World of Tanks: Best War Game in 2022

World of Tanks is a free to play massive multiplayer game that simulates armored warfare including the most famous tanks of World War II and beyond. Sporting arsenals from countries such as USA, Germany, France, the Soviet Union, Britain, China, and Japan, World of Tanks presents unparalleled player choice in how to dominate the battlefield. A completely free game, World of Tanks receives constant updates with more vehicles and ways to play, keeping the game fresh and engaging. This game delivers intense action within highly detailed renderings of iconic tanks and assault guns.

Tank combat in World of Tanks is, for the most part, satisfying. When you land a shell right in the rear of an enemy tank, the solid thud of the impact is very convincing, and you feel like you're at the wheel of a brutally powerful machine of war.

That's not such a big issue, but World of Tanks also has a very deep method of calculating armor, and whether or not your rounds pierce through, and if so, how much damage they deal. Taken into account in these calculations are what part of the enemy you hit, what angle the shell hits at, and what kind of round you are using. None of this is actually explained in-game (though there is a wiki that goes into excessive detail) and even these calculations still seem to leave some stuff up to chance, which resulted in me shooting five point-blank cannon rounds from a mid-tier German tank into the back of a KV (a heavily armored Russian tank), and dealing literally no damage. That was probably one of the biggest "what the eff" moments I've had in a game in a good long while.

There is also no information within the game that explains how line-of-sight works, and why an enemy tank might literally vanish before your very eyes, but that too is a series of calculations. The opaqueness of many of the game's systems leave a lot to be desired and can make playing World of Tanks and getting dominated by someone who has read all of the information out there a negative experience.

Luckily, even without doing your homework, World of Tanks is still fun and easy to jump into.. You might not understand why players appear and disappear from the map, or why one particular tank seems all but impenetrable to your rounds, but you might instinctually know that attacking a tank-destroyer from behind is a good strategy, because the armor looks thinner there. Or maybe that peeking out from behind a boulder just long enough to fire off a volley (and hope that lady luck guides it to your target) before rolling back behind cover is another smart idea. These are callbacks to standard shooters, where aiming for the head and ducking behind boxes feels as natural, casual and logical as eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're not.

Opinion

World of Tanks might have a silly name, but it does something impressive. It manages to straddle pure tank simulation and shooter action to produce something that, despite being flawed, remains genuinely fun. The time required to research new tanks can be excessive, and the elements of chance (including matchmaking) can make games unnecessarily frustrating. A lack of in-game instructions can also make even basic mechanics like sight and cover enigmatic, but if you can look beyond the issues, there is a lot to like.

Price

• Starting Price: Free
• Pricing Details: In-app purchases available
• Free Version: Free Version available.

System Requirements

•  Windows
•  Mac
•  Android
•  Xbox
•  PlayStation
•  iPhone
•  iPad