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[Review] War Thunder: Gaijin Strikes Gold

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

We have been playing War Thunder, the game formerly known as World of Planes. We've got a lot to say about the game that sends players soaring into the wild blue yonder. Check it out and then leave your thoughts in the comments.

If there is one thing that can be said about War Thunder, it can be a truly stunning and beautiful game.  The planes are all very expertly crafted, and nothing quite compares to dropping out of the sky to unload machine gun and cannon fire on an enemy fighter. In this respect, the explosions and fires are equally impressive. The sounds accompanying all the bullets, cannons, bombs, rockets and flak are all quite great (and realistically loud!). The music is fitting for the period the game takes place in, and is certainly a high quality. The only problem is that it is rather forgettable once you’re in-game and flying around. You can also ‘paint’ you’re planes with a variety of different insignias and symbols, which allows you to further customize a plane to your liking. There are multiple maps that you will play on, and some of them have a ’night’ mode. I’m not sure what triggers this, but it is amazing flying through the air shooting at things while spotlights shine up from the ground.

Read more of Tyler Rowe's War Thunder: Gaijin Strikes Gold.

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Comments

  • sketocafesketocafe Member UncommonPosts: 950
    I really like the flying in this game. In historic and full real difficulties it's pretty spot on. I'm still left to search for the Air Warrior awesomeness of 3 sided fights on huge maps with hundreds of people in the air, but until I can find that with good flight physics this one will do. 
  • Radar11xRadar11x Member UncommonPosts: 118
    Good review, though it seems that the screen shots are displaying the game at low to mid settings. xD
  • DamonVileDamonVile Member UncommonPosts: 4,818

    scoring it 6/10 because you can't have large groups is pretty dumb. Everyone knows you can't let large organized groups into pub matches or it's just a farming game.  They called it pub stomping before devs figured out it's not so fun for the avg player.

    They haven't implimented their version of "clan wars " yet and it's still tenchnically in beta so it's kind of unfair to the game imo.

    I agreed with everything else you had to say about the game.

  • OrdeathOrdeath Member Posts: 22

    Fun this isnt World of Warplanes <--- is done by a differant company.

     

    Only the Dead See the End of War

  • UkiahUkiah Member Posts: 273
    As "WarThunder" I give it a 2/10 rating. However, if they ever changed the name to "Ramming Online", I'll give it a 10/10.
  • sakersaker Member RarePosts: 1,458
    as long as it isn't the russian-mob pay-to-"win" wargaming.net trash!
  • JRonnie1976JRonnie1976 Member UncommonPosts: 20
    Value 9/10? Was this review pre or post the 1.29 economy changes that massively increased the credit grind?
  • ReesRacerReesRacer Member UncommonPosts: 179







    Originally posted by JRonnie1976







    Value 9/10? Was this review pre or post the 1.29 economy changes that massively increased the credit grind?



    ^^ absolutely this...


    unbelievable the grind this potentially wonderful game became in one update. the official forums have threads with hundreds of pages of posts questioning the sanity of Gaijin for the changed economic model. unless you play the OP Russian bombers/fighters or particiapate in the lengthy and low-populated "Historical Battles" be prepared to shell out hundreds of dollars/euros if you want to advance beyond mid-tier after thousands of hours real-time in game (even with a premium account). 



    we can only hope that the drastically reduced number of players will have the desired effect so that this company will see the error of its way(s) and make some compromises.  










     




     

  • CaldrinCaldrin Member UncommonPosts: 4,505

    Originally posted by saker

    as long as it isn't the russian-mob pay-to-"win" wargaming.net trash!

    wargaming.net gaems are not pay to win btw... infact you cant pay for anything that will give you a clear advantage in game.

    Anyway as for war thunder is an awesome game and outshines world of warplanes in every aspect..

     

     

    Also why mark it down on being 4 players per group... its to allow public games to be just that public games.. if you could make full groups then that would not be fair unless you where against another full group..

     

    Also marknig it down on innovation? well considering its the only WWII flight sim at the moment that has all these features i would say it deserves a bit more than a 7 for that..

     

    Tho the rest of the review is pretty good i think i would rate it 8/10 as the last time i played the matchmaking was not level based so you would go up against high lvl players as well..

  • hothnogghothnogg Member UncommonPosts: 38

    Been playing this game on and off since closed beta. highist rank nation is 16, overall im 38 rank.

    I really enjoy the arcade side of the game, nice and simplie to learn, as for matchmaking its pretty much your highist plane in hanger that decides what battles you end up in.

    fighter, dive bombing, bombing, torpedo runs, ,attack planes with rockets are all fun aspect of the game. I do love flying bombers mostly as its always a huge challange to make it to the target and get away to reload.

    You dont need to spend money at cash shop ,i found i did to help support the game so i could enjoy more of the campaing missions and try out some the premium planes.

     

    Great game that will always be on my hardrive to pop back to enjoy a bit of shooting fun.

  • Land_SharkLand_Shark Member UncommonPosts: 52

    I've been in since closed beta; one thing I hope everyone remembers is that this game is still as yet in beta status, we're all still testing *all* aspects of the game for them *including* the economy, and how each end of  its scale can directly or indirectly effect gameplay.   You have an opportunity to play a game of such calibre that there is actually no direct competition that comes anywhere close, well ahead of time, for free, and you can buy some cool shit to help out where and if you need it, you can provide whatever feedback to the developers who are still developing and as such will be changing/adding/revising things on the fly and just might actually be smart enough to listen to their playerbase.  So far as I've seen, they've been very responsive but if you were in their position would you put all your cards on the table at once?  No, you would test both and all extremes to find the middle-ground that works for everyone.

    Bottom line is, chill out - play the game, enjoy it and if you don't, don't play it, but give them a chance to polish it and fine-tune it; WT will be the premiere online WWII+combat sim out there for a long time to come, especially once tanks, ships and World War mode is introduced.  Also, once you get to the jets, you'll never go back ;)

    FYI to the article's author, you don't do the game any justice with those pics, it looks like you have your in-game graphics settings set to minimum - its looks like a different game on this end!

     

  • ZETeyZETey Member UncommonPosts: 4
    Best Game
  • reX_27reX_27 Member Posts: 1

     


     

    I have enough of any Internet Roleplay Games.

    I have enough of War Thunder.

    And i have enough from Sites like MMORPG.COM, who tell new Players wrong STUFF !!!!!!!!

    Start playing for longer time than half an Hour to write Things like: "so I never felt the need to pay for anything in order to get ahead". 

    It seems ridiculous for me to read this...

    I see you're level 5 in your Testing Account, i am level 80 in WarThunder and i have to say:

     

    At the Moment this Game is unplayable above level 10-12 and without a Premium Account.

    You definately have to Pay in Order to get ahead.

     

     


     

  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726

    What is with the "formally known as World of Warplanes" nonsense.  Completely different game and developer, you should correct your error Susie.  This game is much better than "World of Warplanes".  Actually a decent game.

    People who complain about having to invest in premium accounts just don't get it.  Games are never free, you have to pay for something otherswise there is no point to developing it.

  • blix2006blix2006 Member UncommonPosts: 415
    dont forget that you will be paying real money if you wanna squad up with your friends
  • OcenicaOcenica Member UncommonPosts: 96

    The Good:

    The short of it is that this is a fun game.  The game is pure pvp with large maps and great graphics.  Log in, join a match, and go head to head with people from all over the world.  Sometimes you shoot someone down, sometimes you get shot down.  Sometimes you bomb pillboxes, airfields, AAA emplacements, sometimes you shoot the bombers down.  Every single match is completly different than every other match you will ever play. 

    On ocassion you will get severly damaged and have to land your plane on a carrier with unresponsive mechanics such as a damaged rudder or ruined engine.  Your fuel tank may become damaged, severly limiting your air time and forcing you to return to base unprotected.  The risk is great but the fun of fighting that fight is wonderfully fun.  Especially when it's the other guy having to do those things because of your bullets.

    The Bad:

    You cannot get out and walk outside of your aircraft.  There is no building your own aircraft. Unfortunatly, at the moment, you cannot have your own airfield in your own section of the country that your friends can land at.  There is no "open-world".  Land where ever and when ever you want is not possible.  Chat is bad, and squadrons are practically non-existant.

    The Ugly:

    It's down right dirty kill or be killed pvp.  You'll have to learn your chosen aircraft backwards and forwards and everything inbetween.  You'll feel the complete and utter dismay when your new B-17 takes multiple 37mm cannon shots from an airicobra at 20,000 feet getting split in half just before payload drop.  You'll learn the joy of diving on a Yak-7 sitting behind a friendly that is badly damaged and setting fire to yaks engine spraying engine oil everywhere, saving the life of a thankfull friend you may never again meet.

    Your missing out....

  • wewterwewter Member Posts: 19



    Originally posted by Ukiah



    As "WarThunder" I give it a 2/10 rating. However, if they ever changed the name to "Ramming Online", I'll give it a 10/10.

    loool.  ramming is a 2-way street, bro.  l2 fly.



     

    Past [MMO] Games: Lineage 2 (quit c5), Aion, RIFT, SWTOR
    Current[MMO] Game(s): TERA
    Future [MMO] Game(s): ArcheAge, Blade/Soul

  • BlanmanBlanman Member Posts: 2

    The game model works well with 4 man squads, my clan does count ins with this as we did with World Of Tanks, and it adds way more of a challange. We count down from 3 to go (0) hit battle, and 3/4 times we see the other squad, and its a 50/50 or so chance that they are on the opposite team. Playing clan mates on the other team adds a whole new layer of challange and fun, since we quickly end up with mini almost private battles as we try to out smart, or simply go guns blazing for another clanmate.

    Also they stated we got 20% of the game right now, they started mentioning a World War Mode to be released latter that will offer larger squads, and battles on a far epic scale.

  • BlanmanBlanman Member Posts: 2



    Originally posted by wewter
















    Originally posted by Ukiah















    As "WarThunder" I give it a 2/10 rating. However, if they ever changed the name to "Ramming Online", I'll give it a 10/10.












    loool.  ramming is a 2-way street, bro.  l2 fly.






















     










     

    Normaly I would agree, but lattely especialy low tier, the tactic is being used on wounded planes, no idea why some one would ram a plane with bad control surfaces instead of simply out manuver and finish them. More and more of my evasive manuvers from head ons seem to take place when I limping, and the option of diving suppose to every ones fave of going up doesn't exist. My choices are pull up and hope they don't do the same, or bank with a crippled wing and hope I can not only dodge, but recover from the manuver with out crashing as he circles a little too close on the rebound.

    Oh and there is the lemmings who try to tail gate a wounded plane with a dive, and find out the hard way the targets energy is low. Or the annoying bomber pilots who think its top gun and drop their throttle and try to slow down while being dived on to force an over shoot, who instead find a pilot cliping them as they try to pull out of a dive to recover precious energy, while the bomber is pulling up with jack for energy trying to bleed off speed. Not sure who taught the lemmings that pulling up or bleeding energy works, normaly it means a bigger slower target to shoot, but in a hit and run dive on bomber it can in rare instances lead to a hit.

    Ironicly those bombers are the first to rage saying it hapens all the time, not puting one and one togeter lol. I get rammed like once a blue moon in my bomber, and my survival rates not bad at all in them, I simply gun it and go low into cannyons leaving the tails looking at a rather small rear profile, and leaving them wide open for a friendly boom and zoom run. The it takes 2 to ram logice never seems to click in on the energy burners who almost seem to want to turn into their enemies suppose to actualy evade lol


     

  • Blitz007Blitz007 Member Posts: 1
    Tried that OTHER game but now play this game only. I'll be awaiting the arrival of the army and naval items and then we'll see if that other company can catch Gaijin. I think NOT. I'll give it 8 out of 10, would be 10 out 10 if not for noob rammers.
  • ClownsanityClownsanity Member Posts: 5

    The game COULD be good if not boring in long times, a fistful of maps are not enough for to bring some variety in game, planes are fun to pilot but quite expensive and the game, specially with mouse and keyboard ends to be just a point and click, probably the game would be better with a cloche and pedals but at the end piloting the same planes over and over in the same maps over and over due to the greedy costs of them doesn't convince me.

    About the social factor: well this is one of the few games were i needed to use the black list because of the high presence of trolls and insulting people, about forum also there is a strictly censorship more KGB like (afterall they are russians) than reasonable and Gajin doesn't permit to explain own reasons and also there is some forum moderator who feels himself able to insult players, evend educathed ones.



    My conclusion: it could be a good game, at the moment is just one of the many endless openbetagames with bad moderation and greedy purposes, fun at the ebgin, boring in long times.
  • BigHatLoganBigHatLogan Member Posts: 688

    I just started playing this game a couple days ago and have been having a lot of fun.  I don't like the Arcade mode as it is very unrealistic in it's physics.  (that is kind of the point)  Joystick isn't an option in arcade mode since you can be super accurate with mouse aiming.

     

    The historical battles are really fun though.  These have real flight physics and using a joystick seems to be perfectly viable against mouse users, which is nice.  I like the way the battles work as you tend to be acting as support for ground forces and try to accomplish different things such as protecting or destroying bridges and bombing enemy ground forces while protecting your own ground forces.  The AA is a nightmare, it can't be ignored.  Ground vehicles and AA guns alike will do their best to shoot you out of the sky if you get too close.  Even one hit could end up messing with your controls pretty badly.  AA and ground fire seems managable if you give it proper respect.  I survived a heavy barrage of shooting in my crop duster for a good five minues before getting out of range.  The experience was pretty tense.   There seems to be a pretty hefty grind to get newer planes, but since the gameplay is actually fun I do not consider this a grind at all.  I consider it a fun game where eventually i get more stuff.  A grind, to me, is doing a lot of boring shit in order to get some sort of reward for whatever unfathomable reason that it is desired. 

    Are you a Pavlovian Fish Biscuit Addict? Get Help Now!
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    I will play no more MMORPGs until somethign good comes out!

  • MaltazarDMaltazarD Member Posts: 1
    A game full of broken flight models,broken damage models and just plain broken gameplay in general.you can spend 20 min easily or more just waiting for a match as the Match Macker is also broken and sloppy.If you enjoy climbing in your plane for 5 minutes only to get 1 shot killed by some boosted/Hacker tool using mucky muck Fan boy go ahead and download.Bring your wallets to because with Gaijin free to play is only a reason to say your not allowed to complain about anything in game,even after investing money.Forrums are groomed by headstrong Moderators who will white wash any negative input concerning the game ,whether truth or no.I will say tho IT has wonderfull graphics and once all the evil doers are exterminated and they clean up their acts it might be a succsessfull sim.Personaly i have had my fill. Developers are biased and i had nightmare flash backs of EVE online and the Terrible injustices that were present in that mmo those who played EVE know what i suggest.
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