World of Tanks has been around as a free to play game for a few years now. It has finally been released on the PS4 but joins a console that is already rich with free to play titles. Can World of Tanks make enough noise to stand out from the pack?
For those not aware of World of Tanks, the basic idea is to build a collection of Tanks to go up against other players in a battle to the death across battlefields. Originally a PC Game, World of Tanks is very much a game of strategy and precision with a simple premise, pick a tank, take it into battle and use the XP and currency earned to upgrade and buy new tanks. The game mostly has the player spending time in their garage. From here tanks can be upgraded and bought before the easy process of picking a tank, pressing A and going straight into a match lobby and game.
The matches take the form of a Team Death match style where two teams of Tanks leave their respective Home Bases with the two objectives of either destroying all the enemy tanks to win the match or capturing the enemy home base to win. Matches run for fifteen minutes and at the end of the match any XP or Currency earned via killing enemy tanks, spotting them or capturing the base will be dished out to all.
What does make World of Tanks different is that players only have one life in a match, there are no respawns. But the game does something very clever with this restriction. Should your tank fall in battle, you are immediately given the option to return to your Garage where you can instantly pick another tank and go join another match. Should you fall early in the match, your tank will not be available to use again until that match has ended, but if you do leave the game and go to join another, any XP and currency will still be deposited to you once that match ends.
The XP earned during battle comes in two forms. Tank XP and Free XP. Tank XP is tied to the tank you use in battle and can only be used on that particular tank. Free XP and currency can be used to buy or upgrade any other Tank in your garage. Each tank has a tier system consisting of ten levels. Buying ‘packages’ with XP or currency will upgrade the tank. Once that tank’s tier tree is completed, you will then have the option to buy a new tank in that class. I found that the first three to four tiers were quite easy to obtain via normal gameplay, but the higher tiers required much more careful gameplay to get maximum XP from each match by destroying enemy tanks, spotting tanks for your team and capturing the enemy Base which adds to the strategy of how you play each match.
The matchmaking system is also very balanced in this regards. Higher graded tanks will be put in lobbies to fight other high graded tanks so you will not find yourself in an entry-level tank going up against bigger more powerful tanks, so the matches remain balanced as you work to level up your tanks and earn XP without the fear of being instant cannon fodder.
As a Free to Play game there is naturally an elephant in the room, Micro Transactions. This comes in the form of being able to use real cash money to purchase in-game Gold coin packs which can then be used to fast track tier progression and unlock unique tanks. Rather than this being seen as a ‘Pay to Win’ style of micro transactions, I would say it is simply a way to avoid grinding through low tier tanks and boost to more advance tanks. Other than the unique tanks, all other tanks on the roster from the USA, Germany or Great Britain, can be unlocked and bought using normal gameplay and XP. Gold Coins can also be used during the customisation of your tanks, from camouflage skin options to emblems and symbols. Whilst you can fast track to more powerful tanks using gold, the way that the match lobbies work, as above, means just having a tier 8 tank will not mean instant win in a match as you will be placed in a match against other tier 8 tanks, so skill and strategy are very much the key elements to success.
World of Tanks is more simulation then arcade. Movement is very much as you would expect from Tanks, and depending on the class and size, will change the way in which you approach combat. The Left stick controls movement of the tank and the right stick controls the turret. The game has a good tutorial which gives you the basic principles of gameplay but it does a poor job of giving real instruction to the much deeper aspect such as types of shell you can use, consumables which can enhance attack and defence options and repair your tank during battle.
The controls are easy enough to use and follow, but it will take time to learn how a tank will move across the maps. A few times my tank was stuck in a convoy of team mates as everyone shot off at the start of a match and there is nothing more annoying then when you have an enemy tank in your sight then a team-mate driving in front of you and blocking you. The maps themselves will have various different terrains and obstacles such as vegetation and buildings. The buildings can act as good cover but can be destroyed by cannon fire and should you get trapped in a location with no escape route then you will be cannon fodder if spotted by the enemy. Knowing and understanding how your tank moves, what it can do and is capable of blended with good map knowledge are all essential.
Visually the PS4 version of World of Tanks is stunning, from the detailing on the tanks to the environments you battle on. Having originally played the Xbox 360 version, the graphical upgrade is immediately striking on-screen and is complimented by a terrific audio system that makes every cannon shot hit and miss so impactful during the fighting.
It can take a while and patience to get the hang of the gameplay style and earn a more powerful and fun tank to use but with such quick access to matches and garage you will always find a match quickly and that adds to the playability. The more time you devote to this game the better the game will become for your gaming experience will be and it will take time to master it even if you purchase Gold packs to speed up progress.
World of Tanks can be a fun pick up and play game to begin with but will take strategy and practice to get the best out of it. A good percentage of the tanks and upgrades are obtainable without the micro transactions but progress to the higher levels will take time and grinding but will feel more rewarding when you get there. You can fire it up and be in a match in a matter of minutes, but the more simulation over arcade action means you wont find yourself getting mixed up in the action and killing tanks with every shot you fire, but that is something that I actually enjoyed about the game.
World of Tanks has a select appeal and it will not be to everyone’s taste even as a Free to Play game. Not a game I would fire up on a daily basis but would fire it up on a weekend for an hour or so with friends. As a free to play game I would fully recommend giving it a try to see if it grabs you but it has stiff competition from other free to play titles available and the recent PS Plus free online shooters.
