War Thunder Review2022

 One of my favorite moments playing War Thunder happened randomly as I flew for the Americans. Three friends came blasting past me in their WWII fighters, soaring to my aid, all while shouting "America!" into chat, and billowing plumes of red, white, and blue smoke out the tails of their planes. This random act of patriotism made me smile wide (even as a Canadian myself), and as they tore apart my enemies it highlighted what the free-to-play War Thunder does best.

You’re given the choice to fly through the skies in classic aircraft or stick to land and drive hulking tanks across large battlefields, though I found the air-to-air combat much better-paced and fun. To be clear, there is no interplay between the tank and plane combat. While flying you’re bombing NPC tanks, so there’s no opportunity to coordinate between ground and air forces – somewhat disappointing for a game that offers both. [Correction: there is a mode that allows both land and air combat on one map.]

Whether in the sky or on the ground, the 16v16 matches are filled with beautiful vehicle models that bring these classic machines to life. Creeping across the vibrant landscapes in a tank was great but my favorite moments would occur as I crested a mountain and rays of light would wash over my aircraft.

Game types range from Domination to Ground Attack, and each has multiple objectives for different roles to complete, so you aren’t stuck doing the same thing repeatedly. Often times I would fly my Boston Mk1 bomber during Domination maps to lay waste to NPCs on the ground with hefty 500lb bombs, while my allies in more agile fighter planes handled base capture. Proper team communication, like calling for allies to shoot a fighter off my tail, is essential for success – especially true when playing in one of the harder modes.

Most of my time was spent in the action-packed Arcade Mode, where vehicle damage isn’t as severe and you have unlimited ammo and multiple respawns. I found War Thunder’s flow and pacing to be at its best here, but two other modes exist for the more hardcore enthusiasts: Realism mode increases the difficulty by adding limited ammo and harsher damage penalties, while Simulation takes it to the extreme, where a single mistake can spell doom, and you’re given no extra planes to respawn with.

Helping lift War Thunder even higher is the audio. The planes sound terrific as their engines rumble to life on the airstrip, and the sound of gunfire is deep and satisfying as bullets rain from the skies and bombs crash into fortified emplacements. In fact, some of my favorite moments stem from times where I've been able to hear an approaching aircraft and pinpoint its location just by the sound as it buzzes from ear to ear.

Using the mouse to handle all the steering of your vehicle on PC goes a long way to help a newcomer learn how to fly or drive, and even after several hours of play, I found myself still using this basic setup with only minor tweaks to the layout. War Thunder doesn't leave the hardcore hanging either, offering a plethora of options for flight sticks or other peripherals. The PlayStation 4 version uses these standardized controls, with a single stick handling all movement of your aircraft. I found the system was less effective on PS4 due to the lack of precision a mouse and keyboard offer. It wasn’t until I dug into the menus and altered how the joysticks controlled my aircraft that I began to feel like I could fly with the same precision as the PC version, but it's doable.

Unfortunately, War Thunder begins to drift off course once you leave the field of battle. Between missions, you are thrust back into the cluttered menus, where little is ever done to explain them or the meaning that lies behind them. It took me a long time of exploring just to find out how to change my research options and upgrade my crew. This left me feeling like I had constantly been at a disadvantage in combat, due to my lack of knowledge on how to properly upgrade and outfit my aircraft.

The sparse in-battle HUD stands in harsh contrast to the overly abundant and cumbersome menus between them, and this absence of information made things more difficult. Upon death, almost no information is given to you to help explain why your enemy was able to knock you from the sky.

This lack of information even affects the currency, of which there are three types, but at no point was there ever a clear explanation of what each does. Spending them can even prove bothersome, and it isn’t until the post-battle screen pops up that I even got any hints. The one plus side is that at no point did War Thunder make it feel necessary to purchase anything, as my time was rewarded with generous amounts of research and currency. For a free-to-play game, that’s the most important thing behind actually being fun to play – and War Thunder generally gets both of those right.

Verdict

War Thunder gives us lots of reasons to get behind the stick, or wheel, of a ton of great World War II-era vehicles. With strong visuals and convincing audio backing it up, I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent inside my P-36 Hawk, and its generous free-to-play model never got in the way. It’s mostly the moments in between battles that bring the whole experience down, as a lack of information and poor menus tarnish this flying ace.

Controls are crisp when flying or driving. The PS4's controller is more than adequate, and only loses the thread in a few specific instances, such as when you're called upon to take out harassing enemy fighters while on bombing runs. Simulator mode also really tests your skills with the analog sticks across the board, as you need a light touch most of the time to avoid losing control of your aircraft. Just a slight mistake at a lower altitude can result in a nose-dive into the ground. Tanks can also feel too loose at higher speeds, leading to occasions where you don't feel in complete control. Moments like these increase the twitch factor and make aiming difficult in spots. You can switch to the controller touchpad whenever you want and both move and shoot like you are using the mouse-driven control scheme for the PC version of the game, but the touchpad's small size makes it nearly useless during combat.

While using the controller touchpad during battles isn't a smart idea, it comes in very handy when trying to navigate the game's menus. Since War Thunder has been developed for both PS4 and PC, both share the same interface, with everything geared to be accessed via mouse and keyboard. This poses more than a few challenges on the PS4, largely because there are so many menus and there is so much information crammed onto the screen that it's difficult to access features intuitively. The touchpad is a better option here, although it isn't ideal because it is too small to allow you to easily move the cursor where it needs to go.

Most of the interface is quite confusing, too. One of the best features of War Thunder is its upgrade paths for vehicles. Well over a hundred planes and tanks are included in the game, but they have to be unlocked by research and then purchased with the in-game Silver Lion currency, which can be earned during matches or purchased with real-world money. The same goes for improvements like more powerful cannons, engines, bullets, crew member skills, and so forth.

But little of this is explained in the beginning. You look to pick up something that's pretty straightforward, like powerhouse new ammo, then discover that you need to research and buy something else in order to finally equip it. It's also hard to figure out the rhyme and reason behind the structure of the in-game economy. Having both the main silver lion and the premium golden eagle currencies is bad enough, but then you toss in the related research points and the option to get bonuses on the above by purchasing a premium account, and you've got a needlessly convoluted system.

But even though the economy is more intricate than it should be, War Thunder scores big bonus points by not forcing players to spend money to compete. This is not a freeware game that constantly pressures you to buy, buy, buy. All you get are post-mission reminders of how many more research points you could have earned just now if you had shelled out for a premium account. Although spending a few bucks helps on occasion, it isn't required for you to be competitive, as long as you've got the time and patience to indulge in some grinding. In-game accomplishments are frequently rewarded, allowing you to get on an upgrade path right from the very beginning and to keep going without spending a dime.

Inspiring music gets you into the game from the moment that the first menu screen loads up. All of the rousing choral odes and martial tunes trumpet away as if War Thunder were a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster set during WWII. Visuals are occasionally striking, if not as consistently triumphant. Maps range across many theaters of war, from undulating waves to rolling green hills, and vehicle models are comprehensively drawn, although battles rage at such a speed and such a distance that you can't afford to take much time to admire the scenery. Since so many online games--especially those with this sort of scope hosting such a large number of players--sacrifice visual quality for speed and playability, it's nice to see that few corners were cut here.

War Thunder is a sprawling WWII simulation that you can lose yourself in due to its wide scope, intense combat, a tremendous number of vehicles, casual and challenging difficulty settings, and extensive upgrade paths. Also, the game is constantly growing with the addition of new planes, tanks, and maps, and the promise of naval forces and more modes of play. While the initial learning curve is daunting, this is one of those games that opens up dramatically the more that you play it, so the time commitment is worthwhile whether you're a laidback dogfighter or a hardcore simmer.