(I stopped playing around 2023, since then there have been new additions and changes to the game. Still, I believe my opinion still holds value.)
The genre of games that focus on tank-on-tank combat is rather niche. There are only two big-budget titles these days - War Thunder and World of Tanks. They have many similarities, as such they are often compared. I've played both, and I think they are equal in terms of fun. However, if I was a totally new player, I would pick War Thunder, due to the more active community and overall better direction that the game is heading.
I lied, War Thunder doesn't just focus on tank-on-tank combat, there are also planes, ships, and even helicopters. I have stuck mainly to ground vehicles, as that is what interests me most, but I have dabbled in air and naval combat as well. There is much attention put into all of these types, even if you care just about one of them, you will still find an enjoyable and quite in-depth game.
War Thunder is free to play, and with this comes microtransactions. There might be some pay-to-win aspects, but from my experience, its main advantage is skipping the grind.
If you haven't guessed already, you won't be getting your hands on the modern, shiny tanks and planes from the get-go. (Unless you spend money) The grind is looooong. I was a free-to-play player, and I got to 60 - 70% of a tech tree within 250 hours. Now I may be just bad, but still.
So would I recommend it? Unfortunately, it's one of those games that only really gets fun once you get good and start consistently getting kills each battle. My main problem with War Thunder and these type of games is that after all these hours, I can barely remember any of my playtime.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
None.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
I will mostly be talking about ground combat, since that's where I spend most of my time. It is one of those games with very unique gameplay, it's to the point where I am hard-pressed to name any other that does what War Thunder does. One could point to its main rival, World of Tanks, but even then there are glaring differences.
The key word in War Thunder is realism. The developers have tried to make combat as realistic as possible, while still keeping it engaging. So, what do you imagine happens when a shell penetrates the armour of a tank? That's right, it's almost or completely destroyed. This leads to combat feeling quite fast-paced and hectic, since a single mistake could cost you your life. But it also makes every kill and every opponent you outsmart that much more rewarding. Your impact on the battle overall can be major. Give a fast-firing tank an advantageous position and 20 seconds, and an entire flank could be wiped out. Even if you do die, it's not like you can't respawn, however, how many times you can do that is dependent on your performance.
My main problem with the ground mode is the presence of planes. It seemed as though around a third of my deaths were simply because of a bomb, I could do nothing to stop.
As I said, the microtransactions are there mostly to provide a way to make the grind shorter. You can also acquire some exclusive vehicles this way, but I've never heard of any of them being very OP.
All the other game modes - air and naval, are also pretty good. I didn't spend much time on them, since I never had much interest in those types of vehicles.
So why did I abandon War Thunder? Well at one point while playing it just hit me that what I am doing is so incredibly pointless. While I had yet to reach the end of the tech tree, none of the later vehicles seemed particularly interesting. In addition, the moment-to-moment gameplay felt more and more unsatisfying. In the end, I was left disappointed with the time I spent.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Graphically it's not bad, there is plenty of detail in the vehicle models and the environment. My problem is that the presentation is so dull and flat. Rarely is there anything visually interesting in any of the maps. I know it's supposed to be realistic, but that doesn't make it not boring to look at.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
War Thunder has little to no atmosphere. It doesn't really try.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
The soundtrack is damn good, unfortunately, I don't know when it plays. I don't know whether I am misremembering, but genuinely can't recall ever hearing it, except for some short pieces. So OST itself - good, its utilization - bad.
My favourite part is "Waltz of the Tornado".
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Did you know? Recently, team damage was disabled. Go ahead, try it.
The genre of games that focus on tank-on-tank combat is rather niche. There are only two big-budget titles these days - War Thunder and World of Tanks. They have many similarities, as such they are often compared. I've played both, and I think they are equal in terms of fun. However, if I was a totally new player, I would pick War Thunder, due to the more active community and overall better direction that the game is heading.
I lied, War Thunder doesn't just focus on tank-on-tank combat, there are also planes, ships, and even helicopters. I have stuck mainly to ground vehicles, as that is what interests me most, but I have dabbled in air and naval combat as well. There is much attention put into all of these types, even if you care just about one of them, you will still find an enjoyable and quite in-depth game.
War Thunder is free to play, and with this comes microtransactions. There might be some pay-to-win aspects, but from my experience, its main advantage is skipping the grind.
If you haven't guessed already, you won't be getting your hands on the modern, shiny tanks and planes from the get-go. (Unless you spend money) The grind is looooong. I was a free-to-play player, and I got to 60 - 70% of a tech tree within 250 hours. Now I may be just bad, but still.
So would I recommend it? Unfortunately, it's one of those games that only really gets fun once you get good and start consistently getting kills each battle. My main problem with War Thunder and these type of games is that after all these hours, I can barely remember any of my playtime.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
None.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
I will mostly be talking about ground combat, since that's where I spend most of my time. It is one of those games with very unique gameplay, it's to the point where I am hard-pressed to name any other that does what War Thunder does. One could point to its main rival, World of Tanks, but even then there are glaring differences.
The key word in War Thunder is realism. The developers have tried to make combat as realistic as possible, while still keeping it engaging. So, what do you imagine happens when a shell penetrates the armour of a tank? That's right, it's almost or completely destroyed. This leads to combat feeling quite fast-paced and hectic, since a single mistake could cost you your life. But it also makes every kill and every opponent you outsmart that much more rewarding. Your impact on the battle overall can be major. Give a fast-firing tank an advantageous position and 20 seconds, and an entire flank could be wiped out. Even if you do die, it's not like you can't respawn, however, how many times you can do that is dependent on your performance.
My main problem with the ground mode is the presence of planes. It seemed as though around a third of my deaths were simply because of a bomb, I could do nothing to stop.
As I said, the microtransactions are there mostly to provide a way to make the grind shorter. You can also acquire some exclusive vehicles this way, but I've never heard of any of them being very OP.
All the other game modes - air and naval, are also pretty good. I didn't spend much time on them, since I never had much interest in those types of vehicles.
So why did I abandon War Thunder? Well at one point while playing it just hit me that what I am doing is so incredibly pointless. While I had yet to reach the end of the tech tree, none of the later vehicles seemed particularly interesting. In addition, the moment-to-moment gameplay felt more and more unsatisfying. In the end, I was left disappointed with the time I spent.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Graphically it's not bad, there is plenty of detail in the vehicle models and the environment. My problem is that the presentation is so dull and flat. Rarely is there anything visually interesting in any of the maps. I know it's supposed to be realistic, but that doesn't make it not boring to look at.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
War Thunder has little to no atmosphere. It doesn't really try.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
The soundtrack is damn good, unfortunately, I don't know when it plays. I don't know whether I am misremembering, but genuinely can't recall ever hearing it, except for some short pieces. So OST itself - good, its utilization - bad.
My favourite part is "Waltz of the Tornado".
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Did you know? Recently, team damage was disabled. Go ahead, try it.