REVIEW

War Thunder Review

by Dominic Coles, May 14th, 2015

In history we have had some incredible avionic and ground skirmishes. Whether they involve tanks, planes, bombers or battleships, these were the fights that have inspired generations of games. But as some titles tend to take inspiration from warfare and turn them into a more arcade-like experience, only some have ever come close to simulating the true experience. But what happens when you combine these arcade-style gameplay elements with a simulation-style of depth? You get the Free-to-Play title from Gaijin Entertainment known as War Thunder. But can this game win over fans of warfare as well as fans of the FTP model?

When you load up War Thunder for the first time you will be asked straight away to participate in a basic tutorial with a fighter plane. These tutorials are really well-built as they not only include written text but also commands from your fellow co-pilots. This is where you learn that controlling these planes is not as easy as you may think. Their weight as well as current air speed velocity has to be managed efficiently or else you can go from a courageous dog fight into a horrendous nose dive. This makes for a different and more challenging experience rather than something along the lines of Ace Combat. Add these elements together with banking for harder turns and crazy evasive manoeuvres and you have a lot of room to improve your skills. There are plenty of tutorials that you can repeat at any time that can fill you in on anything from the basics to the harder moves.

After performing a basic tutorial at the start, you are then introduced to your hanger. Here you can manage your crew, what vehicles you are currently using, your upgrades as well as purchase new vehicles and buffs via the online store. The hanger is split into different countries, each with their own accurately represented planes and tanks. This not only gives the option of playing as your favourite country, but also allows you to try everything that the game has to offer without being locked in. So at any point you can immediately switch from piloting something from the US, to now piloting a vehicle from the USSR.

You start off with two planes per faction to see whom you prefer best. You can then use lions, which you earn by playing missions, to purchase more crew members to manage more vehicles. Every vehicle then has two different tech trees which you can research down. The main tree allows you to set a research target on a new aircraft or tank of your choosing. When selected, this will put research points into that choice which will eventually reward you with a new vehicle and possible more to unlock. This means that you can potentially unlock the entire tree just by playing the game making for some great value for no money. There are however some vehicles that you can only purchase through packs which you can buy online. Do not worry about people buying these for power as in the end of the day you still need the skills necessary to use these vehicles. Because of this simple blend, the game veers away from the Pay-To-Win mentality that some titles have and sticks very true to a Free-to-Play setting.

When it comes to fighting with your planes and tanks you have two different forms of combat. These come in either arcade battles or realistic battles. In arcade you can duel opponents in two different modes. Ground Strike which is like team deathmatch where you simply destroy aerial & ground troops and Domination where you have to occupy certain locations in order to drain your opponent’s points. The other thing that makes arcade battles different is that you can have multiple different countries on both sides where anyone and anything can be in the air or on the ground. Realistic battles mixes things up a little however. Leader markers for shooting down enemies are now removed making you have to work for each shot. Also tight turns whilst at fast speeds may cause your pilots to black out or your plane to simply rip apart. You also have to return to your base in order to regain your ammunition once it has run out. Finally, every single country will be represented in these battles as a different team making for some huge struggles and epic moments. These modes make the game enjoyable for both the casual and more hardcore players. If you want more of a simple style of game where you don’t have to worry about managing everything carefully, then the arcade battles suit your style. However, if you want something more and you want to enjoy a more realistic scenario of combat then try out the realistic battles.

The game has plenty to offer, but it does not hold your hand. You will have to learn and adapt to certain situations as you keep playing the game in order to fully master driving a tank or flying a plane. Every different vehicle feels, acts and reacts differently to situations, making you stick to your favourites out of the hundreds available. Without patience you will quickly fall out of love with this game. Do not go into it thinking that it is a combination of Ace Combat and World of Tanks, because it isn’t. By far this is one of the best built and most realistic war games that I have played, which can be both great and scary to people’s eyes. Lovers of history will instantly get attached to all the historic battles and armaments and will wish to continue that love by unlocking more vehicles or upgrading the ones they love from the countries available. But those who may not be as interested in history may just be overwhelmed with how much this game has. Like with any other Free-to-Play title you need to give the game time to see if you truly love it or hate it. Sadly in War Thunder’s case I have seen many people simply close out of the game blaming the difficulty of the controls and how the vehicles act, without understanding that the mechanics make these feel more realistic. Realism is definitely a double edged sword, but to those who love it you will enjoy what this game brings to the table.

With so much value and time put into something so huge in scale, War Thunder is one of the best Free-to-Play titles on the market right now. Combining both arcade and realistic styles of gameplay as well as tight controls gives players a lot to truly master and perfect. Just know that when you get into this game, you have to give it and yourself some time in order to both learn and master everything there is. Failure to do so may end up giving you a lacklustre experience as this is truly a game that demands more than other titles. If you are willing to put in the time and effort you will be rewarded for your efforts, making this a game that you truly have to try out for yourselves on either PC or PS4.