War Thunder Ground Forces Preview

I love tanks, they’re big, dirty, shoot massive explosions and shoot really big explosions, their tracks are cool too. So you’re sitting there, playing World of tanks, to obviously get your tank gaming fix, and suddenly you wonder to yourself, what it would be like to fly a fighter airplane, and half wonder to yourself if you could call them flying tanks to make a witty and clever tie in. So, World of tanks, and world of planes have, if you can’t guess, tanks and planes, and War thunder had planes and now it’s getting tanks, but you can sort of, if you get on the right time to play them together, maybe.

So, tanks, back to tanks, yes war thunder has planes, and if you really want, you can do some dog fighting, but the controls of the planes don’t sit right with me, and I 100% did not crash all the time either. So this is about the tanks, and really the only game that can be compared to on the market right now is world of tanks, which has a hell of an established player base already.

If you haven’t played these games before you play as tanks, you destroy other tanks and you take objectives, the main difference between the two games is that in World of tanks you get 1 life only, but in Ground forces you can respawn which I prefer personally. There are also more areas to capture in Ground forces, meaning the matches last longer and you can work together to take multiple points instead of just the one, which I much prefer again.

Graphically the game looks lovely, all the tanks look tanky, the ground looks ground like and everything else is either rock, tree or house, and they all look very nice as well. I’m not sure which looks better between WoT and Ground Forces, so I think it will come down to personal taste, Ground forces run exceptionally well and was never too taxing on my PC. Also, it is nice that the size of the game is a relatively small 8gb for such a small game.

Personally, I prefer how War thunder looks, after playing it for a while, the tanks felt much larger, and more there, World of tanks feels more like I’m playing with model tanks, which all together is a different graphical style.

There are some areas that are pretty much the same, for example, you have countries of tanks and tiers, and you go through it as you progress through the game in a similar fashion to world of tanks. Aiming and moving around with your take is pretty similar too, if you have played world of tanks at some point, you will be quite comfortable with the controls here.

Of course, one of the biggest differences is that now you can interact with planes on the battlefield, well when one of these matches have been set up. The planes can come down and do machine gun runs on weaker tanks, or use missiles and bombs to take care of heavier armor. Of course, if you are a bit of a crack shot, aiming right with your tank will mean you can blast an oncoming plane out of the air before they are able to do damage to you. Planes and tanks work well, but it would be nice to see some more anti air tanks to be able to deal some serious damage to planes, and weak machine gun damage to tanks.

At the moment there are a limited number of tanks, no where near the amount offered in world of tanks of course. But there is enough in the game to keep you interested again, you can re spawn into a match in multiple different vehicles which lets you quickly try each one to find one you like depending on the speed or damage that it can cause.

The damage that can be dealt to tanks is also pretty nice, hitting them in different areas of the tank will cause more or less damage, attacking the front will take more shots than firing from the back. But you can get an instant kill if you hit the tank in the right area, or set the inside of the tank on fire to leave your foe to a fiery death. Running your tank into objects can damage your tracks, getting hit by a shell will also obviously cause some serious damage to your tracks too, without them you’re in a bit of a pickle, and will be easy pickings for everyone else on in the game.

Whilst ground war is a little off from being released fully, now being in open beta means a lot of people can get to grips with a new tank game which is sorely needed. It does a lot right, and a lot different, but it will be seen if it’s good enough to pull away the players who are enjoying world of tanks. Right now in its current state the game still requires some refinement, but this can easily be done over time, because this is tank on tank action what else do you want.

About the Game – Gaijin Entertainment

War Thunder is a next generation MMO combat game dedicated to World War II military aviation, armored vehicles, and fleets. You will take part in all of the major combat battles, fighting with real players all over the world.

War Thunder offers a highly detailed and personalized aviation experience, giving players access to hundreds models of planes with detailed cockpits, dozens of upgradeable weapons, and flying skills that can be honed and improved with each mission. Thanks to the game’s painstaking attention to detail, you’ll truly feel like a World War II fighter pilot as you plunge into battle.

The genuine World War II experience isn’t limited to the skies. The massive historical battles featured in War Thunder cannot be fought by aviation alone, so the game will also expose players to combat on land and at sea.
Features include:

Varied PvP-experiences set in full-scale combat missions
Multiple settings options allow advanced virtual pilots and beginners to enjoy playing the game together
Rich PvE content: dynamic campaigns, solo missions, mission editor, and much more for single-player and cooperative gameplay
Impressive diversity includes detailed models of planes and their cockpits, as well as tanks and ships
Astonishing graphics, authentic sound effects, and beautiful music