World of Tanks (2011) [XSX] critique

“The object of war is not to die for your country, but make the other bastard die for his.”
-George S. Patton

The video game industry has come a very long way since the days of Atari, arcades and the Famicom. We’ve seen lightyear jumps in visuals, sound, gameplay and storytelling as hardware improved across generations, storage media improved and the ever-reaching tentacles of the internet infiltrated our previously isolated gaming lives to throw us all together into online gaming, stats-sharing and sending weird offensive messages to strangers when they beat us at Halo.

While a lot of these changes are certainly welcome to me, some most definitely are not. I tend to avoid games with loot crate economies, those live service titles that batter you around the head constantly with piles and piles of stuff to spend your real-world money on. No, dear reader, I would rather pay for a complete game upfront than jump into a free-to-play title that irritates and browbeats me into purchasing stuff down the line.

So with the scene set, let’s look at today’s video game of note, Wargaming’s World of Tanks. I’ll specifically be reviewing the console version, as the PC one would probably melt my laptop and that would be sad.

World of Tanks was released back in those heady days of 2011 when the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were duking it out over the console market, Wall Street got occupied and the world became obsessed with Game of Thrones. Developed by Cyprus-based Wargaming, World of Tanks has seen a lot of success since, alongside its sister games, the equally imaginatively titled World of Warships and World of Warplanes.

I’ve been playing World of Tanks since last autumn as something to do with my dad and brother a couple of times a week. We’re all military history nerds so World of Tanks seemed like a surefire hit for some casual online shooting a couple of times a week.

Or was it? Could this old-fashioned enjoyer of video games get past the freemium nature of WoT? Does this game have enough to carry the day and deflect the shells of its enemies, or will it end up in flames, its metaphorical turret thrown across a field somewhere in defeat?

Let’s find out!

The 8-bit Review

Visuals: 10/10

One could be forgiven for thinking that World of Tanks would have a pretty samey visual theme throughout. A tank is a tank, right? And one battlefield looks a lot like any other, all mud, ruined structures and those metal tank trap things that look like big X shapes. But Wargaming has done a pretty excellent job in this department, managing to make each vehicle look different from the last.

Maps are a good place to start, in fact. While there are a handful of maps that are just “open plains with some rocks and a stream”, most do have something unique going for them. The sunset-dappled factory ruins of Pilsen are immediately recognisable, as is the bombed-out Reichstag in the Berlin map, the jungle-encroached pagodas of Hidden Village and the winding, moonlit canyons of Mountain Pass. Most maps also make use of the skybox to add a little flavour. Planes buzz overhead, helicopters pick up cargo and flutter away and – my personal favourite – a giant zeppelin flies slowly across the screen, only to set fire and crash into the horizon in a ball of flame. I admit I’ve been killed once or twice while being distracted by the crazy little details that each map has.

But this game isn’t called World of Maps though! This game is all about the tanks, and they look fantastic! The roster of vehicles on offer in this game is frankly ludicrous, so the fact that each one is minutely detailed is even more impressive. You can instantly see the difference between an M4 Sherman and a T34, tell a Chieftain from a Leopard and even one variant of the same tank from another. Looking closer at each model also allows the average tank fan to appreciate each vent, rivet, panel and shell scorch (you know, if you’re into that kind of thing) – such is the level of detail on show here. Add in a huge collection of camouflage patterns, emblems and flags and you’ve got yourselves a really pretty-looking game.

Each tank can also have a commander, available from a huge roster in-game or, of course, purchasable from the storefront. Their character models have a ridiculously huge visual range, from realistic tank commanders to bears holding artillery shells, zombies, angels and, in one bizarre case, Vinnie Jones. Yes, Vinnie Jones. Again, the detail level here is very impressive, you can see every wrinkle in Vinnie’s angry little face!

Audio: 8/10

So far so good then, World of Tanks’s visuals were able to deflect the armour-piercing SABOT of criticism. But how will a shot to the audio fare? The answer is, you’ll be glad to know, pretty well.

Sound effects are good across the range, for one thing. Each war machine has distinctive engine sounds, the clack of the tracks is nice and authentic and, of course, the roar of those big cannons is very satisfying, even if your shot does ping harmlessly off the hull of some cheese-lord in some overpowered DLC tank they bought off the storefront and didn’t earn for themselves!

Anyway, as I was saying, the sound effects are indeed great. There are a couple of sounds that strike dread into the heart of any tank commander though, namely the little woot woot alert klaxon when an enemy tank has spotted you, as this is usually followed by a barrage of deadly shells headed your way to shred your poor tank to pieces! Worse than this chilling alert is the artillery alert, a sonorous sound that denotes your almost certain demise unless you move very quickly, as some nasty little shell-slinger zeroes you in from across the map with the sole intent of rendering you to scrap. At least the explosions sound good when you die, I suppose!

One slightly lacklustre thing is the soundtrack. While each map has its distinct track that sets the scene (one map has a jaunty, almost festive sound, another a very Asian flute-themed motif, and another a stirring bagpipe intro to name a few) these are rarely memorable past the first few seconds. A catchy central hook, such as the now-famous Battlefield theme, would have been pretty welcome here, adding a little more drama to the matches as the clock/number of players dwindles down to zero.

World of Tanks also has some voice acting, with your in-game announcer delivering encouraging (or not-so-encouraging) lines as the game progresses. As a less skilled player, I do hear the “you did badly, we lost” lines more than I like, but at least they’re well-acted. I have noticed that you get male and female announcers, depending on who your commander is and the celebrity commanders (that’s right, Vinnie has mates here, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chuck Norris have also featured among others) have their own voice packs too. If I was made of money I’d buy the Arnold commander pack, just so I could hear him shout one-liners while I get murdered.

Gameplay: 6/10

Right, let’s stop mucking about and get into the real stuff here. How does World of Tanks play? To answer this, I’m going to break my thoughts down into two parts.

First of all, match-to-match gameplay. WoT is, on console, split into two game modes: World War II and Cold War. WWII is the “classic” game mode upon which the game was built, war machines from the 1939-1945 period (and a bit on either side) going track-to-track against each other across an impressively large collection of maps. Nationality doesn’t matter – you won’t see a column of Allied tanks versus a column of German tanks, for example. Each team is made of an eclectic mixture of machines from across the globe, including the USA, UK, Germany, USSR, China, Japan and even minor players in the conflict such as France and Poland.

So how to balance this? How can this game stop everyone from jumping into deadly Tiger tanks, heading out to the nearest map and stomping all over some early war light tanks with the firepower of a pop gun and the armour of tin foil? The answer is a simple tiering system. Little guys like the Panzer 1, and BT-7 are matched together for fast-paced, light-armour melees that are a ton of fun and accessible for most players, while the hard-earned big boys, your Tigers, IS2s and Perhsings, get their own tier in which to stalk and horribly murder each other.

The huge statistical differences between these machines make for very different play styles, and newcomers to the heavier tiers will learn the hard way that their beloved charge-into-the-fray tactics just won’t rinse against heavy tanks that can burst you like a balloon in one shot. Higher-tier games reward laying low, using cover effectively and working closely with your teammates to isolate enemies, blow them to bits and slowly whittle them down, whereas lower-tier matches can be very every man for himself.

Though World of Tanks does have a team deathmatch mode, most games in my experience have a base capture mechanic. Sometimes each team has its own base, and on other occasions, there is a central neutral base that either team can capture. To earn the victory, simply capture the enemy/neutral base and hold it for a few minutes. I say simple, but good luck when you have the enemy team bearing down on you and artillery insta-death raining down upon you! Thankfully most matches end before bases are even captured, as the most common outcome is one team completely steamrolling the other and winning by default.

To add further variety, World of Tanks has split its huge roster into different categories. Light tanks are fast, reload quickly and are perfect for spotting enemies (revealing them on the map and earning you points) but can’t take many shots. Heavy tanks can take a ton of punishment and dole out just as much, but reload and move slowly, while medium tanks sit somewhere in the middle statistically. Tank hunters like the StuG and Hetzer are glass hammers, dealing a ton of damage at the cost of being squashy and artillery, the bane of every tanker, sit at the back of the map and use a specialised, top-down view to drop fiery death on unsuspecting tanks that have been spotted and are revealed on the map. Artillery are scum, dear reader, and many a match have I met my demise trying to hunt them down and exterminate them!

(Disclaimer: I love you really, artillery players!)

The Cold War mode is much the same, apart from the tanks being from the post-war to modern-day period and, as a result, have much higher damage and armour stats. Artillery is gone but has been replaced by the deadly TOW wire-guided missile, which can kill some machines in a single shot. Cold War is considered to be the “hard mode” of World of Tanks, and I can see why. The skills learned in WWII’s heavier tiers will come in very handy here, as slow, considered gameplay is the only way to win and brave, reckless charges will get you killed very quickly.

The match-to-match gameplay in World of Tanks is overall good, though there is a serious issue with balancing around the mid-tier WWII games. For some reason balance seems to go to hell here, creating some bizarrely unfair engagements. For example, I rolled my 1943 Soviet T34 into one game, looking forward to scrapping with some Shermans and Panzer 4s, only to be absolutely murdered by a British Chieftain MBT that had rolled in straight from the 1960s. My tiny shots pinged right off them, and their massive shell opened me like a tin can. It makes these mid-tier games unrewarding and slows down your natural progression (unless you’re the guy in the bigger tank).

Part two of the gameplay is the encompassing meta-game. Matches earn you XP, which very slowly pools over time and can be spent on accelerating your progression toward unlocking new tanks and upgrades. To actually purchase these tanks and upgrades once unlocked, you will need silver, another currency that you earn for each match played, though if you have a bad game this can actually be taken off you. Alongside this, you have gold, which typically isn’t earned in-game, but is drip-fed for completing challenges or, of course, purchased from the storefront for obscene amounts of real-world currency. The final two earnable Macguffins are vehicle XP, which acts the same as overall XP but specific to the vehicle you are using, and commander XP, which is used to level up your commander and unlock skills for them.

That’s a lot, eh? Well, I’m not done. You can also unlock/earn boosters (double XP, triple silver etc) and buy equipment that gives your selected tank minor stat boosts. Add to this items that heal your tank and smoke bombs to obscure them and you have a veritable catalogue of stuff to keep track of, as well as regular challenges to even earn all of the stuff.

And therein lies the problem. World of Tanks has a really solid core gameplay loop that is firmly shackled to its freemium business model. While you can level up your tanks for free (or a small amount of money) the game will constantly throw temptations and roadblocks into your path. Want to earn things faster? Buy a Premium Pass that lasts a few days. Need that extra bit of XP to unlock that war machine you always wanted? Buy some gold to put toward siphoning spare XP off your other tanks to put toward it. Constant popups for purchasable content will be the typical experience between games and, to my “I grew up in the 16-bit era” mentality, it’s all very cynical.

But hey, I’m perhaps a bit of a cynic here, perhaps you can withstand this fusillade of capitalism more than I can, dear reader and, to be fair, the game does sometimes reward your continued play with free tanks and commanders, among other things.

Online: 7/10

Considering its massive player base, World of Tanks runs absolutely fine. I have encountered zero disconnects while playing, matchmaking is fast (if not always fair) and it is quick to patch itself and get you up and running when you load it up. There is also no in-game chat, instead, Wargaming has opted for a simple text-based order system, using a quick-select wheel to issue basic commands to the squad (attack the enemy base, target that guy and so on), so you don’t have to listen to Little Jimmy von Clausewitz question the integrity of your mother as you pop the turret off his T54.

My one complaint in this category is that sometimes, though thankfully not that often, lobbies can time out and dump you back into the loadout screen. This tends to happen the most in WWII tier three and four games, which leads me to suspect that it is due to the sheer number of new players trying the game out, as most of the starting tanks are of these tiers and this is a free-to-play title.

Challenge: 6/10

As I have alluded to previously, World of Tanks does have some issues with balancing in the mid-to-late WWII tiers. Once you start upgrading your paltry tier-five machine, the game will throw you in with some ridiculously big tanks. There’s nothing less bemusing than flanking the enemy and popping off a shot from your humble Panzer IV, only to realise that the machine taking the hit is some Cold War-era behemoth with three times your HP and armour thickness, who then turns around to one-bomb you into oblivion with their mighty 1960s cannon. It makes progression for these classes unenjoyable (for the little guy at least) and makes me want to go and play something that isn’t wasting my time.

But the flip side here, for the early WWII tiers, is a really fun experience. Tiers one to four feature a giddy amount of early-war and experimental tanks and, despite the massive drop in stats, this makes for a fast-paced, far more aggressive experience. Light tanks bomb around at speed, exchanging shots at an impressive rate while lumbering heavy tanks try to line them up for a quick kill, all the while being pecked slowly to death by the very vehicles they hunt. It turns WWII into a game of two halves – the accessible and fun lower tiers, then a very steep incline as you enter a world of unfair matchmaking and much more thought-out tactics.

Thankfully Cold War redresses the balance a little, splitting its tanks into eras one to three and matchmaking appropriately. While this does help to make it less irritating due to less cheap kills, some Cold War tanks do seem to be massively stronger than others. I made the mistake of investing my time and effort into the Soviet tank tree and wow, do I sometimes regret it. The number of games in which my rubbish T54 got scrapped by impenetrable American prototypes and that one British tank with the ludicrously big gun (screw that guy) was a little off-putting. My brother, however, opted for NATO tanks and the comparative tank in that tree fared much better. Also, I like his Leopard One. I like it a lot.

World of Tanks offers a fantastic level of challenge in its early game, and more or less nails it in the elite Cold War mode, but that mid to late WWII game really lets it down for me, and our little squad (column? troop? herd?) has decided to eschew these tiers altogether, for now at least.

Accessibility: 9/10

I was struggling to decide on what to speak about for this section, but I think accessibility is a good shout, as I have a little anecdote to go over that fits the bill. I play World of Tanks exclusively with two people – my brother, an experienced gamer like myself (awful at horror games though) and our dad, who is a… less experienced gamer.

Well, that is unfair. Rusty may be more accurate. I’m sure I have mentioned it here before, but my dad was a bit of a celebrity to my school friends and me back in the 90s, as he was the only person we knew to complete not just the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog with all of the Chaos Emeralds, but then do it all over again in the (deeply nasty) sequel! He was a true titan, a hero… a legend.

But the years rolled by, and my dad stopped playing video games up until a few years ago when my brother gifted him his old Xbox One. Being a total haulage nerd, my dad played a ton of Snowrunner, and we happily joined him during the pandemic era a couple of nights a week, watching his skills improve. But Snowrunner became unstable, and we tried many other games, eventually washing up here, with World of Tanks.

This game has a ton of deep systems, currencies and menus; the possibility of it completely bamboozling the old man was strong and yet, to be fair, he’s held his own pretty well. Once he worked out how the currency system worked and where he could upgrade things, he became a dab hand at the game, being the only scrub (sorry, artillery expert) on the team, all self-taught.

And this is the point. If a complex free-to-play game can be tamed by a gamer who had his heyday on a two-button control pad in 1992, then I would state that World of Tanks must surely be accessible for plenty of people out there. While I cannot comment on other areas of accessibility, I can at least confirm that it shines in this regard.

It also has a pretty good training mode, in which you are taught how to survive on the battlefield (and ensure that other tanks fail to do so) that is well envisioned, running you through movement and shooting before dealing with more esoteric elements, such as visibility and spotting, armour weak spots etc.

Uniqueness: 7/10

It’s a little tough to state just how unique World Of Tanks is. The basic combat controls and feels like the tank sections shoehorned into several of the old Call of Duty games (such as World at War’s Soviet assault section at the command of a T34, for example), so anybody who has played those games will immediately recognise the basics, there isn’t much new to be had there.

The real uniqueness lies in the metagame. No other video game has embraced the subject of tanks quite so passionately, and Wargaming has created what seems like miles of branching tank trees from which you can work toward your favourite machine (if you’re nerdy enough to have one. I am, it’s the T34 if you’re wondering), upgrade them, assign a commander from a massive and varied pool and customise it all to your heart’s content.

Though the core gameplay isn’t anything unique or new, the experience is elevated by its metagame and the developer’s apparent love of the subject matter.

Personal: 8/10

And so we reach the end of the article. Hopefully, I have painted a detailed enough picture for you, and you can decide whether World of Tanks (or let’s face it, any of its fellow World of titles) is your bag or not. But what about me? What about my bag?

For what it’s worth, I went into this game with a large dose of cynicism, my passionate dislike of freemium/play-to-win titles getting under my skin to the point that I resisted picking it up for years. Yet here I am, a good 100+ hours of gameplay later, laser-focused on getting my newly acquired Cold War era two T-72 upgraded so I stand a chance of fighting with the big boys.

I’ve mostly played as cheaply as possible and, yes, this sometimes results in long periods of scraping XP scraps off the floor each match, but the game can continue to be great fun even when it’s trying to force you to spend money on it with predatory tactics. Hell, even a massive balance issue in WWII can’t convince me to come away from it.

World of Tanks is, overall, a high-quality, in-depth game with a fun basic gameplay loop and a ton of nerdy tank statistics and models to keep you engaged, it is worth filtering out the more commercial elements and focusing on a fun experience.

Aggregated Score: 7.6

Craig “Bizarro” Rathbone is a writer from the Northwest of England, nestled in the rainy countryside. He writes short stories and posts for his blog and found his love for writing on this very site. He’s still going on about Cyberpunk 2077 to this day though, and may never stop.