank.

Tanks are grouped by types that define their role on the battlefield. Light Tanks which are quick and nimble, used to scout enemy defensive positions and exploit openings. Mediums have a good mix of mobility, protection and firepower allowing them to adapt to ever changing events on the battle field. Heavies are the grand daddy of tanks using its good armor and gun to push the enemy back. Tank destroyers carry powerful and accurate guns, great for supporting front line tanks. Artillery are super snipers able to lob shots across the map. Furthermore, each individual tank has its own strengths and weaknesses and learning how to use a tank effectively takes a lot of time and of course… lots of deaths.

               A world completely populated by tanks, ever wonder what you would look like if you were a tank?


There are several game modes in WoT and the most played is Random Battles where the game randomly groups players into two teams of roughly equal strength using its Match-Making system. This is quick and easy, but sometimes not painless as it can lead to a lot of hair pulling and teeth grinding due to questionable teammates in-game competency. Company Battles are arranged teams of players going head to head with other teams of their choice and are great to factor out the unknown human from Random Battles. For training purposes, there is Training Mode. Players can do whatever they wish on a selected map without worrying about repair cost. Last, but not least is Clan Wars where clans battle for territories on a map of Europe and North Africa. This is where the competitive players fight for the best pieces of land and hold it not for bragging rights, but for precious Gold intake!

Questions will be asked such as “Why is this Heavy Tank hiding behind a Light Tank?!” or “Why is everyone only going to one side of the map?!”

In-game battles range from exciting action from start to finish to long camping standoffs and to keyboard bashing screen smashing frustration! A lot of it depends on the team players you are stuck with and in Random Battle this is largely beyond the players control. Questions will be asked such as “Why is this Heavy Tank hiding behind a Light Tank?!” or “Why is everyone only going to one side of the map?!”. Feel free to add more colourful vocabulary which the players in this game will certainly subject their under-performing teammates to. For a team orientated game, most players are not very supportive to each other, which hurts newcomers just learning the ropes. Overall though, the game experience is a blast. Flanking, taking cover or simply good old rushing creates a dynamic battlefield. The experience does not have to be a lonely one as a friend could join in on the mayhem.

  The SPGs are the definition of 'Sniper' in World of Tanks, able to pick off targets Kilometres away and yet stay hidden


Players can team up with a friend for free. A third member is only possible with a Premium Account. Teaming up is the only way to have friends to be in the same side in Random Battles, but with a maximum limit of just three friends, players will have a hard time finding their own opponents in Company Battles if they wish to play with more friends, which can be time consuming. This is quite restrictive for a massively multiplayer game and guarantees most game experiences are only shared among a few buddies only. Another shortfall of Random Battles is the Match-Making system.

The Match-Making (MM) system is a highly heated topic on the forums. Currently as of version 7.2, the MM provides players their top tier tank once every three games. So for most of the time, players will find themselves at mid tier or even worst at the lowest tier. This of course has caused many players to be frustrated over MM pitting them against significantly better tanks which they have close to zero chance of beating or even damaging in some cases. Though this may sound unfair, it is an improvement over previous versions where MM did not guarantee players were given their top tier tank at all thus making players being at the bottom of the peaking order for many games. However, just be prepare to sigh a lot at uneven match-ups.

Presentation

Graphics wise, the game looks good. No high resolution textures or high polygon count here, but WoT does have nice touches of details to please the eye. Burning tank hulls have small flames with bright ambers coming off them. Some maps have birds flying in the sky though disappointingly it is not possible to shoot them down. Speaking of maps, there are over twenty maps and more being added with every patch. From urban gray cities, sunny deserts and to dank swamps, the variety of maps makes sure players are not overwhelmed with the same colours by playing the same looking maps over and over again. There are also some destructible objects allowing for cover to be destroyed giving the game some realism though some things like rocks and large buildings are indestructible no matter how many shots are fired at them. Guess some things are tougher than tanks(like invincible world war II era cement).

As for the tanks, they are the real stars of the show(or rather game) as they should be. Each one is accurately modeled and detailed and it is a joy to check out a newly obtained tank up close. Examining ports holes, machine gun placements and gun barrels is a treat for tank nuts. Though the tanks are bland in colour, purchasing camouflage paints gives them some personality, but they do have an expatriation date. Permanent camouflage paints require Gold.

Tanks are carefully rendered to mirror thier real-life counterparts (or atleast blueprints), even down to thier nuts and bolts.

On the audio side of things, the tanks feel the part. Engine hum loudly when climbing a slope and firing the big guns feels powerful. Some of the lower tier tanks even have rattling sound when they move making them sound flimsy and weak which they are. Map environments also have ambient sounds like birds chirping and leaves moving in the wind, but they are easily drowned out by the sound of combat. The music selection is just a handful, but every track helps brings out the excitement and tension of battles. It does get repetitive though, so most likely many players will mute it after a point. Another negative point about the audio is that tank crews all have American accents regardless what nationality they are. Russian or French crew talking like Yankees is kind of odd so hopefully they will add in new voices for the other nationalities.

One of the nicest feature of WoT is that it supports modifications. Players can change how their tanks look to show weak spots, replace tank crew voices Anime Girl voices and improve in-game HUD display. Yes, there is an Anime Girl voice pack out there.

Conclusion

WoT offers a very different take on the shooting genre and it is addicting, especially for military tank fanatics. The gameplay is exciting and trying out new tanks or a new upgrade is thrilling. The game does not make players feel they need to fork out cash to buy Gold to enjoy the most of out of it and the developers even give away Gold through contests and events. Patched regularly with major updates taking place once very month with new content, WoT players have a good reason to keep on playing it for a very long time. So give WoT a spin and experience one of the best free to play online game out there. Happy tank hunting!




Pros:

• Unique tank combat experience 
• Addicting grinding 
• Not pay to win 

Cons:

• Uneven match-ups in Random Battles 
• Bad manners of most players 
• Can't shoot down birds, seriously... 

Verdict: A Free to Play game done right, keeps you in-tune with its progressive and addictive gameplay.




Reviewed by BurnX. A mysterious figure who depletes the world off its supply of coffee. You could say he's a coffee fiend from the depths of coffee hell.