War Thunder

 PC
User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 1908 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 590 out of 1908
  2. Mixed: 203 out of 1908
  3. Negative: 1,115 out of 1908

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  1. HawkerHulk
    Aug 19, 2013
    6
    Great visuals, sound and the feel of planes. Battles are cinematic, intense, full of flak fire, planes burning and bomb explosions.Also the game is very well optimised so it runs great on lower end machines with reduced settings. Mouse controls are just excellent, although some players complain that they're too good and make joysticks redundant in Arcade mode.

    Three realism modes    Great visuals, sound and the feel of planes. Battles are cinematic, intense, full of flak fire, planes burning and bomb explosions.Also the game is very well optimised so it runs great on lower end machines with reduced settings. Mouse controls are just excellent, although some players complain that they're too good and make joysticks redundant in Arcade mode.

    Three realism modes Arcade, Historical, and Full Realism will appeal to a very broad range of players. There are also single missions and campaigns (some of which you have to pay extra for..which is fine) but they net meagre rewards and are not worthwhile at the moment. And if you want to progress in War Thunder you really need to be earning those XP points...which brings me to the downsides.

    What stops me from giving it a positive score is what happens outside of battles, namely the progression and economy models. Although at first leveling up is a pretty quick affair, with each level it becomes more and more time consuming. It gets pretty bad, to the point where without paying for the game reaching maximum level in one nation will take you half a year. Some can live with that...but then there's the crew level problem. You can buy crew levels with real cash, all the way to the top, skipping that part of the grind entirely which is borderline pay to win.

    Other aspects of the progression model are equally strange. Crew skills and their effect on plane performance are undocumented. You have 5-6 crews and each can qualify for a dozen planes on different levels which leads to heaps of confusion. You take a hangar of 5-6 planes into each battle, usualy they are at different tiers and some players tend to exploit this to get better matchmaking. Ah, yes, matchmaking....it doesn't work very well, mainly because it has to balance players bringing their tier 1 and tier 10 plane into the same battle.

    On top of everything else although the game just went on Steam and has all the aspects of an almost finished commercial product, the developer makes huge changes to the economy on the fly. You can sink a lot of money into the game and you never really know what you're getting, since the economy model can get dramatically overhauled at any time.

    I would strongly suggest giving it a try, the visuals and spectacular gameplay are things you really should experience. But don't stay too long or you may start to feel unwelcome. And think twice...no, think THRICE before opening your wallet.

    Fly safe!    … Expand
  2. Juke16
    Dec 25, 2013
    5
    Good graphics and good simulation of WW2 aircraft, but the game has been ruined as of recent patches and focuses heavily on time intensive grinding in order to force players to buy in game currency from the company.
  3. Pannon
    Jun 10, 2014
    5
    Title: Free To Play as a Cannon Fodder

    I was hoping War Thunder doesn't fall down the same slippery slope pay-to-win game like World of Tanks, but it seems like they are thinking about money more than gameplay. The game claims to be a "open beta" stage for quite a while now. If you'd do some research, you would find out that it's part of the money making scheme. Since being an open    Title: Free To Play as a Cannon Fodder

    I was hoping War Thunder doesn't fall down the same slippery slope pay-to-win game like World of Tanks, but it seems like they are thinking about money more than gameplay.
    The game claims to be a "open beta" stage for quite a while now. If you'd do some research, you would find out that it's part of the money making scheme. Since being an open beta, while taking cash like a fully patched-finished platinum title encourages them to keep the game in a beta-stage and dodge complaints by claiming "hey, it's a beta"! "What did you expect?"
    I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but logically thinking- and just counting how some companies trying to find a way not go under funded and loose money, the logical answer why this game is still in beta stages is: Because it's profitable. If you haven't figured this out yet, maybe you will in a year or 2. You can carve it in stone so you will remember that I said it first.
    So, Back to this free-to-play game.
    The pluses I give to credit where credit is due is just the game engine, graphics, and finding the compromise between realism and playability, when it comes to controls. The planes feel real. Medium/heavy bombers feel heavy and cumbersome, fighters feel agile - according to their tech level and design. You'd expect a bi-plane to be highly manouverable, while you'd expect a mid-tier late '40s fighter to be fast and well armed. You'll find these in the game and it's done just as well as in many previous Russian-origin simulator titles, such as IL2-Sturmovik or the predecessor of WoT- Wings of Prey.
    The game can be quite addicting...for a while. The graphics, the sense of speed and satisfaction after a good bombing run or a well placed burst taking down an enemy bogey can make you want more.
    Unfortunately, my list of positives coming to an abrupt end, since the gameplay will get quite repetative, especially if you think, you can get away without paying for a premium account.
    Again, I'm not revewing this game as a typical game, which usually go for 40-50 dollars, but the free-to-play "beta" game.
    Let me state this: You won't get too far without a premium account. And if you won't believe me, ask others, who played it forever. Watch youtube videos, read the forums. You CANNOT progress too far without a premium account, unless you are ready for the punishment of grinding for quie a long time and being stuck in the same aircraft, that you "may" not like or end up facing superior - upper tier crafts, which will shred you to pieces within the first 30 seconds.
    For those who have no idea what I'm talking about.
    1. The game set up, so there are ties- depending on the aircrafts available for axis and allies. Starting with pre-war airplanes with similar capabilities put into categories, you can fly them (regardless of nationality or historical alliances) to do a team-battle against each other in arcade mode. (the simulator mode and historical modes are different, I'm writing about the arcade type of game, which is by far- the most popular part). After you return from the battlefield, you gain experience by shooting other planes or ground targets or completing game objectives (bomb the airfield, land and take the airfield etc). Once you gained some experienced, you have to "research" the next tier aircraft available and then buy it. After buying the next tier aircraft, you may be put into battles with planes with similar capabilities in the next tie.
    The problem is, that you may have worked on and spent and researched 1 aircraft, while you had 3 or 3 "free" tier 1 craft and now you got 4 aircraft , with one being tier 2, while the others are tier 1.
    And that will force you to either send your tier 2 craft to "holiday" - and keep fighting with your tier 1 planes against tier 1 planes and you won't be able to fly your new tier 2 plane. If you decide to step up, then you gonna have to face the reality, that you got 1 tier 2 plane and 3 or 4 tier 1 planes, which are far inferior to be played on the map- designed to be played by tier 2 planes. And planes go down fast, I mean, you want to stay in the game for at least 10 minutes, then you need at least 3-4 planes available for each battle. If you are stuck with only one capable craft and 3 low-level planes, then you gonna end up struggling until you earn enough credits to replace all 3 - tier 1 planes with something better. If you can think you can play anyway - be my guest- I have done it. I have gone the hard way to earn my tier 2 crafts and it took me forever, not mentioning that many times my gameplay on a battle was no longer than 2-3 minutes, due to my tier 1 craft being a target practice dummy for superior aircrafts on the map. Just think about it flying against BF109 or Spitfire with a bi-plane from the 30s. If that sounds hilarious, you're right. But this game will force you to do that, because - drumroll- you don't have a Premium Account to buy planes for real $$!    … Expand
  4. Haineko
    Jan 27, 2014
    5
    Used to be good, but now the research trees have been **** royally.
    Unlocking anything beyond Tier 2 is tiresome and time consuming, trying to fly a stock plane against fully upgraded ones, which you have to do all the time, is painful and brings you to the brink of just uninstalling.'
    Going from Tier 1 to Tier 2, or Tier 2 to Tier 3, is going to give you a kick in the teeth, as your    Used to be good, but now the research trees have been **** royally.
    Unlocking anything beyond Tier 2 is tiresome and time consuming, trying to fly a stock plane against fully upgraded ones, which you have to do all the time, is painful and brings you to the brink of just uninstalling.'
    Going from Tier 1 to Tier 2, or Tier 2 to Tier 3, is going to give you a kick in the teeth, as your amazing planes, fully upgraded, from the last Tier, are now useless, and you also have a just as useless new, higher tier plane.

    This game used to be fun (still is fun at most times) and something I'd love to sink some time into, even on my own. But nowadays.. Eh, not really. The balancing is horrible, the progression is horrible, and if you want to be in a good plane, you have to play Russians.

    P.S: All of this is in regard to Arcade battles, not Realistic or Simulator.    … Expand
  5. metacritiq
    Nov 18, 2013
    5
    It's okay, I can play for about 30-60 minutes at a time before getting bored. The community is a lot of angry children with neckbeards "omg my team sux!" kind of comments. The planes are diverse, lots of customization can be done, guns, paint, upgrades, ammo, etc. Can play as bomber or fighter or both in the same round. World of Tanks is more thrilling gameplay for me.
  6. iLikeSchnitzel
    Nov 17, 2014
    5
    First off, this is a review for the Realistic/Simulator aviation node as I dont play Arcade and barely touch tanks.

    Warthunder is a decent flight game with very nice graphics and inconsistent but mostly good sound design. Now there is a reason why I dont call it a flight simulator, because it really isnt. Damage simulation and impact on flight-performance are semi-simulated at best    First off, this is a review for the Realistic/Simulator aviation node as I dont play Arcade and barely touch tanks.

    Warthunder is a decent flight game with very nice graphics and inconsistent but mostly good sound design.
    Now there is a reason why I dont call it a flight simulator, because it really isnt. Damage simulation and impact on flight-performance are semi-simulated at best with the damage model being very simplistic. Wind effects are poorly implemented (like flying in prop wash) and generally a lot of 'Simulator aspects' you find in a real flight sim are not really modeled, for example control loss through compression isnt modelled at all.

    Nontheless it is a good game for people who want to take a quick glance at the world of flight games without spending a penny.

    The major issues atm are:

    Balancing: Most simulator players want somewhat historical match-ups. If I take a Hellcat I wanna fight the Japanese over some Pacific Island, right? Now lets look at the Hellcat in game. The Hellcat is modeled after one with 1944 modifications, so farely late in the war. Nontheless its Battle Rating (the magical number determining what it goes up against) is lower than that of the first Zero from 1941. Hmm. Its actually so low you will never run into any 1944 Japanese Fighter. What you end up facing instead may often be aircraft like an I-16, a 1939 pre-war soviet early monoplane. And guess what? Neither is that historical nor fair, because you might have figured, the Hellcat is far superior. Now there is historical events to enjoy historical matchups, however only one per day and about 40% of them are horribly broken, unfair or have wrong aircraft (example P-40E in the carrier battle of Midway)

    Inconsistency: There is a lot of different teams working on different stuff and there seem to be next to no guidelines on what to implement. One aircraft has control stiffening at high speed, the next one doesnt. One aircraft has realistic G-limits, the next one doesnt. Very few aircraft have Mach-numbers modeled, most dont. One aircraft overheats like it should which rather instantly kills your engine (for some reason), the next one doesnt although it was known for overheating. Inconsistencies like that can end up deciding the fight, which they really shouldnt.

    Overall its a decent game. Nothing spectacular, but there are no real alternatives, so for now its probably worth a shot.    … Expand
  7. dmctrollz
    Dec 14, 2013
    5
    I have been playing this game for a few days and have loved it... until now... When i wanted to play full real battles mode i started the tutorial to find that the tutorial is TERRIBLE... your taking off in a field and there are houses all over and it does a terrible job explaining what to do. And when you have to try and get off the ground which is a realer hard part, it doesn't say whatI have been playing this game for a few days and have loved it... until now... When i wanted to play full real battles mode i started the tutorial to find that the tutorial is TERRIBLE... your taking off in a field and there are houses all over and it does a terrible job explaining what to do. And when you have to try and get off the ground which is a realer hard part, it doesn't say what to do, it only says "Time to get in the air!" I have been raging over this tutorial for like 20 minutes now, and i'm so close to quiting.. I seriously minimized the game, made an account here, and wrote this review because i'm so pissed. Get the game if you want, but be prepared to get extremely pissed off.… Expand
  8. Synd
    Dec 19, 2013
    6
    It was a good game, but think twice before spending money on it. It seems Gaijin became more greedy, no surprise if you follow their other game, Star conflict.

    With the1.37, Gaijin implemented a MatchMaking very punitive for the low tiers. It's sad, because this new MM reminds me World of Tanks. Oh, and more level grinding, too. You should take a look at the official forum and see how    It was a good game, but think twice before spending money on it. It seems Gaijin became more greedy, no surprise if you follow their other game, Star conflict.

    With the1.37, Gaijin implemented a MatchMaking very punitive for the low tiers. It's sad, because this new MM reminds me World of Tanks. Oh, and more level grinding, too. You should take a look at the official forum and see how this patch is disastrous.    … Expand
  9. CoSm1c_gAm3r
    Apr 6, 2015
    5
    There is no proper editor when I could make for example 2 vs 2 with choosing airplanes for me and enemy. I cannot make mission where I would have to destroy for example 4 tanks.

    Missions for single player and dynamic battle are just retarded. Enemy see only my airplane. They act like swarm. That is the worst **** in this dumb game. Maybe for multiplayer it is playable but then there is    There is no proper editor when I could make for example 2 vs 2 with choosing airplanes for me and enemy. I cannot make mission where I would have to destroy for example 4 tanks.

    Missions for single player and dynamic battle are just retarded. Enemy see only my airplane. They act like swarm. That is the worst **** in this dumb game. Maybe for multiplayer it is playable but then there is controls that allow to use mouse with lots of assist so even worst retard can play. This game is made only for MP and is forcing to play MP and allows uneven combat where only simulation can be played in MP with decent fun. But as for me there is no fun in this game because I wanted to create my own missions and have fun and develop my skills. But no this game is forcing players to go into MP straight to boring battles.
    Biggest turnoff is lack of proper mission creator where player could build his skills instead game forces everybody to go and play in MP and any SP modes are retarded making AI swarm player.
    It is retarded when on my tail I see all enemies while my wingmens and other airplanes try to destroy that swarm AI. This looks simply retarded and that game is worth 1/10 just for good engine and good simulation in simulation mode.    … Expand
  10. azmyth
    Jul 22, 2014
    7
    Pros:
    Beautiful graphics
    Relatively accurate historical combat Fun to play, very satisfying when you win Lots of aircraft/tanks to chose from and they are always adding more Teaches you about history Cons: Extremely steep learning curve - When you start out, you are thrown into combat against everyone - pilots with 1,000 hours under their belts and pilots who don't know the    Pros:
    Beautiful graphics
    Relatively accurate historical combat
    Fun to play, very satisfying when you win
    Lots of aircraft/tanks to chose from and they are always adding more
    Teaches you about history

    Cons:
    Extremely steep learning curve - When you start out, you are thrown into combat against everyone - pilots with 1,000 hours under their belts and pilots who don't know the controls yet. Seeing as how you'll start as the second type, you will be slaughtered for the first 20 hours of gameplay unless you are experienced at flight sims already. If you want to be good, you've gotta learn a lot of maneuvers, energy retention, different aircraft types, etc.
    - Reasonably priced for the most part. You get a fair bit for your money, unlike Wargaming's model where each premium vehicle can cost $30-$50. If you wait for sales, you can get a good premium plane for $5. Free players aren't penalized in the actual game, they just earn less money for victories and unlock new planes more slowly.

    Although my review seems pretty critical, I should emphasize that this is probably still the best WW2 combat simulator out there, and it's the most fun I've had playing a flight sim of any sort since Star Wars: Tie Fighter.    … Expand
  11. MBCuss
    Oct 10, 2013
    7
    There are many pros and cons to this game. The pros would be the battle types along with maps. The planes handle well with keyboard and mouse but not perfect. Joystick is best when doing for real battles. There are a large verity of planes for all kinds of players. They are adding ships and tanks but that will not be for a while. Tanks probably by December. The cons are what lot of gamesThere are many pros and cons to this game. The pros would be the battle types along with maps. The planes handle well with keyboard and mouse but not perfect. Joystick is best when doing for real battles. There are a large verity of planes for all kinds of players. They are adding ships and tanks but that will not be for a while. Tanks probably by December. The cons are what lot of games face. The match making is a little bad but is ok most of the time. There are some control problems. Also there are some planes that are very unbalanced at high tier and low. For example Russia has a tier 8 fighter that has a 40mm on it that can one shot any bomber almost. This is good if you like historical authenticity but bad in some game modes. These are all fine problems which you can easily get over and in time they will have little effect on you. The Worst problem is ranking up. It takes along time to get jets unless you pay for xp conversion and a premium account. So it will require a lot of time. It is not pay to win however because you can shoot down just as many fighters as the people in premium planes. It is based on skill rather than money. The only pay to win is crew. If you buff your crew with say max gunners you can shot down many players fast but still if they enemy players are good they will know what angle to attack form in which they take almost no damage. Also again some fighters can one shot bombers by taking out wings. Not a lot of fighters can one shot but there are some which in a good pilots hands could make some go 10 and 0. Overall good if you invest time and effort into this game and practice you will overcome these problems. Hope I see you on the battle field.… Expand
  12. Revikk
    Oct 3, 2015
    5
    The graphics are great, but unfortunately is the only purely good thing about this game. The company markets it as a "historically realistic simulation", which is not true. The economy is terrible grinding, flying models are wrong, ground forces are unrealistic (korean war tanks fighting ww2 tanks?)
    The worst part is the way users are treated in the forums. I started playing but these    The graphics are great, but unfortunately is the only purely good thing about this game. The company markets it as a "historically realistic simulation", which is not true. The economy is terrible grinding, flying models are wrong, ground forces are unrealistic (korean war tanks fighting ww2 tanks?)
    The worst part is the way users are treated in the forums. I started playing but these things drove me away. There is a lot of frustration. It is fun for 1 or 2 matches, after that... it is frustrating. Try it and get a tranquilizer beforehand. And if you have any problem with it, do not waste your time in the official forum.    … Expand
  13. liakyh
    Nov 25, 2015
    5
    Gaijin's modelling of vehicles and damage are second to none. It's too bad that game balance is non-existent, while the entire player experience is characterised by minute and incremental progress, and much frustration, designed to milk money from the player at every step to lessen the pain.

    In an ideal world, the staff at Gaijin responsible for modelling the vehicles and ensuring the    Gaijin's modelling of vehicles and damage are second to none. It's too bad that game balance is non-existent, while the entire player experience is characterised by minute and incremental progress, and much frustration, designed to milk money from the player at every step to lessen the pain.

    In an ideal world, the staff at Gaijin responsible for modelling the vehicles and ensuring the accuracy of their in-game performance would be poached by Valve, who actually know how to run a micro-transaction based game without ruining player experience for majority who are less-loaded.    … Expand
  14. Lil_Meerkat
    Jun 11, 2014
    5
    Probably the most realistic flight-sim game available for the WW-II era, and free to play, so as a simulator it's pretty good. But as a game it kinda stinks, since game-play is totally repetitive (go into battle; shoot things down; get shot down; repeat; see the same map; use the same planes; repeat again; get bored; repeat again again) and since imbalances in favor of certain nations /Probably the most realistic flight-sim game available for the WW-II era, and free to play, so as a simulator it's pretty good. But as a game it kinda stinks, since game-play is totally repetitive (go into battle; shoot things down; get shot down; repeat; see the same map; use the same planes; repeat again; get bored; repeat again again) and since imbalances in favor of certain nations / airplanes are never addressed by the developers. The community of players is rapidly learning to shut up about the game's weaknesses, because negative feedback leads to immediately falsified records which support bans or similar control-the-community measures. Try to submit a bug report? Get banned! Ask in public why you got banned? Get banned again!

    Wait? What about money? Can they ban you if you paid something? Yes. See, War Thunder claims to be in perpetual Beta, but it'll take your money! And then change the game so that the cool new plane you just bought is no longer half as effective. Pay at your own risk ... a funny but futile attempt by members of a rather non-market-oriented culture to create "market friendly" goods, by DEMANDING that the market be SUPPLIED with their product. See, supply-and-demand? Right ... you silly Russkies, that's NOT how it's supposed to work!

    I think it could be a great game because it has such a great simulator-engine running behind all the airplanes. But because the people making the simulator don't know how to make a decent game, the only thing they've got is an excellent simulator masquerading as an annoying game that will slowly die because of their dreadfully abusive attitude toward their player-base. Pay money? Get banned! Oops ...    … Expand
  15. Rouce
    Nov 9, 2015
    5
    The grind is unbearable. And this comes from someone who has been using a premium vehicle and a vehicle with a talisman most of the time. (both grant 200% faster grinding) I've also always used all the boosters from the daily gambling, bought a veteran day and used it extensively. And still.. The grind is soul-draining. And I'm nowhere near the high-end stuff regardless of playing the gameThe grind is unbearable. And this comes from someone who has been using a premium vehicle and a vehicle with a talisman most of the time. (both grant 200% faster grinding) I've also always used all the boosters from the daily gambling, bought a veteran day and used it extensively. And still.. The grind is soul-draining. And I'm nowhere near the high-end stuff regardless of playing the game for months now.

    Y'know if a F2P game is a cashcow when the grind is even unbearable when you pay real money. ;)    … Expand
  16. Joe319
    Apr 18, 2016
    6
    I gave this a 6. I'd of given it a 10 but War Thunder is a game that so many players and myself, have noticed an obvious Russian bias. Take a Russian T-34 as an example. You'll have a heavy tank using your best armor piercing ammo and and so many times, you'll hit them and it'll just bounce off or do little damage and even the times you are lucky and do critical damage, they'll still beI gave this a 6. I'd of given it a 10 but War Thunder is a game that so many players and myself, have noticed an obvious Russian bias. Take a Russian T-34 as an example. You'll have a heavy tank using your best armor piercing ammo and and so many times, you'll hit them and it'll just bounce off or do little damage and even the times you are lucky and do critical damage, they'll still be able to fire at you, meanwhile they'll hit you with a direct shot to your front armor with 1 round and either blow you apart, or disable you where you can't fire back until you repair. Even hitting them with a side shot gets the same results. It wasn't until yesterday that I learned that Gaijin is a Russian company so that explained it all and why their admins are very touchy whenever you bring this or any other criticisms up.

    It's a great game to play, I just wish it was on a level playing field. I do get the feedback that there's a favoritism from the German Tiger tanks but I haven't seen it. Although I have been using American tanks mainly for the past several months, when I do use the Tiger or even the Tiger II with the 105 mm cannon, I get the same results. Obvious from Gaijin that if you pitted a T-54 against an M1 Abrams, we'd probably get the same results. And how about their ZSU-57 anti-aircraft gun. I've used heavy armored tanks and blown up by them with ease. If the Russians would've gotten the same results in real life, seems to me their whole armored divisions would be made up of nothing but ZSU-57's!

    For those starting out, choose the Russian tanks. You'll be happier!    … Expand
  17. Tietokone145
    Feb 21, 2015
    5
    Good game with only 1 bad thing about it...
    the DEVS..
    They keep f**king everything up and then they make the mods punish the people who don't like the changes...
  18. lindowWicker
    Aug 23, 2013
    7
    Pretty good game been playing for 40+ hours and is quite fun, advancing in levels gives you new planes to play with and they can be upgraded.
    The tier system matches you with players with roughly the same level plane as you so you won't be in a match with a biplane vs a jet.
    After a while the game does get a bit samey and you the tactics do seem to be rinse and repeat but overall a solid    Pretty good game been playing for 40+ hours and is quite fun, advancing in levels gives you new planes to play with and they can be upgraded.
    The tier system matches you with players with roughly the same level plane as you so you won't be in a match with a biplane vs a jet.
    After a while the game does get a bit samey and you the tactics do seem to be rinse and repeat but overall a solid game and worth playing for a bit as its f2p.    … Expand
  19. Metalsand
    Mar 17, 2014
    6
    Extremely cool game, but suffers from F2P money grabbing.

    I've played War Thunder for almost a year now. Mostly it has been great, solid gameplay nice variety, etc....up until they changed the research tree to slow down progress of players. Now, instead of choosing how research points are allocated, you choose a plane to begin researching, and even researching a tier 3 plane (out of 5    Extremely cool game, but suffers from F2P money grabbing.

    I've played War Thunder for almost a year now. Mostly it has been great, solid gameplay nice variety, etc....up until they changed the research tree to slow down progress of players. Now, instead of choosing how research points are allocated, you choose a plane to begin researching, and even researching a tier 3 plane (out of 5 total tiers) takes nearly 100 battles to obtain, and because of game mechanics you'll want at least 3 of those planes researched. As battles can take 10-20 minutes each, the game expects you to play 50-100 hours just to go up ONE TIER IN ONE COUNTRY. Yet, it only costs $5 USD to research that same plane with "free" research points. They turned an excellent simulator into an obvious money grab, and it is unacceptable. Playing to unlock new planes is nearly pointless now.

    Gameplay would make this an 8 or a 9, but the money-grab tactics bring that down to a 6. Only get the game if you love pumping at least $100 into a game to make it playable.    … Expand
  20. Goofy_Canuck
    Jul 2, 2014
    6
    I initially heard about War Thunder from my adult son who plays it on PS4. I have found the PC version very enthralling. The graphics are amazing, and as I am not a very skilled gamer ( I mean, I can't even successfully complete the take off tutorial. I can only imagine how much I would suck at the landing one), I found the arcade realm to my liking.

    Parts of the game play are    I initially heard about War Thunder from my adult son who plays it on PS4. I have found the PC version very enthralling. The graphics are amazing, and as I am not a very skilled gamer ( I mean, I can't even successfully complete the take off tutorial. I can only imagine how much I would suck at the landing one), I found the arcade realm to my liking.

    Parts of the game play are entertaining for me as a mature game player. I enjoy bombing, but unfortunately, chose the Germans, and find that I continually get shot down. It's to the point that I basically just want to crash my plane if someone attacks me as there is no way I can shake off any plane that starts shooting at me. So much for my "ace" gunners. Sometimes it's fun to see how long I can last being chased and shot at, but at other times it's very frustrating.

    Each game starts with me having to wait to get into an arcade game. The waits are generally less than a minute. No complaints in that respect. Once the scenario is presented, I choose the plane I want to use. Then I take a break. I go get a refreshment or go to the bathroom, check my email, etc. The plane flies on its own, basically on auto pilot. After a while, I check back in, aim my plane for a target, and hope I get a chance to unload my bombs before the advanced players on my side have already eliminated the target or that someone on the opposing team decides to attack me.

    One thing I find frustrating in the arcade play is that there is no teamwork. Everyone does their own thing. There is a chat feature that is useless as I have no idea who the other players are. There's always some bossy player telling the team to "Shoot down so and so" which is totally meaningless as I have no idea where that player is in the environment, nor do I have the ability to shoot them down. It would be nice as a bomber in the game to have an fighter escort, but that will never happen. I just do my own thing and assume that everyone else does the same. If you're looking for team player interaction, then this game isn't for you. There is something about squads, but that must been in the other game types. As for me, I'm OK with that. I just want to bomb targets. I don't want to have to answer to the clan.

    I think I will enjoy the game as something I can do once in a while. I made the mistake of investing about $250 into the game...I know...I'm stupid. I put the money into upgrading my planes and crews...and It turns out it was all pointless. It was totally compulsive purchasing. Please don't tell my wife. I just justify it as part of my "entertainment budget". I think though, that I will have to lock my credit card away whenever I play because it is just so tempting to want to spend some gold to unlock the next wonder plane rather than wait for it.

    In reading the reviews, I didn't realize the bias towards Russian planes. I was getting suspicious about this as I could not believe how many times I've had one of my wings blown off by a single shot. Or as I mentioned, how crappy my German planes seem to perform compared to lower level Russian and American aircraft. It's all starting to sink in now, though.

    I have nothing to comment on about the customer service or forums as I haven't had any involvement in those aspects of the game. I don't get why people would complain about an F2P game in the first place. If you don't like it, find a different game to play. Gaijin isn't obligated to make your free gaming dreams come true. There is no F2P player rights manifesto or good practice guide. Play any game at your own risk.

    Overall, I think I will continue to play from time to time, but I definitely won't be spending any more money. on it. I can see how duped I was to lay that kind of cash down on a game that will be perpetually Beta. I don't think it is fair to call the game P2W, as investing money doesn't seem to guarantee that you will be any more skilled at playing or any more likely to win. I am living proof of that.

    I think people have to realize that there is no truly F2P online games. Gaming companies have to make money, and in-app purchases are part of the business. Obviously, the better companies are skilled at getting players motivated to buy features or gold or whatever. Take Candy Crush for example. So, I think Gaijin offers enough F2P gameplay in War Thunder. I don't think that my investment did any more for my in game advantage other than giving me the feeling that I had suped up my planes and my crews. I've played other games where P2W is a definite factor.

    Regarding game performance, I have not encountered any bugs that others have mentioned. The game runs smoothly. It hasn't crashed yet. I still enjoy the challenges of playing and when I get frustrated by constantly being shot down, I exit, remembering that it's just a game.

    So, my advice is play for free. Enjoy it for what it is Don't expect to have an elite gaming experience. Don't spend money on it ever. It's a total waste    … Expand
  21. william63
    Dec 25, 2013
    6
    The game could be great, but the grind is so bad it's being called Grindthunder(tm). Playing for free isn't an option if you want to ever fly a jet, so it's not really beta.This another Russian-made MMO money grab. Also the forum is heavily CENSORED.
  22. StevetheBandit
    Aug 30, 2014
    7
    War Thunder: A "free-to-play" combat flight sim. Only it's not free-to-play.

    Don't get me wrong, it's a good game. The graphics are amazing and the planes look great. The audio is also very clear and realistic. Now the problem came in patch 1.37. The new godawful technology tree ruined the game for many used to the previous 20-tier tree. I also didn't enjoy the Tanks update. The thing    War Thunder: A "free-to-play" combat flight sim. Only it's not free-to-play.

    Don't get me wrong, it's a good game. The graphics are amazing and the planes look great. The audio is also very clear and realistic. Now the problem came in patch 1.37. The new godawful technology tree ruined the game for many used to the previous 20-tier tree. I also didn't enjoy the Tanks update. The thing is that the maps for tank battles simply aren't fun, along with the high system requirements (even if playing on low or minimum graphics).

    Overall, it's a good game. Really fun if you progress through one nation and then start another and get really good because you're experienced.    … Expand
  23. Schweehog
    Aug 26, 2015
    7
    I have over 1,450 hours in this game so when you read my review it is in no way from a 'novice' or new player. (While the game mechanics are the same this review will be mostly focused on the planes side of War Thunder.) To put it simply; War Thunder is a free to play WWII flight game. Game is a key word, if you are someone coming from flight simulators you will not enjoy this game. TheI have over 1,450 hours in this game so when you read my review it is in no way from a 'novice' or new player. (While the game mechanics are the same this review will be mostly focused on the planes side of War Thunder.) To put it simply; War Thunder is a free to play WWII flight game. Game is a key word, if you are someone coming from flight simulators you will not enjoy this game. The game runs on a progression mechanic; you unlock new planes and modifications for them as you play. Better planes fight the other better planes so long time players can't use their fighter jets to destroy your biplanes. I won't list all the positives, but a small sample include the easy to pick up control scheme and stunning graphics at a low load on your computer. (While this game isn't minesweeper, it can run on almost any pc and if you play any other 3d games I guarantee this will run on it.) However, the negatives may outweigh the positives for some people.

    The main negative to this game is the pay to progress style of grind. It is technically possible to get every plane for every nation without paying a penny, but in the same way that it is possible to swim across the Atlantic. I must emphasize that this game is not pay to win, it is pay to progress. If you are the type of person who would want to get every plane for every nation or even every plane for one nation, you would probably end up spending more than if this game cost $40 up front and did away with the "F2P" pay to progress style grind. As I stated in the start of this review I have over 1450 hours in this game and I would say that I only have 90% of the planes. (And I even went the pay to progress route!)

    With that said it is free to play, so give it a try and see if you like it. If you don't care what plane you are flying and just like the game itself, you might like it. If you are the type who would play just to fly some of the cool planes like the B-17 or P-51, don't waste your time and money.    … Expand
  24. NoMoreChillies
    Dec 26, 2013
    7
    War Thunder is a great free to play WW2 flight game
    It is friendly to new comers learning flight for the 1st time
    there are more sim like game modes for those hardcore, but Arcade Battles hold the largest playerbase no Joystick needed, can fly with M+KB Graphics are awesome Gamplay is tight and fun, still with some balance issues. Gaijin are a USSR dev company and show some    War Thunder is a great free to play WW2 flight game
    It is friendly to new comers learning flight for the 1st time
    there are more sim like game modes for those hardcore, but Arcade Battles hold the largest playerbase

    no Joystick needed, can fly with M+KB

    Graphics are awesome
    Gamplay is tight and fun, still with some balance issues.
    Gaijin are a USSR dev company and show some obvious bias to their national machines, hopefully they can overcome this if they want the game to be an international success.

    Tanks are in CBT atm with ships planned for future release. Yes all 3 will be in the same battles.

    gave 7/10 just because of the russian bias, once this dissolves the game becomes 9/10.    … Expand
  25. Grimtester
    Nov 15, 2013
    5
    My only positive experiences of this game is the realism and the history, the game play is really fluid, however the balance of the different factions is really bad,

    If you play as the Japanese, your guns will be very limited until you upgrade them, which takes a long time. Other factions will have cannons that use 37 mm rounds, while you will be using 20 mm. Your heavy fighters are    My only positive experiences of this game is the realism and the history, the game play is really fluid, however the balance of the different factions is really bad,

    If you play as the Japanese, your guns will be very limited until you upgrade them, which takes a long time. Other factions will have cannons that use 37 mm rounds, while you will be using 20 mm. Your heavy fighters are the only air crafts that supports 37 mm rounds early, sadly they maneuver really bad and if you meet fighters that has 37 mm cannons, you're usually dead the second they shoot at you.

    This is a rage game, unless you go with the unbalance and play as one of factions that utilize 37 mm cannons.    … Expand
  26. ddddddddddddddd
    Feb 6, 2014
    7
    Pretty fun for 100 hours each faction, then it starts to sort of bore out a little. This is no doubt a good game, but the fact that it's essentially a freemium dumbs it down for me. Physics and graphics definitely better than WoWPs.
  27. Billy_Benoit
    Mar 2, 2014
    7
    War Thunder is a great game solely for the fact that it is free to play. It is probably the best aerial World War 2 game out there. Realistic dog fights and fun to play for a time. Not a game you will see yourself playing for any more than a few months. Regardless, if you enjoy World War 2, or dog fighting games, this is definitely worth a try.
  28. Frank1492
    Oct 16, 2014
    7
    Pretty good game. I'm an actual pilot and can say that the physics and whatnot are *sort of good without being too hampering for people who don't have any real life experience.

    Problems include lack of dynamic game play as far as objectives are concerned. Bombers end games in about 5 minutes and flight models for russian planes are unrealistic (its a russian game dev after all)    Pretty good game. I'm an actual pilot and can say that the physics and whatnot are *sort of good without being too hampering for people who don't have any real life experience.

    Problems include lack of dynamic game play as far as objectives are concerned. Bombers end games in about 5 minutes and flight models for russian planes are unrealistic (its a russian game dev after all)

    anyway, while there is a lot left to be desired, its free, and I've played a ton and had fun. They can fix a lot of the problems fairly easily so there is potential for this score to get up to an 8 or 9.    … Expand
  29. dennisr48
    May 21, 2015
    5
    I've spent quite a few hours and a fair amount of money playing War Thunder and it has a lot going for it. Amazing historical details and the maps are great. I have only one big beef and that's the match making system. In some games you are pitted against tanks that are several tiers above you. This is really annoying. Your can hit them multiple times only to see your rounds bounce offI've spent quite a few hours and a fair amount of money playing War Thunder and it has a lot going for it. Amazing historical details and the maps are great. I have only one big beef and that's the match making system. In some games you are pitted against tanks that are several tiers above you. This is really annoying. Your can hit them multiple times only to see your rounds bounce off like ping pong balls while one shot from them and you are toast. It does not happen every time but enough to make it really annoying. I just wish you have some control over preferences so you could stay in matches where the tanks are balanced or at least within one tier of each other.… Expand
  30. MaelstromT26
    Dec 19, 2020
    5
    This is the game that's always almost fun but is usually just frustrating. I don't mean that in the Dark Souls kind of way, it's just a poorly designed tech tree, for one. Every update is some sort of monkey's paw-esque kind of deal where one thing gets fixed only for a litany of other issues to take it's place.

    I've played this game off and on since 2015.
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Awards & Rankings

45
#45 Best PC Game of 2013
10
#10 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
18
#18 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jan 25, 2017
    87
    One of the cornerstones of War Thunder is that player’s skill is more important than his wallet. Premium vehicles offer no combat advantages, there is no “microtransaction-only” ammo or consumables, so no amount of cash will buy you a spot on the top of the food chain. [Issue#216, p.56]
  2. GRYOnline.pl
    Jan 13, 2017
    75
    The official launch of War Thunder reminded me why I like this game so much. It's adorably chaotic - in contrast to the reliably designed World of Tanks. That's why it can be really fun and frustrating at the same time. There's tons of great vehicles (and the planes are superb!) and a difficult simulation mode, but there are also balance and technical issues.
    Read full review
  3. CalmDownTom
    Aug 14, 2014
    90
    Overall the War Thunder tank battles are great even at this early stage.
    Read full review
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