Article Type: Review (Beta)
Article Date: September 24, 2010
World of Tanks Product Info
Product Name: World of Tanks (Beta)Category: Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG)
Developer: Wargaming.net
Publisher: Wargaming.net
Release Date: Released (beta)
Recommended System Spec:
- OS: Windows 2000 / XP /Vista / 7
- CPU: Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz or faster processor
- RAM: 2 GB RAM
- HDD: 3 GB Free
- Graphics Card: nVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT series / ATI Radeon X1600 series or better
Quick Overview:
Pros:
- Gameplay is fun, fast, and intense.
- Tanks are accurately rendered visually
- Tech tree allows for customization of vehicles outside of commonly known variants
Cons:
- Auto-balance of teams not very good and needs work.
- Some features will require premium accounts
- No co-op PvE play
by Shawn "Gunny" Thrift
The Hummel self-propelled gun lumbered into place in a wooded hillock overlooking the intended battle field. To the right, another SPG could be heard moving into a similar location. Ahead of the Hummel, tanks and tank destroyers formed up to make their attack. The Hummel crew prepared itself for in the coming minutes, the action would be tense.
Then came the attack. In two spearheads the main force moved off toward their objective. Soon the calls for artillery support came pouring in. The Hummel's 150mm gun barked at each request. The commanders in the field called back with corrections to the field piece's fire and occasionally a congratulatory praise as an enemy tank was destroyed. Then suddenly all was quiet. The battle ended and the crew prepared to move and resupply. Other battles waited.
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| I'll meet you in the town square. |
For the last few weeks I have had the privilege to play the beta of Wargamming.net's upcoming World of Tanks. The game is set during World War II and the beta focuses on the tanks of the German and Russian armies, although a US tech tree is planned for the official release. The maps are definitely European and range from Kursk-like maps to ruined German cities. More maps will probably be in the offering at a later date as I've heard that eventually other countries such as Japan will be added.
The heart of the game lies in the tank battles. Thirty tanks, tank destroyers and artillery are formed in random battles—fifteen to a side. You get a quick preview of your forces and what you are facing while the map loads. Once on the map, you have a scant few seconds to communicate a strategy and you are off trying to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy. The match is won by either capturing the opposing team's base of operations or the total destruction of the enemy force.
The game is played mostly in the third-person view outside the tank, behind the gunners scope or, if playing an SPG, in the artillery map. Controls are your normal FPS controls W,A,S,D for movement and turret, fire and camera control with the mouse. The F1 function key will bring up a quick help menu during battle if needed.
Getting Started
Before you arm up and go to battle, you begin your fledgling tank career in the garage. From this screen you get a ton of options on customizing not only your tank, but the crew as well.
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| Countdown to battle. |
Hold on now. Before you think about jumping into a shiny new King Tiger and going off in search of glory, you can't. Every new player starts with the lowest of the low in tank warfare. These are light skinned, light gunned, two or three man light tanks.
In the game, as I'm sure about the real life counterparts, the light tanks are the scouts and pretty much cannon fodder. Unless you get a fight where it's all light tanks, you could be facing anything from the medium Panthers and T-34s to the heavies of the game: the Tigers or IS series of Russian tanks. You will basically try and survive long enough to hopefully give your team's artillery a look at the placement of the enemy forces and, most important, the enemy's artillery.
How then, you ask, are you supposed to get those medium and heavy tanks? You fight for them. Every battle, won or lost, you receive points. As you gain points you can upgrade your tank or crew, but remember this little point: you also have to pay for repairs and ammunition.
The Tanks
The tanks run from pre-war tankettes to post-war behemoths. You will find your usual suspects such as the German Panther, the Tiger, Jadgpanther, Panzer III's and IV's and the Russian T-34, KV series and IS series tanks. For the person with enough credits, the German Maus can be researched and bought. The Russian IS series goes up through the IS-7 which was a post-war tank and only two, if I remember correctly, were ever built.
The number of tanks incorporated in the game is probably well over a hundred because of the different variants that can be created within each tanks class. Meaning that with the right turret, you can mount an 88mm flak cannon on the hull of a Panther. Kind of hard to explain, but you will see in the tech tree the possibilities.
Tech Tree
As you gain points you can continue to upgrade your vehicle and crew. How is this accomplished? Through the tech tree. Now, I like to tinker, so this option just tickled me. The tech tree is divided by country and then again by class, or tier of vehicle. The points received can be used to research the next upgrade of the class of vehicle you wish to pursue. You won't have enough to do both trees and not enough to research out every class so you need to put your limited resources toward what you want. Do you want to eventually ride a medium or heavy tank or sit back and support with an SPG? A choice you have to make carefully.
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| German tech tree |
The tech tree allows you to research and develop the next vehicle in the tier. Everything on the vehicle can be researched. I mean everything from turrets and cannons to engines, suspensions, and radios. The turrets dictate how heavy a main gun you may carry. The heavier the cannon, the more damage you will do at longer ranges. The better the engine and suspension, the faster you will travel and be able to handle even the worst terrain. The better the radio, the further you will be able to transmit that vital information on the enemy to your teammates.
When researching the different packages, also keep in mind that everything on that next level of tank, including the tank itself, must be researched before it can used. Then, you will have to have enough points to actually buy the tank in question. Also, some tech you do research on, say a medium tank, will be available on a tank destroyer or SPG.
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| Research modules. |
The Barracks
The barracks is, of course, where you get to see all your crewmen that will man your steel beast. Here you can recruit new crewmen, change their appearance, and train new skills. After each battle, depending on the outcome, your crew will gain valuable experience and will slowly level up. There is an option that will allow you to, for a certain amount of points, train a crew up to fifty percent. Each crew starts at about twenty-five percent. You can "send" them to the tank academy for training. This will help them in their individual tasks.
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| The barracks interface. |
The Shop
One thing that I hadn't mentioned until now is the cost of the game. OK, the game will be free to download and play. Meaning you will have to plod along with the lesser gear until you save enough points to get the better equipment. World of Tanks will use the business model that has taken hold in the gaming community of Free to Play/Pay for Better. You can buy "gold" to exchange for points or to buy extra slots so you can have more than five tanks in your garage, buy the better academy for your crew that will train them up to one hundred percent, or to buy some of the not yet released tanks.
The Systems
I ran WoT on two different systems. My home desktop using hardwire DSL and my laptop using a wireless network. The specs on the laptop: AMD Turion II Ultra M600, 4GB Memory with an AMD M880G 1GB graphics card running Win7. The desktop is an AMD Phenom 9600 Quad core, 1GB of ram with an ATI Radeon HD 4600 1GB graphics card running WinXP. I decided to run it on both to stree test both my machines and the game.
Both performed flawlessly as I averaged no less than 25 FPS during even the most intense action and ping rates were always decent. There was some lag issues at times, but nothing that couldn't be powered through and did not take away from the overall experience.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The good is that it's a tank game set during WWII. The tanks are nicely rendered and damage is visible on the tanks. That shot that just hit the top of your turret but didn't penetrate and instead skipped across the top will leave a visible gouge through the steel. The sound is well done as you can hear the engine sounds and the clanking of the tracks and squeal of the gears and the cannon shots sound different for each caliber Some of the buildings in the terrain are destructible but can't be used for much protection.,
The bad is in three parts. First is that if you aren't willing to pay you won't have access to the higher level equipment unless you grind for some time to work your vehicle up. Also, you won't be able to form a platoon unless you have a premium account. You may join one, but you can't create one. The second is that the artillery is pretty easy to use and is deathly accurate. The rule here is if a teammate sees them, so do you. Also, you can see the trails from the artillery. If in the artillery map mentioned earlier you can pinpoint the location of the enemies arty and put very accurate fire on them. And the last is the perceived strength of the Russian vehicles. Some have appeared nigh-on indestructible unless I'm in it.
The ugly is in some of the community. Now I know that you will have this same element in every game but you have that bunch of individuals who throw around the "noob" handle and attack some guy verbally because they got their tank shot up. I was personally attacked just because I had a press account. Again I know you'll have this element in every online game, but it's something that could turn potential gamers off.
Conclusion
Overall, I have been impressed with the game and look forward to the official release. It reminds me some of the game that got me into on-line games to begin with so long ago, Panzer Elite. The game explores the real technical side of the tanks which I really enjoyed. Overall, while not being all that groundbreaking, it is still a blast to play and easy enough to pick up on the game play. I figure I'll be playing it when the game releases later this year.