Despite being around for a few years, War Thunder, from Gaijin, made it’s first big impression at E3 2014, showing off some 354 planes and teasing at a Tank battle Beta.
(You can read his full review here.)
This of course was on the PC and after a few updates we took another look, but wait… this time it was on the PlayStation 4. Could this actually work?!
At first I really didn’t like it; It felt like a PC game and, in my opinion, played like one. However after doing a few tutorials I found myself getting the hang of it and then enjoying it more. Time to head to battle and try my hand at a cross platform MMO. I sucked. Really bad.
As a result I seemed to be stuck in perpetual suckdom. and this laid me low despite the game being designed so that even a noob can play and still feel as though they’ve contributed. I just couldn’t get it though. The planes were beautiful, the controls were responsive and it was easy to figure out the targeting and weapons systems… I just wasn’t any good!
All was lost, or was it?
Having failed at the air battles i decided to try my hand at the Tank battles; and dag nam it, found my niche. With over 140 tanks to choose from I was engrossed. War Thunder has a well-planned leveling system that goes into great detail. You can level up every member of your crews and your vehicles with experience gained from using the units. You can level up really quickly and max out at different tiers. The matchmaking is based on vehicle strength so you are never over-powered by people who may have access to golden eagles and such.
The realism was just fantastic; Sure, driving the tanks can be frustrating at first but that’s only because they drive like they do in reality. Once you figure out which vehicles you prefer, you level it up and get used to everything and it becomes amazing.
You are learning to drive it and the more you practice the better your drier, tank captain, gunner, reloader, and others get. Is there a tree in your way? No problem. Blow it up and keep rolling. .
When Leonard played, the tank battles were in what he called a “permanent beta mode.” Well They have definitely broken free and now the tank battles are better than the air battles (in my opinion). My biggest gripe about the game is the lag and that’s really not that bad at all and is likely specific to my area as well. (Damn you Hawaii! )
There are few things about playing on the PS4 that I feel needs to be different. I’m not sure how games are made but you can tell it’s designed for the PC and ported to the console. It doesn’t make the gameplay bad or anything, it just makes some things a little more difficult. This is almost unforgivable, except this is the first game to cross this many platforms and it really is beautiful. There are so many ways to customize your vehicles and find something you enjoy.
Just like Leonard, I have found War Thunder thoroughly enjoyable and will be making plans to continue playing it. With rumors of Naval battles in the future, I’m sure WT will have something for everyone. If you haven’t already, you should download the game and check it out as it’s well worth your time.
Trailer:
