World of Tanks

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–PUBLISHER: Wargaming | DEVELOPER: Wargaming | GENRE: Shooter –THEME: Military | PLATFORM: Download | STATUS: Final

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Tanks are usually a big part of competitive games such as Battlefield Heroes, but never really got the attention they deserve. Then, World of Tanks turns out to be a more than deserved tribute.

As anyone should be able to tell by the name, World of Tanks is a MMO based on armored vehicular combat – namely with over 150 tank models recreated with extreme detail, based on their historical counterparts with great accuracy. At the time of writing, there are tanks from Germany, United States and the Soviet Union, but developers Wargaming.net want to regularly add tanks from England, France and Japan.

Despite what one may initially think, in World of Tanks there’s no room for solitary heroes; the player has to survive and cooperate with his team mates if they wish to win the battle. This game is fittingly dubbed by some players as “Counter-Strike” with tanks, since it’s much more tactical than your average MMO game.

The player starts with a simple tank but through many battles and perseverance will earn experience and credits that will allow him not only to buy new ones, but also to customize his armored vehicle. Customization is obviously made with historical accuracy in mind, with a faster fire-rate or a more robust armor, so don’t expect to paint your tank pink and plaster it with Hello Kitty decals. There’s a satisfyingly deep strategic element to our tanks, with the need to repair them after each battle, a crew that earns experience (for example, an experienced gunner improving the shot accuracy) and a skill tree with a lot of upgrades to unlock.

Gameplay in World of Tanks focuses on the fun, with a pleasant arcade control to the tanks. Although most of these steel mammoths are slow, they’re easy to control and offer a great compromise between realism and fun. The tank models are absolutely fabulous, with an impressive attention to detail, and the maps also received a fair share of care in their design. From towns to forests, snowy mountains, jungles or canyons, every map is filled with impressive vistas.

World of Tanks is an ambitious free-to-play shooter that is both pleasant to look at and to play. It requires some dedication to make the most out of it – and to pilot the more powerful tanks without spending some real cash – but the strategic gameplay is addictive and well balanced.