281 thoughts on “World of Tanks vs War Thunder Ground Forces”

1. RIP SS’s CBT account.

   • No he isn’t
     http://warthunder.com/en/news/396-The-NDA-for-Ground-Forces-Closed-Beta-test-has-been-partially-lifted-en

     • EDIT

     • yes, he still is:

       “Publish negative remarks of certain self observed issues or about CBT in general” is not allowed.

       straight from your above link

       • Nope…
         http://warthunder.com/en/news/561-Lifting-of-CBT-NDA—Forum-now-visible-for-review-en

     • CBT members now permitted to:
       - enjoy the game and have fun.

       Wow, thank you for permission!

       • love this review, it takes both games objectively, and as a CBT tester and avid WoT player, I must say they suit a different player; WoT is really fun, I do enjoy the smoothness of controls and the very diverse tank selection and overall gameplay, but by no means is it a simulator.

         CBT tanks isnt really a simulator considering how rough the game is, but I am enjoying it for it’s own novel experiences (trying simulator, cumbersome, but entertaining).

         • If he had read the ToS-terms of service,he would have seen that showing bugs to the public is bannebal,and what i know SS will lose his acc very fast :P

2. The whole “research” bit of WT was faaaar easier to understand before they updated it. Now it seems a little over-complicated, but I am one for realism therefore will learn how to use it.

   Also you seem to forget that War Thunder as a whole is still in Beta, whereas WoT is published as a full release

   • “And yes, I am completely aware that this is the closed beta stage, there is no need to remind me of that.”

     learn to read ;)

     • +1
       blind writer :D

     • And yet despite what he wrote it seems that he is not aware of this….

   • He repeatedly mentions things that can be fixed outside of beta and things that can’t (core game concept), so he’s aware of it.

     Also disclaimer.

   • WoT is still in beta, and you are a victim of WG’s marketing.

     • Why would that be?
       If you think WoT is a Beta because the version number has a leading zero, you are just being silly.

       • Apparently patching something makes quite a few believe the game is still in beta. It was surprisingly more than I expected. (And I cried because of that.)

   • lol, since when?

   • Some think goes wrong in CW -> WG: “Its still beta” WT Fanboys:”oh they use that excuse since years”
     Whole concept of GF seems to be fucked up: WT Fanboys: “Its still in beta”..

     And I dont have to mention that awesome beta concept of WT where u already have to pay for every content with real money and no wipe is planed. So basically switching from beta to release for WT is just removing four letters from logo…

     • Nope, seems like you don’t know a single shit about it. WT it’s still in beta because it’s not a warplane only game, once the game has released ships and tanks and put it all together with the planes, that’s when WT is released.

       Their plan is to make WT an epic war game with almost everything war-related. In the future they will also add some sort of infantry mode. This is confirmed, but there are no dates for it.

       • Well, if u sell ur product, i would call that release, no matter if u want to modify it later or not ;)

         Otherwise there would be no “released” mmo as they always plan to add content ;)

         • I know many games that has been in beta that you can pay for, talking about MMORPG games. Later on when the full release came out it was totally changed, nothing was wiped because the developers had brains for it.
           I therefore see no problems with WT being in beta, not only that but saying that WoT is in beta is bs, the game has been out for 4 years.

           Also, about SS, WT requires tactic and strategy and something called patience. You train yourself by playing this game. Camp is tactic, if you find it boring then I recommend you call of duty where you just rush and die.

           • Callofdooty is not low on camper…

   • Sorry but he says right there “I know its still beta”

     Next this excuse is bad. In Closed Beta WOT was not much differant than it is now….Yes things changed and values and OP tanks, but mainly a T54 from then works the same as now. I kknew then it was going to be a great game, but al in all its a FPS game with complicated Armor schemes making it a smart players FPS.

     On the other hand WT planes is in “Beta” still but in CBG it to was fantastic and I knew was going to be better than WOWP in every way.

     Im sorry but there “Realism” does promote camping because in RL battle does lean towards ambushes….Problem is in RL the enemy HAS TO get to objectives. There lives depend on escaping to there lines or hitting point A from point B. In a video game the only rule is…Win and no one “Needs” to go anywhere, so literally the game that tends to promote camping means the camper who sits there longest wins.

     WOT is designed to promote aggression. True turtle strats dominate low level game play but at the peak odf performance in every level of comp whether CW, 7v7 or tournies the aggressor wins if they do it right 7/10 and its enough to make you want to aggress to risk the win.

3. mmmmm NDA breech mmmmmmm

   • NDA was lifted actually.

     • Still not allowed to talk about bugs or bad things about the game.

       • If you read the discussion to todays nda lifted post. They said you can even make youtube vids strictly about bugs. so people are free to bash about anything, all they want now.

   • Lifted

   • Been lifted for the last 3 or so months now mate.

     • Footage NDA was lifted, if you read the NDA (like i have) it states you can’t say anything about the games bugs or flaws directly yet. You can show them in a video, but not directly.

       • You could read the frontpage news of today: http://warthunder.com/en/news/561-Lifting-of-CBT-NDA—Forum-now-visible-for-review-en

         NDA has been lifted, completly. No NDA. Even the CBT forums can now be read by anyone

         And while I not completly agree with all points of SS (like tank movement, I think the Pz II and some other lights are an exception and tank driving feels a lot heavier than in WoT). I agree that WT:GF certainly is not for everyone and I actually told some of my WoT friends to not get too excited about it cause they’ll probably not enjoy it.

         • Oh, it’s been completely lifted? Sweet.
           Alright then, HATE CANNONS, FIRE!!!!

           • it toke him less then 24 hours since NDA lifted to spam his amazing Review.

             clearly he was ready with this long before,
             clearly he is WoT fanboy or worst (WG payroll)

4. Well written and seemingly honest article. I have never been tempted by WT:GF, but it is also glad to know I am not missing anything.

   Nice write up SS.

   • One advice from me. When it comes, try it. Try it just for the sake of trying it. Who knows? you might like it.

     I was a stuck up WG fanboy and for a lot of time refused to even try WT, but now that I tried it, WoT sits forgotten on my computer as I play with planes all damn day. And I didnt even think planes were interesting.

   • This article is actually full of BS that comes out simply from a fact that SS got very strong WoT habits that he cannot get rid of while at the same time avoiding to read anything about the game.

     That’s why damage appears to be “random” for him (when in fact it’s not, he just doesn’t understand how it works), he gets stuck for 3 minutes in place (instead of hitting escape and re-spawning), he didn’t know which game version to download (even though it’s clearly stated in an e-mail you get after signing up to the test) nor how to choose tanks in a game (which is also clearly described), etc. etc.

     If you have a chance – give WT a try yourself. I did, and I don’t regret it at all. It’s a brilliant game that’s vastly different from WoT in many, many ways. Right now I’m playing in Realistic Mode and an average WT match gives me as much fun as one of these few, really great WoT games that happen between several where I’m struggling with a teams of noobs and retards.

     • WT:GF it’s not looking god. I hoped for a rng-free game but nope, WT’s rng is stronker than WoT’s rng. But I do enjoy the planes.

       • Uh? RNG? Where?

         • There are very very few random things in WT:GF. One major example would be a chance of fire after being hit in certain components, like the engine.
           However you don’t have any randomization of penetration, damage inflicted, shells spread, etc. etc. You’ll never have stuff like in WoT where you aim at the middle of tank 200m away from you and shell goes out, wild in the sky cause RNGesus didn’t bless you.

     • You shouldn’t have to re spawn to get unstuck, I feel. It’s a horrible feeling to me, as a player, to kill myself just so I can continue playing. I find this to be a flaw in arcade mode, as arcade implies that it should be fun, and simple. Getting stuck and sacrificing a life isn’t fun.

       Add to that, that I didn’t see that email, either, as like many other players probably agree, I just wanted to get in and shoot tanks. Not have to read a article on how to play, when it could be simply in the game as an in depth tutorial that shows up for new players, and can be accessed later in – game.

       Really my biggest issue thus far, game play wise, is that I don’t feel like I’m on a team in arcade mode. It feels like I’m playing by myself with/against bots, and I find the in – game communication system to be unintuitive, which is not good.

       I rather agree with SS’ assessment of the game, as it stands. I’ll probably occasionally look into it as bugs are fixed, but I’m not seeing it as my next big game, as it stands, given that I just can’t get into the planes side of things.

   • Thanks for the comments, I agree that if I get the time and opportunity I will give it a go, if not then it doesn’t seem like I would be missing out on anything absolutely fantastic!

5. Nice to see somebody who doesn’t give a shit post about WT, since that allows them to write about all the bad things in GF without worry about the consequences.

   • Yea, only in very very few points he is actually pointing real issues of the game instead of his own ignorance and inability to do basic things.

     Major complain about WT is it’s obscure and rather horrific interface, I totally agree with that. But most of the other “criticism” he made got very little to deal with issues that game got.

6. A decision I can respect.

   I however am well and truly sick of hit-points, an akward spotting system and a game that feels way too arcade for my taste.

   Not going to give up completely on WoT the moment Ground Forces open beta rolls out, but it’s going to be pretty darn close.

   • Now you have hidden hitpoints with random hitpools, a spotting system that has draw range but isnt clearly defined [as all game engines have this in large maps right? Spotting has to work similar] and is a arcade game using WASD and mouse but then uses the not so fun arcady things like mandatory campfests, respawns [as pubbies wernt already dumb enough with no respawn] and tanks that are terribly OP that assure 1 shot kills.

     At least with WOT you know X tank will take 3-5 shots to kill Y tank, and RNG is left to 25% as well as draw range clearly marked out etc

     WT really is a ton of not fun things thats real mixed with not real things that are not fun as well…..War Thunder will be who is most patient, 1 giant seal clubbing game.

7. Yeah, WoT != War Thunder. They are 2 different games with tanks. I don’t think WT is a failed concept, it’s just different. I didn’t like it, but I’m sure a lot of people will.

8. Use the artylerry, Luke! Trust your feelings! :D I personally enjoying driving the tank. The game not gets boring like WOT, and the camping tanks can be smoked out by calling in artylerry strike with your light/medium (and stationary targets get kills easily btw). If you survive the reserve tank, you will enjoy the game more. Oh, and if you parade in front of other tanks like in WoT you will one shotted. Right now I enjoy the hell with Panzer 3. :3

   • You can call arty on something only if you know where it is. Which you don’t know until you get killed. And then they can relocate to new camping spot. GG.

     • You can easliy race for the nearest cover, and pop out sometimes to see. And if the enemy team is capping you have esay job. Plus other tanks can trasmit the enemy tanks positions via radio.

       • > Most hits one-shot you

         How do you race for cover in open terrain, prone to getting one-shot? Will you try your luck just to be able to call for arty with unsure success?

         The game promotes camping hard. As in HARD. Like real war – but that’s not a fun concept to play.

         I agree that it’s a viable concept, but for me it’s not fun to wait for an enemy for a few minutes (large maps), then move (well, if nobody comes then coast is clear, I guess) and get insta-killed. I’ll gladly leave that to others.

         • What you also have to consider is that in ‘artillery mode’ you have an eagle eye virw of the battlefield around, this allows you to spot enemy tanks by looking over hills as WT doesnt (usually) de render unspotted tabks

           • tanks that are not visable to the commander are not renderd but even a slight poke will reveal them
             not like wot where there stuff behind 1 bush shoots you and not even get spoted

   • Arty’s useless most of the time. Too inaccurate, too long delay, etc. etc. I guess SS is one of these people that get massacred by arty, but against any half-decent opponents it’s borderline useless.

     • Calling arty doesnt mean it can hit enemy so easily, the main usage of arty strike is shaking the camper doing damage or even kill is just for Bonus

       • Yep, arty works quite well for that.

9. Stop playing like WOT. Stop yoloing.

   The only thing I disagree is the campfest.

   Youre just a noob SS. You barley played WT GF. Its not that hard to play! Even in Arcade!

   • Because not yoloing is very easy right? Using your teammates to help you?… Not likely..
     And camping is annoying as hell, in both games, WoT and WT.

     • Just flank them. I spend my WT games on flanking – most of the time end up in top spot of the scoreboard. Campers are food, not an annoyance.

       L2P

   • Hurrr durrr, lets all stay behind the rock and wait for the enemy to make the first move for the entire game, because this is how you play WT GF hurr durr. Such fun. Much action.

     Tho, cant wait for WT GF to go out. Imho, at least the graphics are much better than in wot

     • This is how YOU and all the other total noobs play WT without knowing any better, it’s not how WT is suppose to be played, nor it is efficient.

       • mate, i think your sarcasm detector is broken. ;)

         I was making fun of halo1994. Tho i didnt play WT GF, i know the solution is not the camping. Pushing != yoloing. Who has skill knows when to push and how aggresive to be. Who doesnt have any skill just camp and wait for team to do the job.

   • learn to understand different points of view (in this case, how the game is to new players), seriously, some people will like the realism (well, “realism” is a rather controversial subject), some wont.

   • Gotta agree, judging from time of fb questions about accessing the beta how much time has SS spend on GF? A few hours maybe?
     The whole article definitely reads like a result of not understanting that WT:GF is not a WoT clone and one shouldn’t attempt to play it as such.
     Bottom line, this article came way too soon.

     I didn’t really play WT:GF at all and I am a bit concerned about extensive camping, but as far as youtube videos go, I do like what I see. Might as well try and play both.

     • The problem is, bugs will be fixed, but when a newbie comes and sees the game like I did for a few hours as you say, he will be deterred.

       • SS, You should never camp in that game! Instead, do what I did and just rush them and if you are using the 20mm gun just shoot them in their sides. It is a bit of a pain grind but once you get the StuG III A( or what ever the ver. was) and the Panzer III it is so satisfying. You just don’t camp. Rush those stupid campers. I got 18 kills on my 2nd day of playing because I just refuse to camp. RUSH THOSE FUCKERS! ;)

         • Pz II is quite simple: Hunt BT7s, or detrack enemies, then use your speed and cover to get behind them, unload, get back into cover while reloading.
           Yea, one-shot-kills do happen, but they get more rare as you get rid of Reserve tanks and start playing with something serious. My StuG often survives several hits (if I use terrain well – I can be pretty much indestructible from up front) and knowing WHERE to hit is essential in WT, as opposed to WoT: hit & penetrate to win. If you’ll keep on shooting commander hatch in WT – you’ll have exactly zero effect on an enemy.

       • SS, in my first few hours of WT (which was… what? 2 weeks ago?) I didn’t encounter 90% of the problems you had. Ramming does work, only you can’t make it like in WoT, more like in the racing sims (hit the rear of an enemy tank from the side for shock & awe effect), if you get stuck – just hit escape and respawn. Finding tanks in a game wasn’t any issue – I just followed the instructions IN A DAMN E-MAIL that you receive after signing up – it’s all in there explaining which downloader you had to get and how to make this thing running. And so on, and so on.

         SS, face it: you weren’t bothered by this game at all, you did it just to get rid of e-mails spam on your mailbox.

10. I think the gravitation in WT is set a bit low in beta (intentionally). But that ram… no, just no, tanks don’t climb like that.

    Very precise article.

    • http://worldwartwozone.com/gallery.old/500/medium/3_T34s_piled_up_at_Lvov.jpg ;)

11. WoT gameplay with WT graphics engine would be a superb combination.

    • amen to that….if anything at least to be optimized like WT

12. Hmm, luckily I never tried it and won’t at all.
    But I think that if WoT implements tanks turning on their roofs, I think that in WoT, it might be done better than the WT GF you tried.
    And that view of the distance you showed looked really great.. I wonder how WoT would look now if they were using the same game engine WT uses.
    But all in all, I think you made a very great summary of it SS :) But beware of WT lovers who will bash you for it :P hehe

13. So, may I get your CBT Account to try it for myself? Oh pleeeeease :)

14. Of course soundtrack is great, Jeremy Soule made it (Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, Natural Selection, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim etc.)

    • Right, that explains a lot.

      • And the “strings” are the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. Really amazing piece of music.

15. Gaijin has better planes, WG has more friendly tanks. Everyone has something good :)

    • Waiting for Battleships…

    • Except Gaijin’s planes gameplay isn’t actually even that good. The only reason (other than it feeling nice to fly) it seems that way is because WoWP is total shit.

      • actually it is.
        BUT you need to play sim mode for the real deal, which sadly noone wants to do :D.

        but if you take the arcade mode, far far better than failplanes

        • I’m sure the sim mode is good because Gaijin made IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds/Wings of Prey. On the other hand, I don’t really get why bother with WT’s economy system and research when you can buy the old IL-2 with all expansions for 3 € on Steam or GoG.

          • different scope, WT is “multiplayer all the time”(it has some SP missions too), on il2 you need to find a server, everyone runs their own settings, etc etc

    • Totally my point. Playing both.
      WT for planes and WoT for tanks.

      • +1 Totally agree with you, I love WT planes but i dont find Ground forces that interesting like WOT tanks.. :)

16. There is a silhouette outline in arcade battles. I’ve played WT:GF quite a lot (I quit WoT months ago, couldn’t deal with the amount of stress playing WoT created) and I absolutely love it, for me, the game delivers pretty much everything I could ask for. There are problems, yes, but I trust Gaijin more than Wargaming to fix and sort problems, especially considering the weekly patches we’ve had since 1.39 hit.

17. I like Wt and WoT. I played both. Warthunder is a lot less pay to win than WoT (no premium ammo and consumables). Sure you can buy premium ammo for credits in WoT but it pisses me off when you see tanks spamming gold for example on my Hellcat. Also i got my premium time in Wt for a special price at New Year for about 60€ for a year, wich is nice. Wot and Wt are both great games. But imho Wt offers the better deal for me. But everybody should play what they like. Atleast there is now some competion and this is good for everyone.

    • war thunder is far more pay to win than WoT is, in WT you can buy crew skills to max, the prem planes are equal/better than regular planes, you can fully upgrade planes with money (no xp required), to buy the ace qualification for a plane you need to pay gold, and probably a few more things. you can also buy backup planes and more crew slots for gold, allowing you to have more planes than regular users

      the only pay to win there is in WoT is that prem account players can afford more gold ammo, other than that paying will only help you progress, nothing more.

      • Yeah you can do that stuff but you can also unlock the equpment with playing. Also you can achieve most of the stuff you can buy just by playing wich is in my oppinion not pay to win just pay to progress faster. And most of the premium planes ingame other planes and i think they are not op or better than other planes or tanks. Also most of the premium vehicles are planes or tanks of other nations and are available for everyone in these nations in the same or slightly different configuration.

        • Forgot to mention in wot you can also buy your tank to the top. You just have to play another tank you like for some time and then convert the xp in free xp

          • But it will need quite a lot of time (especially if you are a bad player), and cost a lot. I don’t know, 150-200 euro?

            • Really? I really like my marder 38T and i play it a lot. I got 100k exp in it. I bought gold for 10 euros ( which is 2500 gold) and spent that on 62,5k free exp. That is not even comparable to your 150-200 euros

      • yes you can pay to buy crew skills elite one plane/tank instandly and stuff but after will it worth it??
        hmm…. naaa it would reduce the fun or challange of the game to play stock tanks/planes and as you upgrade them you will feel they are becoming more alive
        that thing i notice with the FW 190 A5 stock is pretty good but once you unlock the last engine upgrade ooo boy the plane just rocks cause the engine injection give you even more Horsepower to power the engine and climb better

        also note why spent sooooo much money on a F2P game for these kind of stuff???
        naa just enjoy the game and take it in a relaxed peaced

      • LOL you are just MAD. WarThunder pay2win? Dont make me laught.

    • Actually only warthunder has a pay2win feature witch is acing your crew witch is buy able with gold only and influences your plane. Other then that both games have payable features that decrease the grind fest but can be obtained without paying money.

      • It’s still not. Aced crew gives you very, very little advantage over crew upgraded to max with credits. Honestly – I don’t see any difference between gold-crew and regular crew.

        • Even if its a slight bonus its still a bonus that you can only attain for money

          • But it’s not a “win” feature like the gold ammo in WoT back in a day before you could buy it for silver. You can’t pay for anything in WT that would make a difference between penetrating enemy unit or not, something that would make a certain difference between life and death.

18. I enjoy WT GF, i do find some points to be worse then WoT like research progression but theres aspects i like more then WoT like no hitpoints and the fact enemy tanks are always visible to you, its just under certaint circumstances the nameplate will appear[arcade and realistic battle only]. Anyways i’ll still play both games.

    Btw ss as to map size, the map u drive tanks on is just a very small portion of the same map the airplanes can fly on, so ur loading maps atleast 100 times the size of wot maps in less time lol.

    and yes compared to the russian starter the pz 2 can barely hurt anything untill it gets the upgraded ammo. Without, it only has around 21 mm of pen or something at 10meters.

    • They really improved research progression with latest patch. It’s much, much quicker than it used to be.

      “and yes compared to the russian starter the pz 2 can barely hurt anything untill it gets the upgraded ammo.” – Russian starter is a food for Pz2. It doesn’t have any armor and you hardly ever survive first hit cause it’s so tiny tank that everything gets wrecked with a single shell. Pz2 at least have “some” survivability.

19. Relation between WT:GF and WoT is like between Red Orchestra and Call of Duty. The first one is hard to learn, but very enjoyable when you master it, and the second one is very easy to grasp but not quite as rewarding when you’re good.

    Another thing is that WT:GF requires from you to get used to it. You come from WoT and you expect to play WoT. Wrong. You’re playing a completely different game, you must expect it to be different. And WT:GF does most things differently.

    Research system is complicated only at first, after 5 minutes you’d understand it and (most likely) go like “Oh, it is THIS simple!”

    • I’ve been playing GF SB more or less like I play WoT, seems to work pretty godo so far. Just camp at first, let your teammates take some fire and then move in once you have a good idea where is the enemy and where/when it’s safe to pop out of cover.

20. As much as I have been enjoying (and still enjoy immensely) WoT, I must say so far I have been very pleasantly by GF as well. Well it’s actually a bit of a mixed bag, as arcade battles absolutely blow and WoT is miles ahead in this regard (mostly thanks to WoT’s spotting system). But simulator battles are a blast to play, thanks to the huge potential for you to use your brain to carry a game on your own. Contrary to what Jingles has been saying, the skillset needed to be good in WoT is exactly the same as that which you need for GF: map knowledge, situational awareness, not being a retard. Also simulator battles are slower paced than arcade, so you don’t even need fast reflexes and super twitch skills, it’s a lot like WoT in this regard in that it is a thinking man’s game. And as such I think GF will appeal a lot to some wot players tired of the average braindead making up the random teams in WoT.

    Now, is GF arcade mode going to be succesful? I have no idea frankly. Arcade mode has an absolutely stupid spotting system where vegetation doesn’t seem to hide your tank at all. You can get spotted through the thickest vegetation on the jungle map, so venturing out of hard cover is an immediate death sentence. And though oneshots definitely happen a whole lot more than WoT, I know many people frustrated by the random nature of shots in WoT aren’t going to like GF much more, since a lot of the time your shots will be highly ineffective if you have no idea waht you’re doing. And arcade is aimed at these very same players who have no idea what they’re doing. After the whole ‘omg this game is so good you guys are so much better than Wargaming!!’ calms down, I can see the GF forums getting filled by the same whine threads we see here already in WoT from people with no clue.

    So yeah, simulator battles for good wot players are great and a nice change from the herpaderp you find in WoT, but arcade (and realistic battles are pretty much the same, it’s quite funny that they dare call it ‘realistic’ just because there is no armor pen and drop indicator in them), which is probably the most played game mode, absolutely blows atm. Time will tell, but so far if I want some fast paced fun with interesting game mechanics, I fire up WoT. If I want to be sure to have a good carry no matter how stupid my team is, GF makes for a good distraction.

21. While I can agree with you on a lot of points, I just seem drawn to play GF some more.

    Maybe it’s the feel of the tank (when it’s not playing Tokyo drift) feeling like a heavy, at times clunky piece of machinery.
    Maybe it’s the look of the game, or rather the sound. I can always here something going on, tracers in the air. The battles feel more alive, feel more like battles and less duels.

    Overall, it feels more gratifying than WoT, but yeah, Gaijin. My hatred for their business model has shown a few times, and I have no doubt they will cock everything up for marketing reasons.
    You can already see it happening. “You want a Jagdpanther for no effort at all? Give us 30€ and you will get an identical premium version that makes more xp and lions!”

    • “or rather the sound”

      Gnomefather’s sounds, duh. When arty shoots, you can hear it few hundred meters away.

      • That helps, but that just fixes the “sound” part.

        GF just *feels* more like a battle.

        • got to love the AAA firing at planes
          planes circling above you and the stupid AI which are easy meal

      • Gnomefather’s sounds help a bit, but they’re still inferior to vanilla WT. I like the firing effects of some tanks, but in all of the other aspects its still lacking badly.

22. SS, i’m frankly appalled at your testing method and approach(appaled at how terrible they are), you approached the game like a ham-fisted n00btard.
    you see, i just got CBT yesterday and NEVER touched WT or read much about it before this weekend and i honestly can’t think on how you can “click everywhere” because you can’t figure stuff out… i mean… WTF are you doing?!?, it took me minutes to figure stuff out.

    Now, leaving aside “garage” and focusing on the battle:
    1) why, oh WHY would you go and RAM a tank at full speed?, i mean, there’s more retarded stuff you can do for sure, but RAMMING is the gold signature of a wot-retard that has entrenched the stupid broken WOT gameplay.
    2) you don’t know how to exit a tank?, how terrible, why don’t you fucking go and open the controls menu then?(when you open a game, you dont jump into battle, you first explore ALL THE SETTINGS IN DEPTH, then you play)
    3) “the game is a lot more “realistic” and lot more“fun” than WoT” –>letme fix it for you. Past this point it’s obvious that a tank that behaves like a tank ahould is not your thing and you can stomach the broken shit mehcanics that ruin wot.

    So you where driving around like a tard without spatial awareness and you got killed by an ambushing tank?, GOOD, that’s what tank warfare is!, DELIBERATE AND CALCULATED MOVEMENT, not headless chicken retarded charges with “magic hitpoints” like in wot, your tank is NOT invincible, so don’t drive like a tard.
    you talk about simulator for masochists?, in fact it’s the best mode, no 3rd person view, no outlines, pure SKILL.

    you know, the game IS fun, and i only played for a day, in fact i don’t even feel like even opening wot, the sole idea of clicking wot icon brings me grief, because the game is fundamentally BROKEN and the stuff that is broken and causes frustration and abandonment wont be fixed.
    Tell how THAT is fun?.
    tell me how being shot and destroyed by INVISIBLE tanks(because in wot they literally turn invisible in your line of sight) is FUN, huh??

    tell how stupid shit like ultra calliber round bouncing shit armor is real?(like shoot the sloped front of a KV, shell “bounces” yet it should skip and continue to the hull)

    tell how you pen a tank with a 155mm shell and “it loses hitpoints”, very fuuuun!!!!! much wow!

    or tell me how cheating shit artillery can and will ruin your game over and over again is FUUUN!.

    at least with planes you can shoot them down with your tank(and i’ve seen it happen) and they need to get closer to you AND be wary of other planes.

    all in all i see WTGF has the potential for a much richer gameplay than world of fantasy tanks+invisible tanks+broken core mechanics .

    and let’s not even touch failplanes… wg need to cancel that game NOW.

    Oh and if WTGF is any indication, when WT naval forces comes out, it will be insanely satisfying

    • I hereby decree none shall answer this post.
      It’s just not worth it.

      • Lol you just did

      • and who are you to say “its not worth it” huh?.
        yeah, figured as much, very valid points you make… a ton of rebuttals also… very intelligent…

        oh wait, you did not a single of those points…

    • Ditto!

      • He says WoT is broken, but WTGF sounds even more broken to me. Will both games get better? Probably, but I’ll stick with the one I know for now. Simulators are boring, bottom line. It takes a special kind of nerd to bury themselves in that kind of thing, and I’m not under any illusion that I’m that special.

        • wtgf is in the first stages of BETA and it’s LESS broken than WOT.
          problem with WOT is that the CORE GAME DECISIONS are broken, period, thus it’s unfixable.

          WTGF is based on “realistic” natural game, thus it can be easily fixed.

          oh wow, nice denigration “a special kind of nerd to enjoy simulators”, get off your high horse tard.
          sims are NOT boring, it takes thinking, that’s the problem, it’s not mindless entertainment

        • How the hell you can tell about a BETA game that its broken….

    • giggle.xml

      • dont say @Guillermo Lovato is not right, cuz he good + okay man! :)
        sleepy for answer are great stuff he said.. well done man but 1 reason for:
        I remember when WoT was in the “Closed Beta” and T-30 was AS tier X (10) heavy USA tank, so this lame 155mm was a totaly Bounch from a “Side” of T-34 from USSR from a 25m range, really…….
        if WoT was Calculate the weight of the shell speed and intensity of damage to armor close … So you tell.

        • If a shell is to go into armor at a very shallow angle, it’s going to skid across the surface.

          In your case, there will be a huge dent across the armor plate, but nothing critical. And if you survive the rest of the battle, you can send the tank to the factory for a refit of that plate.

    • Aren’t the components a lot like in WT Planes? The invisible hitpoint system?

    • I fully agree with you. The whole forum is used to WoT game style. SS keeps comparing this to WoT which is completely stupid. L2P SS.

23. I always found the WT menu system to be a bit cluttered. there’s a way to choose where things go somehow but it’s not simple or clean like WoT’s.
    I really like the graphics in WT though, and though the battles are a bit boring imho the realistic damage zones and effects make it worth playing.
    (lagging out has a strange bug of sending planes vertically down to the ground. not nose dive, just literally sliding straight down at whatever angle you were at. it can happen at any time with momentary ping-spikes)

24. Are you serious? You just played with a reserve tank and made an opinion about the game?
    Cant pen other tanks? Well no shit if your using standard ammo.
    This game is only hardcore if you play simulator battles, the tank battles in arcade are very noob friendly. You can play every tank you have chosen, u usually have more than 2xtanks option so even if you die or get stuck just hold ‘J’ and pick it again while being aware of mistake you made…..
    Its much much better than in World of Gold/Tanks where if you die early you have the next 10 minutes wasted….
    Try to get a Tiger, KV2, Panzer III M, Panzer 4 F2…. play with that and than make an opinion. Its like raiting World of Tanks by playing 15 games in a Ltractor….

    • “Its much much better than in World of Gold/Tanks where if you die early you have the next 10 minutes wasted….”

      Huh? thats when you hit escape and play another game… or are you bashing WOT without having actually learnt to play? /*trollface*

      • If you die in WoT you lose any opportunity to get more XP and credits. If you die in GF you can still hop into other tanks and play in the same battle and get more XP and credits.

        Even if you learned how to play in WoT after being killed 7 times in a row by OP tanks using gold ammo and losing always because of retarded lemming team only bashing stays. WoT is also very grind based. You have to get at least tier tier 7 (if you don’t grind OP tank lines) to get in a correctly balanced match,because every tier below is ruled by OP tanks. In GF the first 1-2 tanks suck with the others you can instantly have fun.

      • “Huh? thats when you hit escape and play another game” – I can’t. My tank is still in battle.

        In WT when I hit escape and go to play another game – I can do it in tank I’m currently grinding without any problem.

25. I actually have to agree with you SilentStalker, something I’ve pointed out (but then I enjoy Ground Forces) that the game is not for everyone, not everyone likes realism in a computer game. But I would dare you to compare the forums, in my opinion the War Thunder forum community is better than the World of Tanks forum Community.

    Pichu_Trainer

26. Main issues of WT:GF (I’m a CB tester):
    Physics -> being worked on, however, high tiers (like the Panter) feel much better than low tiers in driving physics. The Panther feels realistic to drive (in SB btw). Oh, by the way, AB and SB have some differences in driving behaviour.
    Trees -> Yeah, those killer trees. Being worked on. But they should hurry with this one.
    Tutorial for research system. Much needed. Research needs a rework (UI too).

    In my opinion, your article is nice, but you completely disregard SB and higher tiers. Tier 1 is the most messed up tier right now.
    I can understand you “it is not fun”, but again, low tiers. WoT isn’t fun to me on low tiers.
    When WoT was in this phase, they had MM issues, just like WT:GF now. They aren’t that major, but still easy to spot. The Tger I has the same BR (Battle rating, equivalent would be MM wheight) as the Panther which is better (more mobile, better gun, better armor) and th IS 1 (which is as good as the Tiger I as far as my experience goes) has a lower BR than the Tiger I.
    So yeah, imho WoT is a good game for the average tank/ and/or MMO interested persons which can bear microlag issues. WT:GF is for tank/history interested persons (which are willing to invest more into the game). In order to have fun in WT:GF (my experience) (tier 3/4) you have to dig deeper into the game. I’m playing mostly SB, and if you know what tank you are facing (where his ammo is etc) you can see it’s not RNG.
    BTW, Damage Models on low tiers are horribly messed up – few weeks/days ago, the T-50 was the absolute killer.
    I do love ftr and e.g. your “sweden tech tree” SS, but please, don’t judge WT:GF when you only played low tiers.

    “The main issue with the battles (apart from them being static at points) is that they are chaotic. It’s hard to orient, you don’t have nearly as much info on the battle as you do in World of Tanks, it’s much more “hardcore”, but that’s not a good thing in my opinion – you can’t see shit over various foliage either (which there is plenty of everywhere). And of course, then there is the “planes and tanks on one map” part, where you get blasted apart by a plane you had no idea was there (that must also be fun).”
    Chaotic -> yes, typical AB is chaotic, no doubt, you are right sir.
    Hard to orient -> Not at all, if you know the map, you know exactly what to do.
    foliage -> when there is plenty, dont go there or (after gaining some experience in WT:GF) go where you know there are not as many enemies.
    I was blasted apart by a plane once or twice. Thats it. You had very bad luck.

    Regarding the maps:
    Kursk-> Always go on the ridge on the left side of the minimap, but be carefull, you are likely to find enemies here.
    Jungle->Go left side of minimap (flank by driving behind ridge) and you will encounter much less enemies. Once you’ve succesfully fought them, there are a few ver good camping spots, and if your team does not suck you will be able to surprise them.
    Karelia -> Difiicult to say where to go, honestly, I don’t like the map at all.
    Other map (forgot the name)-> defend mid or go left, remember not to expose yourself to early in the game.

    These map tactics work fine for SB, sometimes they work fine in RB too, but dont dare to think they work as good in AB (Arcade) as in SB (simulated). The red markers are showing up very quick, flanking is quite difficult. Thats why I play SB, no markers. Flanking works fine there. In SB, the minimap is very important, many players have a map-awareness like a piece of bread (which is very fortunate for me, since they are easy to flank and so forth).
    Knowledge of weakspots is important. Many woT players will never try to hit the turret of the Panther, completely disregarding the fact that its (compared to upper armor and often lower armor) easier to pen.

27. Few points to be lost in the endless sea of comments:

    1) The awkward movement/ramming/getting stuck is simply a “feat” of the CBT – tank weights are not implemented (or at least not fully implemented) and the physics engine is not calibrated yet to take that weight into account; Anyway – wait until OBT, it will be nothing like it is now.

    2)The lack of information you claim – first, there is a tutorial that explains all the basics and principles of the game; hell, there are even 6 specific advanced tutorials to get you going (also ton’s of singleplayer content where you can get used to the game, if you need to). Also – they have a gamepedia built in the client, containing all the info you might need – it’s right there, in the top menu. However, i do agree that they could do a better job of informing players, especially new ones what is going on and what everything means and how to do this and that. Still, WG has it even worse.

    3)Unable to pen anything – maybe with the stock ammo you aren’t ;) You see, there is somewhat similar module research system as in wot, with the difference that the same amount of xp that you get goes both for researching modules and next tank/plane at the same time (so, even if it may seem that xp requirements to get from one vehicle to another are higher, you still need to accumulate less xp, since the module research doesnt take away any xp from tank/plane research). Anyway – you can check the available modules by right-clicking the vehicle icon and selecting “modules”; there is a button as well in the lower menu for that.

    Anyway – i wouldn’t recommend making up your mind about WT:GF just from a few games in CBT, at least wait for the OBT. And unlike WG, they actually improve the game with every patch ;)

    • and they patch faster too

28. I’ve just started playing today and so far I am very impressed by the game.
    First of all there are silhouettes,IDK why you didn’t noticed them,they are not like WoT “SHOOT HERE”signs but they exist.
    I don’t try to offend you in anyway,but I think your approach was completely wrong,this isn’t WoT where you can just YOLO your way through the battle.
    You mentioned camping,again,I don’t know what are you talking about,most of my encounters happened at closed range and when I had to engage at long range I actually saw my enemy,not like in WoT when a 50 ton tank is invisible 200 meters away from you.
    The physics seem indeed “strange”,I’ve never driven a tank so i can’t really tell but tanks do feel more like cars than tanks,still this is a problem that can be easily solved.
    Also the game is far less frustrating than WoT and the realism is awesome.

    To conclude,so afar I find WT GF superior to WoT and I really think that your way to approach the game was completely wrong,this is not WoT.
    Also I personally think the game will attract a lot of players since is practically better in all categories compared to WoT.

    • lol fanboy lol

      • lol WG fanboy lol

        • Lol iulean nob lol

          • just stop posting shit or SS will ban you

            • I am the one posting shit?

              Ok…

      • Yes,my opinion might be indeed a little bit biased since the realism (lack of HP,no invisible tanks) means a huge improvement to me.
        On the other hand I felt like exaggerating a little since that’s the same thing SS did.

        • Vlad,
          you’re right in all instances, and that doesnt’make you a fanboy at all.

          and ofc WTGF is not without faults, like you’ve said, when tanks collide strange stuff happens, tanks “skid” too much and damage is not visible/noticeable (the impact holes are too small). But they’re mostly cosmetic faults that can be fixed, not core mechanics failures like in wot

29. nice article and I respect your point of view, but just to mention a few things.

    First of all, most of people who will play WT GF have already some experience with planes, so the researchign system (which takes like 5 minutes to understand tbh) wont be a problem at all. Still agree about WoT being much simplier.

    I play both games nowadays at the same time and i gotta say, comparing them or even trying to say they are competing to each other doesnt make much sense imho. Its like comparing R-Factor and NFS series, only here the mutual thing is not cars, but tanks. In almost all other aspects they are both completely different games. Lets face it, WoT is basically Counter Strike with tanks :D WT has very far from that. Each game has its own audience, as you mentioned. I actually like both of them.

    Btw if you can manage to go through the lower tiers like Pz II, you will have much more fun. I really disliked the game while playing with the reserve tanks, but when i get my first Pz III, it all get much better.

    One more thing. Regarding the article, it seems like you didnt even try to figure the stuff out by yourself and just waited for the game to serve it right under your nose. If you opened controls before start playing, which is imho something everybody does when starting a new game, you would have much easier time ;)

    • The only problem for me with the new reserach and tier system are the ambiguous battle tiers.
      Why 4.0, 4.3, 4.7 and 5.0 for example? And they all are .0, .3 or .7 something AFAIR.

30. Most of the complaints you have is straight with WT, rather than the ground forces. The menus, research method, etc … understandability is something which was already in the plane version, and pretty much everyone understands it by now. Also, you would have known some useful keys if you played the plane version. Like the fact that you can (at least for planes, probably for tanks too) abandon your plane (tank ?) with J. Which is very useful, if for some reason, you get stuck.

    The only real issue I get out of all of that article is “tanks are slippery as hell while they shouldn’t be”, which is already a good point. But it was very expected that WT would be a (much) slower game than WoT with bigger maps and faster deaths. And it’s not a bad thing honestly. Putting a satisfying shot in in WoT isn’t rewarding. And by satisfying, I mean 350+, borderline invisible if not completely invisible tank. Here, it’s not only possible because of no dumb rendering distance, it’s also encouraged by greater rewards for longer distance shots.

31. i have played wot for 2 years and now i am playing CBT(acces it by the mission that was on the last weekend)
    diffrent games diffrent tastes
    1 is full arcady the other not
    you stated that the concept is a bit flawed well that is your opinion but i beleive adds a variety to the monotonous gameplay of wot after sometimes
    wt gf battles can drag sometimes up to 30 minutes but that’s is in 1 mode(conquest is called) but i dont mind cause the maps are so bigs that you can driver around and end up to the enemys locations when you see they camping hard there maps offer variety of routes but note they are not balanced for gameplay they are real locations of places
    i like the spoting in WT GF (no more invisable russian clocked td’s fired at you banishing all your health) you see them they see you unless there is bushes or trees there
    those who think that WT GF is a huge boring campfest cause of the camping well not really there is something to be done about it
    also i hate arty in wot i like the artylerry support on WT GF cause simply you dont count on it to kill just you use it to flush tanks out of cover if they are stupid and stand still in the place of arty strike well it;s there own fault there is a warning about incoming arty strike

    to end cause i see to drag loong
    WoT concept is fun and gives you some things that wt gf doesnt give you and vice verca
    i will continue play wot(if they smooth the game stuff first cause FPS are horrible) and i will enjoy WT GF too
    soo it’s all up to the person what wants and what seems to like

    those who think WT GF are the coffin for wot are just even haters or too narrow minded
    both games are good at what they do and the options they provide

32. Thanks SS. It is good to know that I should not bother with WTGF for the time being.

    • Give it a try and see for yourself, its better than to listen to people.

    • Typical WoT Fag. Jumping on the hating bandwagon won’t benefit you. Actually, don”‘t ever try anything new because “SS SAID SO””

33. SS, it really sounds like you tried to play it far too much like wot, which doesnt work in GF because you wont get all the info so easily from the game, meaning that with a wot playstyle you will miss info and get rekt. When I started playing GF I also had to adjust, but after a few hours of playing I was quite easily about to kill more than I died.

    Also, some stuff you say is just not true, like rng, you say its a lot of RNG, while actually it just depends on where you hit: hit tank in ammorack=instakill, hit tank in cupola 20x=dead commander and nothing else.

    I suspect that if you would get used some more you would not be complaining about stuff like ‘chaotic battles’ and saying that everyone camps(I personally play rather aggressive and still get goodish results).

    In conclusion, your review might be fully accurate about how a new guy sees GF, but its not representing how the game actually is once you get to know it. That doesnt mean its not a problem for the game to be so newbie-unfriendly, but that does make a difference.

    • Indeed

    • indeed.
      however, this is not a good thing. well at least for gajin if they are looking for customers.
      Planes .. i let them down pretty quickly.
      I’ve researched 3 new planes and I still didnt have any idea what the hell am I doing there.. should I shoot planes, or ground targets ? why does the battle suddenly ends ? etc.
      The game was very chaotic, tech tree same, as SS said “I clicked somewhere and I got the vehicle” … its absolutely user not friendly. Typing console commands might be easier way to go..

      And if THIS is what the game presents me for the first hours, no matter how good that game is, I will never return.

      WOT on the other hand.. I started just because I was bored and there were no games like this..
      it was meh, first 20 battles no kill, newbie noob as hell but I got used to it, and it was pretty intuitive whats the goal, whats my role, etc…

    • Well SS’ just a little newbie in WT :3

34. Great review SS, thanks for your work
    You just forgot to mention the battles with both planes and tanks, driving across the map to capture an objective just to be bombed is not fun at all
    But i really like realistic games and since i can’t play wot really that much with the 9.0 update, i think i will be playing wt gf alot more than wot

35. I would agree that WT GF is not for everyone.
    But if you are hard-core player like me who was disappointed by arcadish feel in WoT then you might consider WT GF simulator mode.

36. “All those, who think Ground Forces will be much better than WoT, or even a “WoT killer”– no, they won’t.”

    I highly disagree on this one. WT Ground forces is just perfect for people tired of lossing to gold ammo / invissible tanks / waiting in garage 10 minutes to be able to drive again…. And they get better performance, visual quality…

    • Don’t play Simulator mode then. Cause I can assure you you will be killed by invisible tanks. Except there wont be some magical RNG to save your tomato ass.

    • Wow these people.
      Gold ammo in WoT terms in WT is like standart ammo in WoT terms. I mean the default ammo usually is free or really cheap, but the better ammo (like PzGr 40) cost not too much.
      Also invisible tanks
      don’t even get me started.
      Waiting in garage for 10 minutes?
      Why do you have to play just one tank?

      Fucking get real.

      • “Why do you have to play just one tank?”

        Hmm let me think….Because I WANT TO ?

        + to the guy above you
        At least i have a chance to spot that guy before he spots me, not like in WoT(Waste of Time). My tomato ass is doing very well

    • Someone doesn’t know they can exit the battle in WoT after they’ve died.

      • Sure you can, and then wait 10 min for your tank to come back from battle and watch your garage in the meantime.

        • The average battle lasts for 5 minutes you know.

37. I have to say, compared to how it was earlier on in the CBT it’s come on a long way in terms of feeling fun, but beyond the obvious comparisons it’s a very different sort of game. I certainly won’t be playing it nearly as often as WoT but aside from some things that currently bug me (which you also picked out; the very odd combination of completely arcade handling alongside some very un-arcade core game characteristics such as slow turrets and the unpredictability of shell penetration, not to mention the way a lot of battle information is currently given to players) I can certainly see playing it from time to time. It was never going to be a WoT-killer, the core gameplay philosophies are just too different .

38. SS I agree that the game takes some getting used to, but since this is your opinion based on arcade I’m not very surprised. Yes the game is fairly unbalanced but face it, its closed beta. Also arcade tends to be more generous to tank physics, and so you could drift so easily. In realistic drifting is a lot harder (well not always) but that’s because there’s more emphasis on realism. As for simulator, well its as u said, for masochist, but hey even masochism is fun if u know what ur doing. As for wit I’m genuinely disappointed with the last patch and feel it really fuked the game up. Now I have to play on minimum settings just to get stable 40 fps (in 8.11 I had stable 40 on everything high except for light and shadows)… So yes that’s my opinion… Thx for reading this through to the end if u did, and if u didn’t oh well not like u missed much. BTW keep up the great work!

39. That’s the main problem about Gaijin and WarThunder, no part of it is intuitive. Mostly, great games have intuitive designs just like WoT, DotA2, LoL… but WT’s UI, to settings, to battle screen… Gaijin need to replace their creative design team.

    Second problem, the fanboys and the playerbase. If WoT has more mature and older well mannered guys playing (just like DotA2 or BF), WarThunder’s fanboys are immature shitty kids just like League of Legends and Call of Duty’s fagboys.

    • >Dota 2
      >good community
      tep kok
      It’s really maybe worse than LoL’s, if you have even a slight anger issue, or no issue at all. Both of those games can make you really fucking insane.

      Also BF has a good playerbase? Well the new ones don’t, the older do.
      Also CoD has a bad playerbase? Well yes on consoles, but not on PC and in older CoDs maybe not at all.
      Well good to see you belong to the ultimate shit tier of playerbases.

40. How easily people forget that we all have differing opinions on subjects…

41. Hmm,
    I was really looking forward to try it out, especially after the first public video I saw.. kv1, stug, etc…
    looked great, I loved the graphics and the fact it runs awesome..at least planes do, on a decent hardware.

    But what you mentioned here… yeah, it might suck hard gameplay wise…
    I dont play planes just because after reseraching 3 planes I still had NO IDEA what the fuck am I doing there.. whats the goal? shoot planes ? shoot vehicles ? just fly around ?

    SS:
    the screenshots you posted does not look that good as I expected…
    May I know what’s your HW config ? just out of curiosity…

    • Well depends which type of mission you’re flying.
      On Domination, you should try to mainly cap the points, kill the enemy planes and the lastly kill the ground targets. Except if the ground targets are making it that you can’t cap the points, then they should be killed first.
      On Ground Strike you should kill the ground targets, bombers and attackers and enemy fighters.

      Sometimes I feel you guys are the tomatoes of WoT. Use your common sense and the fucking objectives you’re given.

      • I am a blue WoT player.
        ANd a good gamer no matter the game… usually.

        I get what I must do in battle, but the War Thunder menu is SHIT. It is… it is…
        Whoever designed it should fire themselves immediately.

        • I really like the simplistic UI, but I also get why people don’t like it.

          • UI is not too hard, though it could be better. Just copy and modify STALKER UI…

            Problem is menus. I have no idea what I am doing… damned menus…

            • Well the menus aren’t good, that’s true. Especially the achievement menus.

42. I get the feeling that if you think WoT has people using mods to cheat (sela, looking at you)… WarThunder is going to be a million times worse if it has anyone playing it.

    Not only map mods, but tank highlighters. No spotting system means that mods will be able to put arrows from god pointed out where the enemy is on the screen. But that wont be the worst. Planes with bombs will just wreck your highlighted face all day long out of the sky.

    Its going to be like WoT arty parties only far worse.

    • No mods for WT, AFAIK. Developers don’t want some 3rd party shit to interfere with the game and cause random problems for users while game is in active (beta) development phase.

      Launcher checks your game files every time before the game launch. Also WT have pretty strict moderation and complain system that actually works (you basically write a message to mod with your complaint).

43. SS, if you get stuck, just press J and abandon the vehicle, you’re dead anyway so might as well save some time. And I agree with you that WTGF is nowhere newbie-friendly as WOT. The GF experience has been frustrating for me. Sometimes I get one-shotted when running@max speed (that’s how 183s troll), other times I keep shooting the same tank for half a minute and still can’t destroy the enemy tank( I penned every place possible). You can find weakspots to finish your enemy(like the hatch between the two mini-turret on T-28) but it’s so random.

    Also the ramming experience was terrible, once a Pz. III rammed my Pz.II at maximum speed, I got destroyed instantly but he sustained no damage. This is BS.

    The campfest, in my experience, was not that severe. It might be that I’ve adopted the playstyle, but I like to rush the enemy(once I kill two Pz.IIIs with my 37mm AAA in 5 seconds LOL).

    Also the garage in WT isn’t as good as the ones in WOT. In WOT, I can collect all the vehicles I want. In WT…WTF? I want to have more tanks and actually play them and you tell me that I only have this many crews to place my tanks? Great, time to remember which crew is qualified for which tank.

    At last, and the most horrible experience, is that my gunner/driver keeps getting knocked out, often around two times before I get killed. I mean seriously Gaijin, the tank crews are… zombies?

    All in all, WOT is actually better than WTGF in my opinion, although not by a great margin.

    • Every tank is basically qualified for every crew slot, but you have to pay some lions to get them there for the first time. Also the garage model is there, because you’ll always have the tanks you’ve bought and can’t sell them.

      • But it’s very difficult for me to decide which tank to put in the slot(T-34-85 or Su-85M?)

        • why not buy more slot with silver lions?

          • After your fifth, it starts costing premium currency.

44. “Another “awesome” thing is the utter impotence of the 20mm autocannon of the Panzer II. I have no idea, whether it’s bugged, but in GF, it CANNOT PENETRATE THE SIDES of an early Panzer III at 100 meters. No shit.”

    30mm side hull armor on the Panzer III Ausf. E. 25mm of penetration at 100 meters from the 2cm KwK 30 L/55 on the Panzer II Ausf. C.

45. I disagree.

46. As a long-time WoT player, I had my trepidation signing-up for GF. I share you confusion for the first few day’s of playing. However, once I actually made it my business to understand the basics of the interface (which was not too difficult or time consuming), the experience became much more enjoyable. I suggest you do the same.

    As far as the realism is concerned, I think enough has been said about the tank physics model in the current Beta version. There is no reason why it should not greatly improve as the development continues. The application (use of your tank) and the tactics, in my humble opinion, is far more realistic – and therefore enjoyable. If you like superior tactics and gun handling that is. Like in battle, you loose your tank (not some of your health pool) if you don’t apply you equipment correctly, or just rush into a fight like a mad man without regard for basic tactics such as fire and movement, flanking, use of cover and concealment…. GF fill that niche very well. Indirect fire support (arty) is much more realistic, air attack and air-cover is closer to real battle too. There is just so much to experience as you get “into” the game.

    As a result, I am enjoying GF very much.

    • Well at the moment the only good tactic is to know all the ammo rack positions and shoot them for OHKs.

47. pretty sure SS was playing RB. you do NOT play RB off the get go, it takes months for some people to ease into it

    (oh, and turn grass off, instant 20 FPS boost)

    • how the hell did SS NOT recognize Beethoven?

    • Yeah no range, armour thickness indicator, shell drop indicator, no silhouette. Not exactly the most noob friendly game mode especially for some one who are still driving rank 1 reserve tanks.

      • he wasn’t playing arcade than. realistic is not meant to be noob friendly

        • He was playing Arcade. In Realistic and Simulator teams are divided by nation.

48. Anyone have a foliage remover yet?

    And when do ‘the masses’ get unleashed into GF? I wonder if the bot makers have started work on WT maps yet.

    • “Anyone have a foliage remover yet?”
      Please turn 360 degrees around and fuck off :P (I mean seriously don’t play the game then)

      • ?

        It was a genuine question. Perhaps you are new to the realities of online gaming. People will cheat when they can. I was just curious as to whether it hard started in GF yet, and what the effect on gameplay would be.

        Also, you may wish to refresh your knowledge of geometry. Hint: 180 degrees would be more effective if you are worried by my comments.

        • you already CAN turn grass off. it is in the graphics settings

          • Still doesn’t turn off the little shrubs that do nothing but block your view

            • That’s because you’re supposed to actually be able to hide behind foliage :P

            • Ever heard of tank warfare?

49. There are silhouettes but you need to be aiming at the enemy with the black crosshair on open sight line, just aiming at them with the white cross doen’t give out the outline. Also the Pz. II’s 20mm might be so in compitent because half of the ammo on those clips is HE in the beginning.
    Regarding the drifting tanks, wait ’till you get the heavy tanks because you won’t be able to turn in them without losing your sanity. Also the 10,5cm Tiger II had to be added because of balance.
    And yes, it’s CBT so you shouldn’t be like a noob and test the Beta, so the events being “hidden” shouldn’t matter. Also it’s basically your fault no understanding the progression system. When I started WT, I had seen the first video from FRANKIEonPCin1080p where they just flew bi-planes, I installed the game, played a couple of matches and then got the whole progression system. Although back in the times of 1.27 there were tiers, but they still weren’t that hard to understand.

    • thank you for the great explanation

    • The 10,5 CM Tiger 2 is INFERIOR to IS-4M.

      • Must be dat russian bias(tm) again.

        • Nope. It is just that…
          IS-4M is too powerul for this game
          IS-3 should be enough.

          • This.

50. While I value your opinion SS, your approach is kind like somebody tried to evaluate WoT by only playing tier I-III

51. Really SS i am disappointed in you did you really get into a game played for 2 hours with out trying to find out more and just decides its utter crap. It’s like reading the first couple pages of game of throne and calling it crap because there is not enough character development in the first page.

52. game review in 2 hours? LOL
    and people apparently do not read. At the start of every game, the game tells you the objective. and you can always press M for map, which tells you the OBJECTIVEs.

    and i think it is quite apparent that Gaijin is catering to different audience compared to WG. and play Red Orchestra tanks for sure. they are the better ones, though only limited number of tanks are in-game.

    • and
      1. Don’t play like WOT. (Same thing goes to people who keep trying to compare wows to wot mechanics)

      • That i think is one of the single biggest problem for new/previous WoT players playing WTGF they are treating it like WoT with better graphics and playing it like WoT with better graphics when it clearly is not.

53. I’m sure WoT was pretty shitty too on its closed beta.

    • I mean what CBT game out there is perfect i really can not think of one.

    • Closed WoT beta:
      - no physics
      - 3 tech trees only with just a few branches
      - tier 4, like T-28, regularly fighting tier 8 and sometimes even tier 10
      - HE was always dealing damage, so nobody used gold ammo, except tier 10 fighting tier 10
      - you get 250 gold a day for testing
      - arty reigned supreme, even Hummel could ruin Maus’ day
      - suicide scouts, that would drive as fast as possible into the enemy base hoping for the scout medal and a quick death (thank god, we don’t have those now)
      - only 3 crew skills: repairs, camo and firefighting

      • Most important part : U didnt had to / U couldnt even pay for anything. Access was free, gold was free. Not like GFs “Beta” of lets try to sell as much as possible to our “costumers”..

        • When did you have to pay for anything in CBT?

        • WT:GF gave you tons of free gold for tests, and I never paid even a $ to Gajin. They gave the keys away left and right for a few days, that’s how I got my.
          As for the fact that you can pay for stuff in GF – it’s nothing more than a pre-order with bonuses that you can access right away. I don’t see how it is evil in any way like you try to picture it.

54. Thanks for the review. I was going to buy a WTGF tank pack (since I hate War Thunder planes and planes in general and don’t want to do the open beta missions), but… nah. Also been watching Jingles play ground forces, and it just doesn’t seem fun.

    • Not for everybody but in the end you still have WoT to play. Not like me massive lag and ping spikes since 8.9.

55. I think you might want to play a few more games before reviewing such a product, SS. I’m not playing it myself but try reviewing WoT based on tier 1 and 2, where no one can hit anything, you can be clipped by autoloaders, armor doesn’t exist on most tanks, everyone goes 50+ km/h and so on: It wouldn’t be fair of what happens to the game at tier 5, tier 8 and tier 10 and I’m pretty sure the same applies to GF.

    Other than that, I do play the plane version, where many of the UI issues are the same. And yes, Gaijin has a god awful UI in general, terrible minimap, terrible research system (in terms of UI) and if you fly more than one plane (or drive more than one tank) the post-battle research screen is terrible too.

    Of course, the one-shot mechanics is probably what will ensure GF a lot lower audience than WoT. Now, I personally look forward to trying out GF with my friends but I’ll guarantee that many people will share a similar view to yours on the mechanic and just not bother playing, simply because being one-hit-killed by someone you can’t see is beyond frustrating. Gaijin will probably have to do some careful balancing in this area when it comes to GF, simply because your tanks can’t go 400 km/h and exploit the 3rd dimension like planes can. If there isn’t skill involved in both sides of the engagement, the combat will be unfulfilling (which is why so many people hate WoTs spotting system) and I see that as the main threat to GF having a wide appeal.

    • yea SS kinda sucks at reviewing games tbh. He said ESO was kinda good. And it is not. At. All.

56. I wish WT would do good. I don’t play it, but if they’re good, WG will start doing something to fix the game. I played WT (not GF), but I prefer WoWP.

57. Hallo!

    To all of the lucky lucky individuals that have closed beta access to GF but despise the horrible mess of a game that is clearly inferior to WoT, can I please have your ACC? Ta!

58. SS, I think i get your problem with the ground forces. In Arcade game mode in WT, movement of both tanks and planes is a lot more….liberal?

    What could be a race plane that can pull off some absurd maneuvers in arcade can literally be a brick to fly in realistic battles, and in sim battles, at least for newbies to WT like me, impossible to fly.

    • And I dont know about you guys, but 9.0 totally messed WoT up for me, plus the historical battles are a total mess that nobody plays, sadly.

      • same here although in Test server the FPS situation was stable in live server man wtf they did there???
        i liked the idea of historical battles buuuut no FPS no play

59. All I saw there was: “Boohoo, I can’t play this game at all so it mustn’t be any fun”

    Really, do you even remember when you started playing WoT, how fun was that? Or practically any competitive game?

    It’s only when you learn the game mechanics and actually start doing decently you’ll have fun.

    Also you’re just comparing a CB to a fully released game which has been out for god knows how long. WoT didn’t even have physics for almost half the time it’s been out.

    No, I’m not a fanboi of neither game, my opinions are just from neutral stand point. The comparison’s 1st half was pretty good but after that it was just bashing the other game.

    SS stick to WoT blogging rather than reviewing, you’re one of the best of the English community at the former.

60. Hello SS!
    Remember that post about historian complaints about WoT? Well, you just managed to did the same silly thing :D

    Never judge a game after playing few battles on the very first tank. It’s wrong and childish as hell.
    Remember your experience with WoT on MS-1 with 50% crew – was it better? Doubt it.

    WT GF is much better then WoT. I’m not going to write a review for WT GF now, because even on not-yet-topped IS-1 I don’t know much about game. But it’s much more promissing, entertaining and CAREFULLY CRAFTED FOR GAMEPLAY, then any known game about tanks before.

    I hope that your readers are adequate enough to not think that GF is a bad game because you played it 1-2 hours.

61. Woah comments not closed yet!
    Good and honest review Stalker.

    BTW, im wondering what all these WT fanboys are doing on FTR, site dedicated to World of Tanks. I know “Thundies” love to brag how WT is better etc, they just try to show their nonexistent superiority as much as possible, but going as far as spamming this site?

    • A honest review does not make it a good review.

      Its like me going in a new WoT account, without any WoT experience, no modules, stock as shit and everything, getting my stock loltraktor out for 2 battles, getting my ass kicked, then declaring the game sucks ass because I cant play it

      And while WT is better than WoWP, against WoT it wont do well cause its not that noob friendly. That does not make it a bad game though for the people that like harder games.

      By the way, there are little to no WT fanboys here, since they dont care at all about WoT. Most of the people commenting here have played both games.

    • World of Tanks players don’t play any other games?! Maybe just the tards, which means a better experience at WT if true (:

62. The review is good and you hit some of the weak points GF has , but if you want to be objective then you should realy give it a bit more time and play beyond tier 1 . At the moment with all the bugs and shortcomings GF has is still a bit more fun than WoT . It’s not better nor worse , they are completely diferent style of gameplay , but for me atm if good fun . Why ? Well no bullshit autoloaders (yet and hopefuly they won’t ever come) , no retarded arty ( we do however get some arty support wich isn’t realy that much of a deal like the clickers in WoT) , no prototype bullshit tanks (WTF E-100 i’m looking at you ) , no dissapearing tanks in front of you without any obstacle . I don’t get why the big deal with the one hit kill because we also get that in WoT (hello arty again , derps , ammo racks ) , sure it’s dusturbing and the damage models are off at the moment in GF but in general is a good game , you just need to take a bit of time , once you learn the basics a bit it becomes realy fun .

63. I read FDR daily and for the last 2 weeks go play WT-GF + Mixed Battles. :) instead of WoT.

    started playing WT GF months ago and yea it was total crap, but know it’s really good. what SS wrote was clearly biased he approached it like a meth head, aimlessly clicking around UI, installing 2 times, playing with configurations like crazy, who does that? he clearly went int to trash it. he downgraded his I.Q by at least 30 points and then went in.

    i respected the famous review by Jingles, but this review is so childish and obvious.

    Simulator battles are very different from Arcade mode in WT. personally i find them really challenging and fun, but one has to first play at least 100+ arcade mode to get the feel of the game.

    same thing happens when i started to play WoT BTW, play few here and there, didn’t like it, try again after a month and then suddenly got hooked, same thing is happening for me in WT-GF. thing is if you are currently on the WoT juice train you will hate WT but if you are tired and bored of WoT kiddies you may start to feel WT and i guarantee you will enjoy it once you will pass the not so big learning curve.

64. Hi SS.

    When I read your article, I’ve the feeling you only played 2 or 3 arcade battles. It’s far too few to pretend to “test” it and give an advise on the game IMHO. I personnaly play at WT:GF 2 complete day before write a test of the game. I played one day in arcade mode and another day in historical one. Historical mode is very very better than the aracade mode.

    The penetration and damage model is very easy to understand. There is no automatic compension. And when you know how to aim, you know exactly what will happen if you shot at this place because there is almost no random. If you shot the driver hatch, you kill the driver. If you shot the turret ring, you destroy the turret rotator, if you shot the gun, you detroy the gun, etc.

    Physics is a bit a mess because tanks are like soap but the felling is better than in WoT. You feel the clutch. Sound and FX effects are awesome and you really feel the battlefield. Balance is also better with the respawn and arty support reserved for some classes only.

    Finally, I suggest you to play a bit more to the game before bury it. And play in historical mode. It’s more fun, a lot of less camping because you haven’t the aim help so camouflage really works and sniping is more difficult.

    You can also read my article (http://wot-story.blogspot.fr/2014/04/test-de-war-thunder-ground-forces_23.html). It’s in French but a translator could help. I was a WoT fan. Since I player WT, I don’t enjoy WoT as before anymore. I really wait the open beta now to play WarThunder again.

    • +1
      Haven’t launched WoT in a week, I know I will get disappointed :D

65. I’m not new to WT, but am new to GF (got access last weekend). Also I have 16+k/57% battles in WoT, so not a total noob. AND it took me AT LEAST 7-10 battles to start understanding game mechanics and what I should do with my tank in order to win.

    Camping is not a problem – most campers came from WoT. Overall, game suggest you to take active battle, because there are bases (cap points) on the map, which have HUGE impact on the battle outcome, especially on the map with just one base. So if you (and your team) camp on the good spots waiting for enemy, while enemy team holds the only base – you will lose in like 3 minutes!

    Also don’t say reserve tanks are impotent – I had 5 kill on reserve PzII: 2xKV-1, 2xT-28 and BT-7. Use your brains and arty support! Also once killed (ammoracked) IS-1 and KV-1 with the first PzIII (can’t remember the modification now). And that’s GREAT! It’s just like in WT planes – you CAN successfully fight top-tier enemies in tier-1 (or reserve) tanks! Which is impossible in WoT, where you would need to pen cupola or tracks 50 times.

    • Very interesting, I look forward to trying this game out.

66. SS why you let Darksydephil write reviews on your blo… oh wait.

    • WOOOOOOOOW

67. The research stuff and trees are a total mess. It was MUCH better before they changed it last year. Now even I don’t know wtf is going on half the time and I played WT for 6months+ back in 2012/13.

    The Pz II you start with is a bit rally car’ish, but as you get higher they handle a bit more like you would expect from tanks. Its not really any different from the old BT-2 in WoT beta, that thing was like a T-50-2 on steroids, totally unrealistic. Those sort of things will get fine tuned and fixed.

    What does annoy me about WT: GF though is that you spend most of the time shooting at the space between a player’s name and distance. YOu never really see the tank, you just hover your mouse cursor around until it changes colour and then you fire and hope you hit. Thats kinda it. They need to improve hte visibility of tanks at ranges somehow – maybe there is a sniper view option somewhere, haven’t found it yet though.

68. SS is great for gossip and trash talking of other players, which I enjoy reading on occasion. To expect anything more from him is unfair guys, so settle down :)

69. Silentstalker you are an idiot and stupid piece of shit :)

    • So argument
      Many logic
      Much Fanboy
      Vewy stupid
      lol

70. ” I really, really hope Wargaming changes their mind about implementing the tanks turning over on their roof”

    +1000

    this game must stay fun !

    I don’t play WoT to drive a real tank, you can’t reproduce the reality (or, you need 6 persons to drive 1 tank !)
    I play WoT because it’s fun !!!!

71. Jimmies of many fanboys were rustled! :D

72. Well done SS, so many #shotsfired

    And there’s one more thing: small playerbase is a death sentence for strictly multiplayer games. And when wt complicates thing (calling it “realism” is way too much, really) it is bound to have a small playerbase.

    ['] r.i.p. wt, won’t miss you… :P

    • Go back to CoD

      • U MAD BRO? :3

        • AFAIK Yes.

          • “small playerbase” war thunder recently clocked sixty five thousand players on the U.S. server. More than I have ever seen on WoT and I have played that game for over three years. As I type WT has 20k people on. That is an average daytime value for WoT check facts then come back to me.

            XOXO

            • 65k peak for wt – yeah, sure, but that’s ALL servers combined. All wot servers combined have peak somewhere around 1 mil.

73. A great and honest review! I only started playing War Thunder a few weeks ago and I recall that it is a very unfriendly new-user interface which definitely brings the game down a bit. As for the tanks, I test drove quite a few on the regular WT client as they have just added them there for test driving and I definitely agree with the ridiculousness of how the tanks skate around and the length of time it takes to get somewhere. Not to mention that on most of the tanks I tried, if you damage your tank or engine slightly, you cannot fix it and can barely move, in one instance I had a damaged track and engine and could only move backwards at 1 kph, let alone turn the tank.

    Also regarding Gaijin in general, I find their handling of the community VERY VERY sketchy and strange, very unlike Wargaming. First is that you can get banned for practically looking at the game the wrong way, saying something is broken or messed up in it. The other day I found this thing in which you fall through the map while test driving a certain tank and posted some pics on the forums for the lolz. My post was deleted within 5 minutes with no given reason and I went to go try the bug out again just for fun and they had removed the ability to test drive about 10 tanks….just very strange imo.

    • because unline WG, they actually enforce the forum/game rules there.

      Shitpost? Enjoy our ban.
      Break game rules (aka posting bugs on open forum, while rules tell you not to do so), ban.

      In your case RTFM

      • FYI I followed all the rules and have broken none which is why I brought it up. I have read all the rules, I just think they way they handle things is very strange and very anti-opinion. Ive seen someone make a perfectly civil criticism in the right section of the forum, blah blah, etc. and still get flak from mods. I mean I know in Russia they don’t like being criticized but for a company that is in on the international market, maybe they should act less like this is censorship China or something of the like and have less completely ridiculous rules. Heres a few examples:

        Your name can’t be a politically significant figure from from the 19th century or later? Sorry Ghandi, no love for you or MLK either, people may be offended?
        “No uniformed Military Personnel associated with the World War 2 Axis Powers” Are you kidding? Sorry millions of brave men who fought for their country, we’ll just assume you’re a Nazi and move along.

        Not to mention the moderators. At least the couple I have seen in action are biased a-holes who ban you for typing a single word in caps, such as “STOP spamming” in chat? I think they need to use more than a single brain cell before they start banning people.

74. research system is hard for a newbie. but later you notice its MUCH more better and smarten than WoT.
    you can research everything with everything. you even dont have to play the vehicles you dont like, just skip them …

    here are also some spaces in tech tree. in WoT they need to fit every tier and when they have no good choise they put in another phantasy tank or make a real tank fit with a gun they could never carry.

    more smart more realistic

75. SS, the tanks handle like that because you’re playing arcade mode. Like it’s name, suggests, it’s arcade-y. If you want more realism, play realistic battles, or for even more realism, simulator battles.
    Can’t guarantee if it’ll be the realism you’re expecting tho, but atleast the tanks handle far more realistic.

    Also, I believe you are being a bit melodramatic and simply need to play it a bit more to understand things better. Honestly, I have none of the issues you’re talking about.

    Also, hint, there’s a key to leave your tank/plane in case of stuff. I think it’s J by default.

76. Not sure if noob or just stupid

    • whinny little girl that one is, only reflects WoT player base, disgusting creatures.

77. Saying that it’s in beta doesn’t mean much in the free to play market. World of Tanks was in open beta for 2 months. War Thunder has been in open beta for 16 months.

78. Tge bigest FAIL of Gajin is NO MARKERS. You can buy simple programm and you HAVE MARKERS in game
    LOL. Its give you so big advantage in so called “spoting” system of Gajin, that if you wanna be compepetive you must HAVE IT lol

    • First, fix your goddamn English.
      Second, what the fuck are you trying to say?

      • Im talking about cheats, in WT you dont have markers, but with mod whic you can buy, you will have it,. And this its pure cheats in WT spoting system like they have it now. Some players from ru quit WT some kind of tournamet of that, its gives big advantage. In WoT we have tank markers, in WT GF you dont, but you can “fix” it, it will cost a bit money for you.
        BTW both games are pure ARCADE, i dont see any realism in WT GF. From gameplay view i agree with SS, if a lot of players cant and dont understand spoting system in WoT, they have no chacne to play in WT GF, afcourse they always can buy mod for markers and at least see all tanks in fields :D

        • Buying markers? WTF?
          The game client of WT checks your files before launching so you can’t modify them. Tanks don’t disappear in WT even if you don’t spot them. Unlike WoT, therefore WT should be easier to understand. Both are COMPUTER GAMES. It obviously isn’t real life, however WT tries to actually be realistic, without the stupid health bars.

          Cheats break WoT, but not WT. Its just a better game.

          • lol stupid fanboy, its the same like warpack for WoT it has nothink to do with client files lol. And again without markers you must detect tank for yourself, read SS again, yes hes right, to see tanks behind bushes and so on its much harder, but if someone use this software, they will see all tanks in fields far away like in WOT. Tank detected and you can shot, without markers to spot fast tank behind bushes is hard, with markers you cant miss it. Its bigest problem of WT GF, if they will not make markers on releas, people who will use this software will kill all noobs from the bush. For noobs it will be hard to understannd from where and what shoting lol, if you cant see tank you can shot back, so it give big advantage.
            Example:
            http://imageshack.com/a/img841/3438/6p07.png
            Now image what it will do in tank game “where other playing” without it.

79. An honest opinion is a good one. 2 or 3 hours in it’s pretty clear that WT isn’t very intuitive or easy to just jump into for a new player. But as many have posted, i can’t imagine a review of WoT after a dozen tier 1 battles would be all that representative either. I’ll be interested in seeing if there is a follow up ‘After 20 hours gameplay’ style opinion piece.

80. I read this article and all over I though: It’s exactly what I supposed of the ground forces just because I know the planes. Thats a sad part of WT, that what makes there Aircraft System wonderful (to shoot down a fighter with a BF 109 in one single volley) but the problem is, that in a tank, thats not really fun I though and make the view like that.
    Dont understand me wrong, I ll try GF of course but first when it is released. I ve no clue why I should pay for a closed Beta.
    But lets see, maybe Gaijin do something on that point.

81. Honestly, I haven’t read all the comments so I am sorry if I repeat something already stated here. And to be honest, I was already Silentstalker’s fan, I always defended him lol… but… Anyways:
    1) Surprise, tanks really drift. Especially those with great power / weight ratio. I know, it’s surprising.
    2) Don’t judge the whole game after playing few battles. It’s like saying “oh, this movie is crap” 30 seconds after its beginning.
    3) There is a shell penetration indicator.
    4) The whole mechanism of ammo penetration is different that WoT’s. So yes, it is trully possible for you not to penetrate the side of Pz III from 100m. Before the CBT was launched, there was this huge article where Gaijin actually explained how the penetration system works. I didn’t understand it back then but after playing few battles I realized how good it is. Much better than WoT’s.
    5) Oneshots are not fun. Agreed. That’s why you have possibility to enter arcade game mode with more vehicles. This is actually something I miss in World of Tanks because even in WoT I have been killed in one shot. Right? Realistic battles and simulator battles… well, that’s something different, but taking it from the WT’s planes, I entered my first historical battle (realistic now) after like 30-40 hours playing the arcade.
    6) It’s still Closed Beta. I remember WoT when it was in Closed Beta. People got stuck in a texture as well. So…?

    I honestly think you didn’t write anything like a review. Now, I get it that this is actually still a blog, but you (in my opinion) should’ve realized your opinion has a huge influence amongst the mobs reading your blog. And thus before writing something such as a review you should’ve played the game more. Now I am not defending WT. I still think WoT’s a better game even with all those flaws it has, but honestly I would never agree with your… ehm… “review” less. In my opinion you haven’t played the game enough, you didn’t read a single thing and yes, many new players won’t do the same but they will never write a “review” on a site with hundreds of other players reading their opinion. And that’s the biggest issue I have with your review – you definitely can write up your opinion, but you should realize how your opinion influences hundreds of your readers and thus your review should be objective.
    Peace :)

82. The comment tone by the WT supporters in this article are troubling. The community seems terrible and I personally find it a huge turn off.

    • Wake-up call: WoT supporters are just the same as WT supporters. And there is no such thing as “community”. What you call community is in fact a bunch of entitled little brats that think that their mascot game is the best and they will defend it with their lives.

      The Important part is to try out both games for yourself, then decide BY yourself which one is better, without listening to other people.

      • Actually, not. The WT fora are really terrible, like LoL terrible, coupled with extremely arbitrary moderation and elitism. WoT forums are pretty mild for an MMOG.

83. I quite like the few WT planes games I have played, and World of Warplanes is quite good fun for a bit of light relief.

    I have been watching the various vids released on WG GF by Jingles et al, and quite frankly, the gameplay doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest. Good luck to those who want it though.

84. so ss it is warthunder fault that you cant check recent news or forums and for absolutely no reason you down load and installed the game twice clap clap. I stop reading exactly at that point provably you will struggle to make and account too and forget your pasword after.

85. ” War Thunder planes are, hands down, better than World of Warplanes, in practically everything, when it comes to battle. Perfectly responsive controls, intuitive plane handling. And NO LAGS – imagine that!”

    Really? Because I still can’t get my War Thunder plane to do a simple loop using the default mouse controls. Imagine that.

    • Oldest trick in the book, just bind a key to the pitch controls.

      • Why would I do that, when in the other game, I can do the same thing without having to fiddle with the controls? Until you can do basic aerial maneuvers without having to adjust the settings, the game will be inferior in my book.

86. Compare WoT and WT:GF at similar stages in development. Its laughable and disingenuous to even compare the two, WOT has had years of development. If you compare similar development stages, it would be current WT:GF v. WoT where in WoT the largest and heaviest tank could get blocked in by the smallest tank and zero physics.

87. I fail to see how the game promotes camping, when I played it, if you stopped AT ALL, you’d be immediately gunned down. The nature of the game is clear, always keep moving, never camp. In my experience, the only vehicles that sat still for any length of time were KV-1′s and flakpanzers, one can take hits, and the other doesn’t want to be anywhere near the enemy.

88. I also had similar problems with the game as SS, except that I played it for quite a while longer. It is entirely possible to make a tiger tank drift down a hill like it has no traction and weighs less than 200kgs, hell, you can even do a 360 with it. Beyond that, the suspension mechanics are pretty good. Additionally, I have found that tanks can take an unfathomable amount of damage, 30-40 hits if not aimed. Magic spot though is driver’s window, put one or two shots through there and kill every time. Or do as the StuG do, rolling ammunition rack.
    Best moment was when I ammoracked an enemy stug and the collateral killed a T-34 next to him.

    • hahaha aw shit something like that happened to me but opposite:
      a stug rammed my tank abd shot me point blank, my ammorack explosion detonated HIS ammorack
      hahahahahaha

89. Props if you played war thunder when it was still called “World of Planes”

    • I did :P

90. I like your articles and all, only mistake was perhaps that you started WT on your own without anyone to guide you through it. Especially when you want to get into closed beta of a game you play for your first time. It was obvious it will be confusing and you should not take this that bad. :)
    All in all, any review about WT should be only about game in global, not about each and every detail that is still being worked on. Right now it is more like if you judge building while still under construction based on how tidy rooms are. When workers are still in said rooms working.

    Research

    Research mechanism in WT is so superior compared to WoT I do not even know where to start. It can seem little confusing at start, but essencially you can skip those vehicles you do not like, you are not forced to play any crap like in WoT, no more “if you want tier x, you have to suffer through tanks y and z”. And there are requirements for moving up one tier – everything is displayed right when you point mouse on any vehicle in another tier, so it will show up immediately when you think about researching one vehicle up the tree. And also, you progress in game with anything you play with. You like Tier II planes? Great! You will continue research. The lower tier you use for research of higher tier will get slower, but there will still be progress. Not like in WoT, where you have to play previous tank to the one you actually want. In WoT, you will spend most time playing what you have to instead of what you really want and when you reach that set goal, by that time you will get tired of it. WoT is about grind, WT (planes, not CBT, obviously) is about flying, playing and enjoying.

    About which vehicles are avaible

    Again, this is issue only because of Closed beta. If you start WT without CBT, you will enter hangar with reserve planes already equipped so you wont have to look for anything, you just hit “battle” and it is done. As this is beta and week ago only few players were in CBT and if you wanted to play CBT you had to have separate server (similar to WoT Common test), again, this is not top issue. There are other reasons why you dont have tanks equipped right at launch of game, but that is for longer debate. To cut it short – again, issue of test server, bashing WT for it was unnecessary.

    You received plane

    Well, it said you received a plane and it turned out you received a plane. It was self explanatory I think. Even without need of reading about it on web page outside of game, like when you get T7 car or others :) Again, bashing was unnecessary.

    About penetration

    Well, in WoT you also check penetration value before you enter battle. It can be checked in hangar, but for new players it is probably much easier to check it when you are in battle screen and when you equip ammo – just mouse over it and it will show up all and nice. Of course in stock tank with 25pen value (at 100m) you will have troubles penetrating 30mm side armor. Even at point blank range stock PzII has only 31mm pen. One small dust on one single degree of angle and you will not pen it. It is really unnecessary to bash WT for this. Fully upgraded PzII is not that bad (e.g. it can kill that PzIII you described even from front 100m with no problem), but still it must be kept in mind that it is just reserve tank, or in other words, your first/starter tank. It is still better than T1 against T18, though.

    FPS

    It is still CBT. When in OBT, it is expected to be optimized about the same as planes, i.e. you will get high settings at 40-60 FPS compared to what you described to WoT. Optimization is happening in every patch and it actually can be seen and it is seen. Not like in WoT, where they told us every patch they did optimizations and it was not that rare to see FPS drops or no change at all instead.

    Handling

    This is still being worked on and constantly tweeked in CBT. It is, again, completely unnecessary to bash WT for it. The progress can be seen every patch and you can read about it on CBT forum as CBT player. I personally prefer “simulator” battles and other fellow WoT refugees prefer “Realistic” battles. What you played must have been “Arcade” battle which probably needs the most work done in this area. Some tweeks are needed also in realistic and simulator battles, but it is still work in progress.

    Map size

    Actually, they are pretty much ideal. When you play realistic or simulator battles, you think twice what you do and you do not desire to get into fight in 10seconds after you leave spawn. When in arcade, battlefield is quite populated, so again, not real problem with size. Definitely not the camp fest in WoT. Those outlines on tanks behind bushes maybe even promote camping in WoT as everybody is afraid that once someone sees even bit of your tank, your whole siluete will light up like Sun. This is also great about WT – no lines around tank. Aside from “arcade” and somehow even in “realistic”, you have to use your eyes. Nobody leads you by hand. And when in realistic or simulator, you have to estimate range by yourself, also great plus. If you dont like it – no worry, you can play Arcade. Another reason why this is great – players need to seek enemy, they can not just sit in bush all game long and wait till some siluete appears and shoot into dark.

    After handling issues will be polished for OBT, then probably there will be no problems playing it at all. There are so many things that are great, some just concepts that are being put in, some are half in and some are almost ready for OBT. For reviews like you gave right now there was that non disclosure agreement, to not discourage players from game based on preliminary bugs in beta test of game that are miles away from what will be during release.

    Few final words – played around 20k battles in WoT (and I still play WoT from time to time)
    I played WoWP – perhaps around 1k battles
    And I should have around 2-3k battles in WT (Planes) and few dozen battles in WT:GF.
    I still like your articles, I just think you were bit too harsh on WT:GF for no good reason.

91. Forget this petty argument guys… WOT and WT have had their time. It is time for Armored Warfare! It shall be the death of both games! :P

    • Yeah….
      All vehicles are the same there :D
      So scary

92. It took me exactly 4 days to get bored of War Thunder Ground Forces, it’s not because I suck at it but it is just waaaaaaaaaaaaay too easy to play. I get ~12 kills each match in realistic battles, the randomness of penetration is just borderline stupid (most of the time on the Russian tanks) and the handling is just… fun for a few battles but it gets boring quickly. For now I’m going back to WoT because I actually enjoy the game non-stop. I can’t be arsed to play war thunder after 4(!!!!) days of playing because of the above-mentioned and I find GF to be more repetitive than WoT.

93. One of the most biased reviews i have ever read.

    And has been mentioned earlier, you use world of tanks as a measuring stick, even though the 2 games are very different from each other. Its like i would use wot and compare it with bf1942, as it also has tanks.

    The one part that made me LOL for real was the part about the audio. They took to great lenghts to actually record the real engines, and you find them “strange”.

    I had higher hopes from you SS. But it shines through that you indeed are deep into WG, and not “just a random guy writing the truth”, as you so much claim to be.

    Warthunder is more demanding, but also very beautiful and fun, if you like the slower playstyle, and the combinations. But Gaijin have far togo to make the progress tree and modules and XP thing worked out. Its appaling. It was ok a year ago, but then they fucked it up, so its all a big mess.

    • +1

      I just come to say some think like that.

94. Hi SS,

    I was just wondering, did you try the tank again after researching the upgraded parts and ammunition?

95. Well, I can fully agree with you as a closed beta tester that the game is quite a pain in the ass to set up the first time that you play it. It was hard to find out how to do something in the hanger screen. Setting up the controls to get the game to play how you want was a pain in the ass, research took a while to figure out, etc. Then again, I had the same kind of problems with WOT when I first started playing it as well, so to me, it’s a wash. For example, I had no clue how to train or Retrain crew or how to move crew into or out of the barracks. Gaijin got a lot of things right, I think the POV is much better then in WOT and it seems much easier to use the terrain to your advantage such as finding a good defilade position. Do I think WT Tanks is better then WOT?, Nope, it’s like comparing Apples to Goats, they are both Tank based games, but take a different approach to game play. Think I will be happy with both When WT goes open beta with Tanks.

96. Would love to say that I’m surprised at this obvious hatchet job but I saw this coming as soon as I saw the title of the post. SS had already decided before he even installed the game that it was “bad” and he was just looking past any positives the game has in order to find the aspects of the game that help support his “game is bad” mentality. This “review” is just a joke and a bad one at that.