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. butseriously
    Nov 26, 2016
    0
    The negative reviews are accurate. Impossible research tiers. Could take months at top tiers to get next vehicle, & it gets to the point where you can't afford to repair, which is frustrating when the gameplay is getting you killed 1/2 - 2/3 of the time.
    DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON THIS GAME.
  2. tamanade
    Sep 13, 2016
    0
    update........8 months ago i described this game as "terrible game,terrible gameplay, pretty graphics,.indifferent devs who just want your money so make the free to play stuff such a grind that you will either quit or spend money to win.
    it has no balance, loads of bugs (that the devs don't want to hear about) massive russian bias (it's a russian made game after all ) the only plus this    update........8 months ago i described this game as "terrible game,terrible gameplay, pretty graphics,.indifferent devs who just want your money so make the free to play stuff such a grind that you will either quit or spend money to win.
    it has no balance, loads of bugs (that the devs don't want to hear about) massive russian bias (it's a russian made game after all ) the only plus this game has is it looks good and thats it!
    AVOID this game it is just terrible !" well i have just given it another go (hoping against hope it had improved) welll sadly it has not in fact it may actually be worse!! shame really but just as before AVOID THIS GAME IT IS TERRIBLE!!!    … Expand
  3. Chin-Chin
    Sep 11, 2016
    2
    Broken piece of sh*t. It used to be the best WW2 plane/tank game on Simulator, Historic and Arcade mode. But in last year it went to s*it. It's grindfest so they can force you to buy premium currency. Broken Damage models, and yes, Bias is a thing there. Matchmaking is putting way weaker tanks/planes against stronger/higher ranks. Researching modifications, without which is your tankBroken piece of sh*t. It used to be the best WW2 plane/tank game on Simulator, Historic and Arcade mode. But in last year it went to s*it. It's grindfest so they can force you to buy premium currency. Broken Damage models, and yes, Bias is a thing there. Matchmaking is putting way weaker tanks/planes against stronger/higher ranks. Researching modifications, without which is your tank useless, takes ages. But don't worry, you can always use our premium currency. Gaijin is even d*ck to their community, censoring forums, setting higher prices of premium packages so they can have "discounts". I don't even. I'm just disappointed. I feel sorry for them.… Expand
  4. ted_isted
    Aug 12, 2016
    0
    War Thunder was once great, And the single player missions are still fun to do every now and then. But online gameplay has been destroyed over mixing very high rated players with very low rated players. And they have turned the game into a buy to win. It used to be anyone could win and get upgrades as long as they worked for it, Now it takes a free to play player forever and ever. And youWar Thunder was once great, And the single player missions are still fun to do every now and then. But online gameplay has been destroyed over mixing very high rated players with very low rated players. And they have turned the game into a buy to win. It used to be anyone could win and get upgrades as long as they worked for it, Now it takes a free to play player forever and ever. And you now get burned out long before you ever get any upgrades or new planes. And to add insult to injury the game packages they sale are way overpriced! This is why I hate any online gaming scenario! Because in the end the greed of the devs always destroys the game for the players. And to add more insult to injury many players are using aimbots while Gajin continues to deny aimbots exist. And any member that mentions this will get attacked by several fan boys. You even get threatened of being banned for mentioning it. So it's safe to say War Thunder has been completely destroyed by it's own developers. You don't take away everything from the player unless they pay for a overpriced package! And you don't call the people who play and support your game liars and threaten them simply for pointing out about aimbots! So it's safe to say War Thunder has been completely destroyed by it's own developers. The players become less and less each day. Eventually the snake will eat it's own tail unless Gaijin finally decides to get their heads out of their own sphincters.… Expand
  5. Voldie
    Aug 11, 2016
    2
    This is very good flight/tank simulator – if you're not playing mid/top tiers.

    Matchmaking is horribly broken – 4 our of 5 matches your team is spawnraped, no matter what you do. No spawn protection at all. If you're not paying for premium account (which is not that cheap) – you will end up without money, waiting for your tanks to be repaired for free (higher tiers tank repair is    This is very good flight/tank simulator – if you're not playing mid/top tiers.

    Matchmaking is horribly broken – 4 our of 5 matches your team is spawnraped, no matter what you do. No spawn protection at all. If you're not paying for premium account (which is not that cheap) – you will end up without money, waiting for your tanks to be repaired for free (higher tiers tank repair is costly).

    Not mentioning there is no penalty for kamikazi bomber runs in tank battles – and there is usually no AA in tank battles, as playing AA is a huge pain in the ass and is not profitable. So even when your team is winning, get ready to be crashed into by yet another kamikazi moron.

    And yes, higher tiers are pay to win. Or grind for months to win, which is basically the same, as time is money and you have to dump A LOT of time to get there for free.

    I've started with it several years ago, it was fun to play and level up, got up to Russian jets, then abandoned. Some time ago decided to give tanks a try – and oh boy, did they ruin the game.

    R.I.P. Warthunder.    … Expand
  6. spectralknight
    Aug 9, 2016
    7
    What I am going to say here is strictly related to my opinion.

    What I like about this game, features that are good: -Tanks are built to the smallest detail as well the airplanes; -Graphics and everything related to visuals of vehicles and maps; -The developers seems to work for their game and we often receive updates, events, vehicles, new items and features; -Sound; -It is a good    What I am going to say here is strictly related to my opinion.

    What I like about this game, features that are good:
    -Tanks are built to the smallest detail as well the airplanes;
    -Graphics and everything related to visuals of vehicles and maps;
    -The developers seems to work for their game and we often receive updates, events, vehicles, new items and features;
    -Sound;
    -It is a good game for airplanes as well for tanks also I heared that they will add battleships in the near future;
    -Gameplay, controls, movement of vehicles and everything related to parts damage which is a good ideea and makes the game different and special in some way compared to other games of this type...also you have an interesting kill-cam after you are destroyed showing how your tank got damaged totally(for ground forces);
    -Various game-modes and large maps;
    -It's free and is not pay2win at least for Ground Forces;
    -World War II Theme;
    -Active and friendly community;
    -The game is populated. You find easily battles and time of waiting in queues for playing are small. This could sound weird for being in the list of positive features but the number of players in a game is an important feature that keeps it alive;
    -Very good optimization and performance;

    What I don't like about this game, features that ruin this game:
    -Silver balance is almost non-existent...I don't know how Ostwind for example which has been built on Panzer chasis has a max repair cost of around 9000SE and a Tiger II or T54 has less repair costs. Because of this when you play with some vehicles or on certain tiers you have 80% chances to keep loosing SE every match...in this rythm you can make the performance of reaching 0 SE in your account if you don't play with other vehicles that can bring you some SE(or buy premium);
    -BR is a problem...not for every vehicle but for some and this makes this game unbalanced at some points. This in combination with SE unbalance problem could be very frustrating;
    -Russian tanks and planes have a little advantage over other nations and when I say this it's not because their vehicles are OP at all it's just because of BR which in some cases is very low for some good russian vehicles and some of their vehicles are less expensive at repair costs. This problem is not available for all russian tanks but it is for a part of them. So Russian vehicles have a little advantage over some nations but not a huge one.
    -Minor glitches;
    -Sometimes I have the feeling that the developers don't listen to the voice of community;
    -Matchmaking is sometimes stupid as long as you play IS-2, Tiger II and you face T-54 and Leopard I for example;
    -One Shot Kills could be ridiculous sometimes;
    -RP ammount per battle even if won are terrible at least on high tier;
    -Maybe some airplanes on Ground Forces battles especially the ones with rockets;
    -It is the game where you can loose over 10 times in a row, I dont know how this is possible;
    -Some vehicles are OP and others are useless;
    -Airplanes are pay2win as long as the team with most players that have more slots and airplanes to respawn wins;
    -You have to choose between spending money or playing hundreds of hours;

    Of course maybe there are another pro and against features for this game but in my opinion those are the most important. Sadly I don't know why but I have a feeling that developers are trying to make this game balanced with some things that are from WoT and I started playing this game just because I didn't liked WoT system and balance but glady at this point WT is not entierly WoT and I hope it won't become. As an overall I recommend this title. It is free to play and is surprisingly good for a free to play(you don't find often a good free to play game). If you like tanks or airplanes and look for a game related to this you should try War Thunder. The World War II theme for this game is amazing I think is the best WWII vehicle based game around. It is worth a try and as long is free if you don't like it you can just uninstall it. The game had and still has potential but it needs some improvements and a little more balance (at least for BR and SE) as well. I could easily not recommend this but as long as I played it so much and I have over 700 hours in it I will choose to recommend it. (Score: 70/100 for me)    … Expand
  7. Lone_Wolf_Sones
    Aug 7, 2016
    8
    After having played this game for....1,415 hours; if steam is to be believed...I still haven't grown tired of it. Each match feels different from the last. The game has evolved considerably since I first started playing. I can remember when each nation only had a handful of aircraft. Now the game boasts over 300+ Unique aircraft (Guiness World Record). And the game also now has tanks forAfter having played this game for....1,415 hours; if steam is to be believed...I still haven't grown tired of it. Each match feels different from the last. The game has evolved considerably since I first started playing. I can remember when each nation only had a handful of aircraft. Now the game boasts over 300+ Unique aircraft (Guiness World Record). And the game also now has tanks for Russia, Germany and the US. They just added a few premium British tanks as well.

    WarThunder has a variety of modes to appeal to a variety of different people. Arcade is a good mode for quick matches. Realistic battles are more challenging and remove aim indicators. And full sim battles are particularly intense in that your view is restricted to the commander or cockpit view.

    The vehicles all have distinct characteristics and models and perform differently as a result. You can go a whole match without scoring one kill and still come out on top of the leaderboard if you play the objectives. If you manage to belly land your plane after sustaining critical damage your rewarded for it. If you take a lot of hits your rewarded for it with an adamant reward. Playing in a squad and assist your team mate killing a tank; your rewarded for it. This is in stark contrast to a game like WoT. In WoT you get one spawn, and when your vehicle's HP pool is depleted thats it. In WarThunder you can try to get back to base in your plane. Or you can repair your tank in the field if you have the repair module unlocked. You aren't just given a static 'death' animation once your HP is depleted as you get in WoWP.

    It also needs to be said that the tanks have evolved quite a bit in WarThunder. With changes like ground deformation you see your tank's tracks sinking into the ground. And if you get into 'muddy' terrain. Your tank becomes covered in Mud and ends up bogged down. The new Dagor 4.0 engine allows for fully destructible environments.

    WarThunder also has a great customization system. You can put decals on your vehicles, adjust their camo, and on tanks you can even adjust how worn that camo is. Or you can load up the texture in photoshop or another program and make your own skins.

    WarThunder has a lot to offer especially for being a free game. People have criticized its microtransactions and premium vehicles. I think its important to distinguish that WarThunder is a free to play game. Your not paying $60 and another $50-60 on top of that for a season pass. Any free to play game needs to be monetized in some way. Its how the developer makes money off said game. The premium vehicles aren't pay to win either as some might suggest. In fact a fully upgraded stock tank tends to be better statistically than a premium of its tier. The only real advantage premium vehicles have is that they have greater credit and XP earning potential.

    You may find yourself coming back for more and more. I know I have. Especially when new vehicles are released. Like the recent addition of the B-29. What are you waiting for? Go download the game; and see you in the skies and on the ground!    … Expand
  8. familiadaza
    Jul 28, 2016
    0
    This game its garbaje, DO NOT EVEN TRY IT BETTER GO PLAY MINE SWEEPER INSTEAD OF WASTING YOUR PRECIOUS LIFE WITH THIS UNBALANCE GAME.

    This is just a sad creation that shows the worst side of humanity.
  9. t3caz
    Jul 18, 2016
    0
    it is one of the pay to win games!! matchmaking is a joke. it can match you when you have tier 2 tank and your opponent have tier 4 tank. You can never 1-1 with this matchup.
  10. iNERSiA
    May 4, 2016
    9
    This game deserves a solid 9/10... There are a few minor issues/flaws that need polishing but none the less its an outstanding game! Most negative reviews on here are from people who have played a couple of games in "Arcade" mode and then feel its justified to write a **** review on the game! My review is based solely on "Ground Forces" as that's where I spend most of my time with WarThis game deserves a solid 9/10... There are a few minor issues/flaws that need polishing but none the less its an outstanding game! Most negative reviews on here are from people who have played a couple of games in "Arcade" mode and then feel its justified to write a **** review on the game! My review is based solely on "Ground Forces" as that's where I spend most of my time with War Thunder. I have played this game for 5 years now so I think my review is justified.

    Do not play "Arcade" battles in ground forces, you will be deeply disappointed as its all about super fast tank, drifting tanks, shell drop indicator (shows you exactly how much your shell will drop over distance so always guarantees a hit and penetration) and shooting at player name tags (You can see a player name tag across the map)... so in short there is absolutely no realism or strategy involved in "Arcade" battles, but then again that is why its called ARCADE BATTLES ffs, and that is where most people base their reviews on!

    Now "Realistic" and "Simulator" battles is where the game shines! The tanks travel at realistic speeds, they don't drift, no shell drop indicator (so you have to judge for yourself how much your shell will drop over the relevant distance *GASP*), and no player name tags (so you have to spot a tank with your own 2 eyes all on your very own *GASPS some more*). Realistic and Simulator modes is all about understanding your tank and knowing your opponent weak points when you run into him (his reload speed, armor thickness, weakspots, ammo rack positions etc) and its about patience, if you going to run around the map breaching cover everywhere you go you are going to get shot by someone sitting in cover probably well camouflaged and he is going to snipe your engine bay, stalling your tank, setting it on fire and then land 1 more shot on your ammo rack and *POOF* you are out of there... then you going to sit back and cry about campers or how biased the game is or how you can shoot another tank 8 times without killing him and he hits you dead with 1 round and then you going to b!tch about the game is broken etc... But bottom line is you just don't understand tank warfare or where to hit another tank for a critical shot. Realistic and Simulator modes are as realistic as you're going to get in this game genre, you just need to put a bunch of hours into the game to properly understand tank mechanics and tank warfare and not b!tch about the first person who shoots you from a distance and kills you with 1 shot because that is completely possible even in real life...

    People also complain about how the BR system is broken and the matchmaking is broken, those people are just idiotic beyond belief... Its Simple actually. If you've got 5 tanks in your line up, lets say 4 of them are tier 1 and 2 with BR 1 - 4 and your last tank is a tier 4 with a BR of lets say 7 for arguments sake, the game will only match you up with your highest tier tank which means your tier 1 and 2 tanks are going to face tier 4 tanks because you have a tier 4 tank in your line up and then complain about the matchmaking being broken and ask "How can a T-50 vs a Tiger 1H, the matchmaking is broken!! fack this game!!" but you were the one who put your tiny T-50 against a Tiger 1H by not understanding the matchmaking system. I will let you in on a secret, to beat the problem, make sure all the vehicles you take into battle are of the same BR. so don't take a tier 1 tank into battle with your tier 2 or 3 tanks because you will have a hard time, its really that simple! keep your vehicles in your line up at the same BR and you wont have a problem.

    Now that I'm done ranting on about stupid people... The game itself is great, its a free game but definitely isn't pay to win in any sense, but it is pay to progress faster than the free players as your gold eagles you buy only help you with research points and to buy premium tanks, there is no premium ammo to buy or any other nonsense that gives you an advantage over other players except for researching stuff faster than them. the graphics and visuals are outstanding and a brilliantly optimized game which you could probably run on your toaster, the sounds are brilliant, no generic sounds carried across vehicles, they all have their own unique sounds when it comes to engine and cannon fire etc. It's an all rounded brilliant games with a few rough edges that still need polishing out but its nothing game breakingly bad, most people wont even notice them... I would recommend this game to anybody who is a fan of realistic warfare and a fan or WWII era machines as this game is historically accurate and it really is one of a kind... Its a free game and extremely good, give it a go, but you need to put a bunch of hours into it to understand the game properly! and not jump ship after a few "Arcade" battles and then criticize the game for being a heap of **** because "Arcade" mode is a heap of ****    … Expand
  11. 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
  12. Shadow1
    Apr 14, 2016
    10
    Direct competitor World of Tanks , but Wot better than WT . In World of Tanks more tanks than in War Thunder , but in War Thunder there is also planes and will be soon ships . War Thunder realistic than World of Tanks , but World of Tanks has got funny and interesting training room and the company commander fighting . World of Tanks better than War Thunder , but War Thunder is a good gameDirect competitor World of Tanks , but Wot better than WT . In World of Tanks more tanks than in War Thunder , but in War Thunder there is also planes and will be soon ships . War Thunder realistic than World of Tanks , but World of Tanks has got funny and interesting training room and the company commander fighting . World of Tanks better than War Thunder , but War Thunder is a good game too and War Thunder better than Armored Warfare . 7/10 .… Expand
  13. HerraPoro
    Mar 6, 2016
    2
    Great game, but unbalanced to favor russian tanks and Gaijin dont seem to have any intentions to balance the game. Also "free to play" can be questioned, while most of the premium tanks cost almost 50e each meta game have been made impossible to reach whitout subscription or spending money on golden eagles.
  14. brian103181
    Feb 29, 2016
    1
    I was sucked into this game as one of the few downloadable Mac flight sims available...

    The game can not balance the games out. That means there will always be someone who can slaughter everyone else. I really feel if someone who worked at Gaiijin actually played the game they could make it better. If you want to waste a year or more time playing this game to play with the top    I was sucked into this game as one of the few downloadable Mac flight sims available...

    The game can not balance the games out. That means there will always be someone who can slaughter everyone else.

    I really feel if someone who worked at Gaiijin actually played the game they could make it better.

    If you want to waste a year or more time playing this game to play with the top planes... Be my guest...

    Gaiijin if you are listening. Fix your battle rating on the US planes! The Sabre F2 should be the ONLY BR 9.0

    The Sabre F2.5 is a turd along with the A5 they should be7. The F9F's should be 7.7 and the F2H should be 7.3 again!!!! The F80 should be 7 The P80 6.7 The F84 F6.0    … Expand
  15. Thatguyy
    Feb 26, 2016
    10
    Great game with amazing graphics. Personally i don't like planes but tanks, the game has both so you can play both of them in the same game. Air events are a fun thing that will shift the balance very quickly.
    The developers have a great sense of humor. With my little ponies, walking tanks a potpie tanks during April the first!
  16. Wyv
    Feb 5, 2016
    0
    The game, after 10 patches, gets worse and worse. Gaijin is ruining a great game. It is not realistic, it is not balanced and it is not historically accurate. I wasted more than 600 hours on it. Premium planes are OP and made by adamantium. Pay 2 win, friend fire, teamkillers, poorly optimized (from 110 fps to 40 in a patch), they only care about the money they can make from selling OPThe game, after 10 patches, gets worse and worse. Gaijin is ruining a great game. It is not realistic, it is not balanced and it is not historically accurate. I wasted more than 600 hours on it. Premium planes are OP and made by adamantium. Pay 2 win, friend fire, teamkillers, poorly optimized (from 110 fps to 40 in a patch), they only care about the money they can make from selling OP stuff. This game is disgusting. The only good thing is the graphic.… Expand
  17. Daniel0745
    Jan 30, 2016
    10
    I have been playing this game since Oct 2015. I have greatly enjoyed my time and have encouraged everyone I know that games to pick it up. The beginning when you are trying to figure out what to update and research can be confusing so I would advise checking out the youtube videos gaijen puts out that explains a lot of the early need to know info.
  18. SarudeDankstorm
    Jan 18, 2016
    8
    For a Free to Play game, War Thunder is extremely well polished and very fun to play. I have mainly played the tank portion of the game, and after 20+ hours I am impressed. There are plenty of tanks available and they are relatively balanced, although there definitely is a pro-Russian bias in both tanks and airplanes. Although some factions have a tough time starting off initially, onceFor a Free to Play game, War Thunder is extremely well polished and very fun to play. I have mainly played the tank portion of the game, and after 20+ hours I am impressed. There are plenty of tanks available and they are relatively balanced, although there definitely is a pro-Russian bias in both tanks and airplanes. Although some factions have a tough time starting off initially, once you invest some time into War Thunder you will fine a brilliant game, only slightly tarnished by microtransactions.… Expand
  19. Willmack
    Jan 5, 2016
    0
    well today i was banned from Warthunder for talking about the american elections no abuse just a friendly talk on who might win it was only about 3 to 5 lines of text. Well bam 2 day chat ban for talking about unrelated topic in Warthunder and a 1 day game ban based on "political spam" o.0 so cant play warthunder for 1 day and a 2 day chat banned well now we know what GAIJIN is truely likewell today i was banned from Warthunder for talking about the american elections no abuse just a friendly talk on who might win it was only about 3 to 5 lines of text. Well bam 2 day chat ban for talking about unrelated topic in Warthunder and a 1 day game ban based on "political spam" o.0 so cant play warthunder for 1 day and a 2 day chat banned well now we know what GAIJIN is truely like just a warning to anyone. And before you say it that i shouldnt talk about political topics in a game well i do have the right to freedom of speech and so does everybody else for that matter… Expand
  20. asdfasdfsd
    Dec 27, 2015
    0
    nice graphics for a free simulation. that's all that there is to it.

    now the negative points in short: **** community, **** gameplay, **** balance, **** mods/supprters/developers, **** premium (as in op and expensive as hell) and buggy as hell. it gets worse with every update and gaijin seems to care less and less. details: -**** community: friendly fire is the war thunder way to say    nice graphics for a free simulation. that's all that there is to it.

    now the negative points in short: **** community, **** gameplay, **** balance, **** mods/supprters/developers, **** premium (as in op and expensive as hell) and buggy as hell. it gets worse with every update and gaijin seems to care less and less.
    details:
    -**** community: friendly fire is the war thunder way to say hello. also you have to pay for the repairs yourself. also you can't disable friendly fire. also, reporting friendly firing teammates will make your team a lot weaker than it already is after all the quitters left. also there is no way of joining a normal game later. so you're pretty much **** if you have an **** on your team. i usually have 2.
    -**** gameplay: wow, cool, as if camping and sniping for hours without end in other games wasn't boring enough, you can now do it in a tank that takes 5-60 seconds to reload after every shot depending on how **** you are. **** yay.
    yay king of the hill mode, like i haven't seen that one before. yay domination, something new. yay, there is literally nothing interesting in this game, except if you like to drive 10 mins with a tank at 15mph to try to flank the enemy just to get one-shot.
    also: one shots. you'll get one-shot all over the place, doesn't matter if the enemy is right in front of you or a mile away. you'll get one-shot through buildings, the floor, debris, dead tanks, and even ricochet from a friendly unit.
    -**** balance: t34 best tank in the world. world war winning tank with stalinium armor and cryptonite ammo. nuff said. the russian bias is real - who would've thought it, it's a russian game after all.
    interestingly gaijin writes about tanks at level 1.0 ("battke ranking") that are able to deal with tanks at level 3 (which is true). but they dont change the level of that tank. nope. seems about right.
    also tank levels seem to change with every day passing and depending even of game type you're playing, but you cannot look up the real facts, when that very tank has what level, so that after you made a decent team and joined a game, you see that the levels are all over the place and your once balanced team suddenly has one very high level member and you now have to fight other players that have way stronger units, not as if one-shotting wasn't a huge issue anyway, now you cant even retaliate.
    -**** supporters/mods/developers: there is actually a forum where you can post all your bug reports just to have them ignored. yay. each update comes with new bugs. yay. old ones rarely get fixed. nay.
    -**** premium: how about you pay a **** of money to get great units to fight real **** ones? great, isn't it? you're invincible and can one-shot everybody for some cash. also, you can buy the whole game for millions of dollers. awesome. some people actually grind all the stuff for years on end. yeah, **** them, amirite gaijin

    also who the **** came up with these ideas:
    spawning points are not possible to get artillerized, but can very well can get bombed.
    airplanes should start out being built out of wood, so that you catch on fire the first 100 times you fly it until you have researched the last def-upgrade. same applies for tanks, except there you can't upgrade you def normally, but fire extinguishers aren't available from the start either. also you cant repair your tank from the start either, everything has to be researched
    you can help your squadmate repair, but not your other teammates. it's also not possible to repair a tank if you havent made that specific upgrade, even if your squad mate has the same tank as you do and is around to help but you cant start repairing.
    fires cant be put out under water
    your crew drowns literally in 3 seconds
    maps usually look like each team just came from their respective base to the battle, still you start out with tanks all over the place, srsly, noone drives a tank backwards to battle, not even the ai, not even 90° tilted. also you spawn on/in eachother which gaijin only could solve by making your tank impervious to damage for some time at spawn - great, but useless against all spawnkillers and "traffic jams" at game start.
    if your tank's tires/chain is damaged your crew immediately refurse any orders for a second and stop driving to start repairing it asap. nice feature, right? nope, you cant hide like this from enemy fire, you cant put your tank in a more favourable angle to the enemy fire. you'll have to wait 4 seconds to be able to do anything. also, crew doesn't give a damn if literally everything else is destroyed, but hell brakes loose if the chain is loose.
    killing ai will not give you any points whatsoever for researching your already very weakly starting new units, so that it's even more of a pain to try and use new units. also, most matches have like 50% ai, which makes for very boring , since not very intelligent, play.
    (this review had to be shortened)    … Expand
  21. 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
  22. homer4president
    Nov 23, 2015
    8
    Progression system is very tedious once you reach higher levels but, I enjoyed the game. Beautiful graphics and plane models. Best flight simulator in a while!
  23. Hersir
    Nov 10, 2015
    0
    It all started out good with War Thunder - we could see nice graphics and sounds, devs chatting about how they're going the realism way unlike World Of Potato products plus having planes, tanks and ships in one single client instead of the aforementioned World Of Potato division into three different games...
    But things change and War Thunder has gone the bad way:
    - 1. Community    It all started out good with War Thunder - we could see nice graphics and sounds, devs chatting about how they're going the realism way unlike World Of Potato products plus having planes, tanks and ships in one single client instead of the aforementioned World Of Potato division into three different games...
    But things change and War Thunder has gone the bad way:
    -
    1. Community management is terrible. All those talks about forum dictatorship are true - even objective criticism is not welcome there. CMs allow themselves mocking comments like "win" in regard to the questions like "What should I do on Me.262 versus far more advanced post-war jets" or "just donate" and etc.
    -
    2. Economy/research has turned into a disguised cash grab. Unlocking mid- and especially high-tier units requires a lot of grind forcing you to donate if you want to skip it at least a bit. Worst thing is that from patch to patch the research efficiency keeps droping.
    -
    3. The praised historical and realistic focus of this game is mostly gone. Some historical units like A-26 or BTD-1 are premium only while standard unit trees got DOZENS of prototypes and 'paper planes'. Also get ready for things like 1944 German planes fighting post-war aircraft they never met IRL. And they're doing it based on self-determined 'battle rating' of those units for the sake of 'balance'...
    -
    4. ...Which is by the way pretty broken despite they chose not to be bound by historical limits. You could see things like F-2H Banshee jet with 4 cannons and a thrust-to-weight ratio of War Thunder's TOP JET, MiG-15, fighting piston engine planes... That was fixed not so long ago, but it is just one example, many others remain.
    -
    5. Game is losing player base, new content is added pretty slowly, problems aren't solved and the general dynamic of things is negative.    … Expand
  24. robert1234545
    Nov 10, 2015
    2
    I have played their ground arcade game for some time and it's disappointing. 1941 German Tiger tanks constantly face 1944 and even post war tanks from the soviet union and the USA. Extremely disappointing and unfair game in general. German tanks never get to fight the tanks they historically faced and get constantly obliterated.
  25. 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
  26. LoneWolfSones
    Nov 8, 2015
    8
    After having played this game for....1,415 hours; if steam is to be believed...I still haven't grown tired of it. Each match feels different from the last. The game has evolved considerably since I first started playing. I can remember when each nation only had a handful of aircraft. Now the game boasts over 300+ Unique aircraft (Guiness World Record). And the game also now has tanks forAfter having played this game for....1,415 hours; if steam is to be believed...I still haven't grown tired of it. Each match feels different from the last. The game has evolved considerably since I first started playing. I can remember when each nation only had a handful of aircraft. Now the game boasts over 300+ Unique aircraft (Guiness World Record). And the game also now has tanks for Russia, Germany and the US. They just added a few premium British tanks as well.

    WarThunder has a variety of modes to appeal to a variety of different people. Arcade is a good mode for quick matches. Realistic battles are more challenging and remove aim indicators. And full sim battles are particularly intense in that your view is restricted to the commander or cockpit view.

    The vehicles all have distinct characteristics and models and perform differently as a result. You can go a whole match without scoring one kill and still come out on top of the leaderboard if you play the objectives. If you manage to belly land your plane after sustaining critical damage your rewarded for it. If you take a lot of hits your rewarded for it with an adamant reward. Playing in a squad and assist your team mate killing a tank; your rewarded for it. This is in stark contrast to a game like WoT. In WoT you get one spawn, and when your vehicle's HP pool is depleted thats it. In WarThunder you can try to get back to base in your plane. Or you can repair your tank in the field if you have the repair module unlocked. You aren't just given a static 'death' animation once your HP is depleted as you get in WoWP.

    It also needs to be said that the tanks have evolved quite a bit in WarThunder. With changes like ground deformation you see your tank's tracks sinking into the ground. And if you get into 'muddy' terrain. Your tank becomes covered in Mud and ends up bogged down. The new Dagor 4.0 engine allows for fully destructible environments.

    WarThunder also has a great customization system. You can put decals on your vehicles, adjust their camo, and on tanks you can even adjust how worn that camo is. Or you can load up the texture in photoshop or another program and make your own skins.

    WarThunder has a lot to offer especially for being a free game. People have criticized its microtransactions and premium vehicles. I think its important to distinguish that WarThunder is a free to play game. Your not paying $60 and another $50-60 on top of that for a season pass. Any free to play game needs to be monetized in some way. Its how the developer makes money off said game. The premium vehicles aren't pay to win either as some might suggest. In fact a fully upgraded stock tank tends to be better statistically than a premium of its tier. The only real advantage premium vehicles have is that they have greater credit and XP earning potential.

    You may find yourself coming back for more and more. I know I have. Especially when new vehicles are released. Like the recent addition of the B-29. What are you waiting for? Go download the game; and see you in the skies and on the ground!    … Expand
  27. Treo535
    Oct 31, 2015
    0
    This is about the tank side of WT only. Tries to be a bit more of a simulation than World of tanks, which is refreshing, but totally fails at everything else. In tiers 1 to 3 it has to be one of the least balanced games ever made, why they have even included german and american tanks in the game is beyond me! Maybe because the "god mode" T-34 needs cannon fodder. Also, while in theoryThis is about the tank side of WT only. Tries to be a bit more of a simulation than World of tanks, which is refreshing, but totally fails at everything else. In tiers 1 to 3 it has to be one of the least balanced games ever made, why they have even included german and american tanks in the game is beyond me! Maybe because the "god mode" T-34 needs cannon fodder. Also, while in theory beeing a free to play game, it's very much pay to win.
    Strongly recommended to stay away from this heap of manure.    … Expand
  28. epicfester
    Oct 24, 2015
    4
    After being away from gaming for a few yrs then giving it a try, I still think IL-2 1946 owns this game. Flight sims take so much time to master but in this one you need to just buy planes $$$
  29. Maurise
    Oct 22, 2015
    10
    I think, that is an epic game. You can choose so many of aircrafts and fight with them, that i give it 10 out of 10. The graphic is super and the sounds too. In the most airplanes you can get into a detailed cockpit. The best is, that you can choose that realistic mode you want to fly and there are so more thinks in the game you can do. The feeling of your first jetfly for that you spend aI think, that is an epic game. You can choose so many of aircrafts and fight with them, that i give it 10 out of 10. The graphic is super and the sounds too. In the most airplanes you can get into a detailed cockpit. The best is, that you can choose that realistic mode you want to fly and there are so more thinks in the game you can do. The feeling of your first jetfly for that you spend a lot of time and kills is so great, you want more and more. And the air mode is so much better than in other games like world of planes. To the tank mode i can not speak so good. There are thinks that in my mind not so good like air, like fairness of spawn points and other. But the artillery fire, you can order, and the air events, you can get for kills, make the game more exciting. Who want not to kill the guy that you kill before with an one thousand kg bomb on his face?

    Conclusion: A game you can play for long time, where to get a top tier vehicle in round about 2 month, if you play 2 hours per day and don't pay, money realistic is.( i get it in these time my first jet)
    So, if you want a fly-simulator game for nothing and against real players in the World War Two, is that what you like play.

    Ps. Sorry for my bad english skills, but im a child and learn the language at school, so put your inside grammar-natz* away and enjoy the day, where you read these kind of poo. :)    … Expand
  30. LittleHooah
    Oct 21, 2015
    2
    Was a good game until 2015 came. The whole project is run by monkeys that are literally ripping apart the community and the game without hesitation. The game overall looks good and has plenty of vehicles but the company is THE MOST UNPROFESSIONAL i've ever seen: they're telling lies within the "news", they're actually putting into the game things that the whole community is asking ... butWas a good game until 2015 came. The whole project is run by monkeys that are literally ripping apart the community and the game without hesitation. The game overall looks good and has plenty of vehicles but the company is THE MOST UNPROFESSIONAL i've ever seen: they're telling lies within the "news", they're actually putting into the game things that the whole community is asking ... but the opposite; and they're enforcing all that with misinformation, misleading and wild banning over the forums.

    DON'T and i repeat, DON'T spend 1€ into the game. Play it if you like, until the paywall and grind is so high that you'll be forced to stop, then leave. Don't never ever think to go and actually "care" about the game by browsing the forums or participate at the "events" they'll eventually organize, 3/4 of them are just a trap and you'll feel fooled and ripped off at the end of them.

    If you like actual WoT style gameplay that's the game for you, with a tons of bugs ofc but hey ! From patch 1.53 onward there will be invisible tanks, camos, pay-to-win "skill" to see the enemy tanks and pay-to-win qualifications to boost that skill. You'll find absolutely no real "simulation" into the game (apart from the good 3D models): all the hidden "numbers" in the code are just arbitrary like a lot of the things in the game. You'll find that almost all the russian tanks perform "extremely well" without a real reason (the game is russian).

    TLDR: it's a trap run by freaking mongoloids that is sinking thanks to their incompetence. Stay away.    … Expand
Page:

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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