If there's one thing we can all agree on during this most confusing of times on planet earth it's that everyone and their granny absolutely loves tanks. It's true. Go out on the street right now and ask anyone, you won't find a single person with a bad word to muffle through their face masks about these glorious war machines.
Belarusian developer Wargaming has cleverly tapped into this undeniable fact with its long-running World of Tanks series which, as of the latest official count, boasts over 160 million registered commanders and has seen around 10 million players online concurrently. That's a lot of tanks. This is a hugely popular series, then, with a long and prestigious history which our very own Gavin Lane, driven almost entirely mad by his uncontrollable love of tanks, recently wrote a feature on which you can read here. It's a series that's been ported to just about every available system in order to service humanity's deep and insatiable love of the tank, and now it's the turn of the Nintendo Switch with this port of 2014's World of Tanks Blitz.
World of Tanks Blitz takes the tried-and-tested multiplayer gameplay of its full-fat forebearers and streamlines it for mobile play, reducing team numbers from fifteen per side to seven, shortening match times and decreasing map sizes. However, these small modifications aside, this is much the same game that people have been playing incessantly for the last decade. You'll start out with a handful of low-level tanks, engage in strategic battles that task you with capturing bases and blowing enemy vehicles to pieces and then jump into dizzyingly vast tech trees with your accumulated XP in order to upgrade, unlock and improve in a cycle that will take you several hundred hours to see through with every bit of hardware on offer.
In terms of gameplay, for a free to play title, World of Tanks Blitz is a reasonably solid affair. Battles have a fair amount of strategy to them with four different tank types available to trundle around maps in. You'll start out with light and nimble units that let you bomb around at the expense of armour and firepower then gradually move up the ranks, unlocking access to medium and heavy vehicles as well as great big destroyers capable of downing lesser foes with a single blast of their long-range mega guns. Matches see you attempt to capture various control points whilst ensuring that you keep your tank covered at every angle from enemy fire. You'll need to make use of buildings, walls and other scenery in order to make sure nobody has a shot at your vulnerable weak points and inching your way around maps attempting to get the strategic drop on the other team is pretty fun stuff, for the most part.
Every single one of the historically accurate, mid-twentieth century machines on offer has a plethora of unlockable parts, ammunition, crew and equipment for you to work towards gaining and, happily, the game doesn't gate any of this progress behind its premium paywall. If you don't mind the grind, you'll be able to rise up the ranks from level one whippets right up to awesome level ten behemoths without ever putting your hand in your pocket. This, of course, doesn't stop World of Tanks Blitz incessantly trying to get you to part with your real-world cash in exchange for premium access and other shiny trinkets – even with our premium account activated it still constantly reminded us of other things we could purchase – but this is all par for the course with FTP games and, to its credit, Wargaming hasn't allowed the core balance of its game to be affected; as is the case in Fortnite, there's no way to effectively 'pay to win' here.
If you are tempted to jump into the premium access side of things, you'll find XP is dished out more readily; you'll have easier access to the many boosters that see you gain rewards more quickly and also open up a mission structure that gives you goals to work towards as you progress up the endless tech trees for each and every tank in the game. Players who want to play entirely for free, though, can rest assured that premium players really haven't got any upper hand in battles which match tanks of similar levels together at all times.
However, herein lies World of Tanks Blitz's biggest problem. Attempting to ensure that matches remain balanced by matching tank levels in this way means that you'll always be facing off against machines of similar power to your own. On paper this reads fine but, in practice, it kinda renders the process of upgrading a little bit pointless beyond the fun of collecting. Playing a game here in low-level tanks vs other low-level tanks feels pretty much identical to playing in a match filled with the very top-tier, most powerful units available. You can't really feel the benefit of growing stronger because you're always facing opponents of the same strength that take the same number of hits to down. In fact, we found that we'd rather play in the beginner tanks because they move around the map quicker, rather than trundling along at the often maddeningly slow pace of their bigger brethren.
Further to this, there's a problem with regards to team coordination when playing with random strangers, which we guess a lot of people will do for the most part (although you can set up and join clans). In the PC and other console versions of World of Tanks, there's a quick comms system accessible by holding in a bumper button which allows you to dole out simple commands or requests to the rest of your team. In World of Tanks Blitz, however, this comms system is nowhere to be seen and without it there's no way to put together any kind of group strategy, meaning winning a game is pot luck for the most part, unless you've got a team of pals to play with. We're pretty hopeful this function will be patched into the game in pretty short order but, for now, it's a bit of an oversight that really affects how teams work together.
These issues aside, though, World of Tanks Blitz does a reasonably good job of delivering the core gameplay, evidently beloved by so many, to Nintendo's hybrid platform. In terms of performance, this one isn't exactly a looker – although it does have a certain old-school charm – and, as a result of this, it runs at a perfectly solid 30fps at 1080p docked and 720p in handheld mode. Matches are always quick to jump into, the inclusion of cross-play with other platforms ensuring that servers are always chock full of budding commanders, there are touchscreen controls to help navigate the game's many menus and gyroscopic controls are available for fine-tuning those long-range shots whilst aimed down the barrel of your cannon.
If you can overlook the match balancing issues, a lack of communication options with random teammates and the game's incessant pushing of its premium features, there's still a reasonable amount of fun to be had here. With hundreds of historically accurate tanks from eight different countries to get to grips with, plenty of maps and an endless stream of bits and bobs to unlock and customise at your leisure, World of Tanks Blitz is a pretty successful mobile conversion of a series that's proven wildly popular over the past decade.
Conclusion
World of Tanks Blitz takes the core gameplay of its full-fat forebearers and translates it fairly successfully to Nintendo's hybrid platform. This one's not going to win any beauty pageants, it's highly repetitive, there are some balancing issues and a pretty essential comms system is MIA but, overall, there's still a decent game to get to grips with here – especially if you like tanks, which, as we've already established, everybody does. With a huge number of tanks, countless upgrades and none of the absolute essentials hidden behind the game's premium paywall, there's literally hundreds of hours of tank-blasting action to indulge in that's well worth checking out for the princely sum of zero.
Comments 24
Isn't this game like king of the pay to win?
@doctorhino no it's RAID SHADOW LEGENDS
@doctorhino Pay to progress for sure, but pay to win? Nah.
I had a decent amount of fun with this one. The big drawback for me was platoons are limited to 2, and my friend group wanted a team of 3-4.
I remember trying the PC version of this game, and I haven't got into it, so its a pass for me. Maybe I just wasn't the type of person to play it I guess.
My only experience of tanks is BattleTanx for the N64. Myself and a buddy used to play multiplayer on that till the wee hours in the morning.
I'm kinda curious about this one but there's lot on the video game plate now so unfortunately it's it goes to the back of the line (if in line at all).
I'd be interested in a game like this except I just can't deal with the microtransactions, even if you can technically play and progress without them.
7/10 written all over it.
Not for me. I don't like F2P games to start with. But also I am just not too big on storyless competitive multi-player games. They tend not to hold my interest. With a few exceptions anyway.
This is the kind of game I might have tried on other Nintendo consoles.
On Switch I just have too many games.
I hope this plays in battle.
@doctorhino this is actually probably the least annoying mobile game I've ever played with microtransactions. I play this on my computer for some dumb fun time to time and I may have super low level tanks but matchmaking is good and you feel great no matter what although it takes an hour or two to unlock the class of tank you want (like a battering ram style one or a really bulky one) definitely a great mobile game. The only problem is it is that. A mobile game. Although this is probably the best free to play on switch besides paladins and ricket league. I've never played warframe so I don't know about that
@Heavyarms55 me too I saw your fire emblem picture and comment and knew we had similar taste. I play this every once in a while for dumb fun but never over a paid game. Really is best on mobile like when your on the bus and don't have anything to do. Although considering your taste in games you have to play ace attorney trilogy you will love it! There are ace attorney games on mobile too and since they are just clicking dialouge they are just as good as the 3ds versions! Also what kind of fe are you into anime ones or hardcore fan ones before the art style and social system became a dating simulator. I love the old ones more but I like the new ones too but not the art style just curious on your opinion
@Ghostchip I have the Ace Attorney trilogy on Switch. The only game on mobile I like is Pokemon Go. I feel the real world location stuff is actually quite fun and gives an actual reason for me to put up with touch screen only controls.
I've already said my piece in the other thread, but here's the gist of it:
@Heavyarms55 go is the best I only play mobile console ports, go, tank game (although I haven't played this game in like a year) and pokemon masters which has a ton of fan service. Heres my friend code for pokemon go 4740 9504 6628 oh and what's your favorite fe game? Where I am people only like mindless shooters (sigh) so I'm curious what another fan thinks. My favorite is gba fire emblem and three houses. I like three houses a lot because it is the perfect medium between the more dating social links (which I am not a huge fan of so I like how they are there but they are more optional) and great gameplay with difficulty modes that are great along with a good story. Fire emblen gba is just the perfect classic emblem game so I like that one as well
@masterLEON Amen.
I really wish the phone games would just stop...
The game is a decent effort, despite missing a few things from it's mobile origin (replays, tactical callouts) and adding more of other things. There is a lot more in-your-face salesmanship going on than I remember, too (if you've played enough mobile games then you've probably also conditioned yourself to ignore it). Boosters help the grind, be on the lookout for events and crates that give you more. DON'T waste your Crew XP boosters if you're low tier since you can't employ crews until later (tier VI, I believe). Also, crates are sort of hidden behind the Premium Time tab in the garage (it's to the left of the gold). You'll have to move the cursor to it and press A. They can contain silver credits, Free XP, or boosters for the small ones, gold, premium time, and maybe even tanks for the larger ones. Hey, when you're playing true F2P, every little bit helps.
I do think the Switch would be served better with a full console version. If an XBox 360 could manage that (RIP WoT360) then a Switch could definitely do it.
If you'd like to get into World of Tanks, in general, and maybe need a little inspiration, I suggest looking up QuickyBaby and The Mighty Jingles on YouTube, even official Wargaming guides. Here are some below (not Blitz related, but still useful):
Everyone Starts as a Noob - QuickyBaby (I also recommend "Why do I Always Lose", "It's Not My Fault", and "Playing For Free is Hard")
World of Tanks - Average Joe - The Mighty Jingles (I recommend his "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", "Random Acts of Violence", and World of Warships and War Thunder videos)
World of Tanks - Explaining Mechanics: Armor Penetration - Wargaming EU
@PJOReilly I'm thinking since the mobile and PC version of Blitz let players actually type in chat, then that's why it was disabled on the Switch port (you know, Nintendo and communication with other players). Being able to have a target in your sights and click/tap to call out to your teammates to attack was also tied to the chat function, so it is disabled as well. I hope they're working to bring it back. And the replay function as well.
Been playing the game on tablet since launch, pretty much. It's fun, but complex. You need to find the tank and playstyle that suits you, don't get suckered into thinking bigger is better or that paying will help you win.
What has really thrown me about this review is that it seems from the review that the quick comms button is absent from the Switch version. Not had a chance to try it myself, but that's a serious handicap if it's the case.
Don't break your... neck trying to be wonderful immediately, check out some of the many YouTube channels on the game, it's got a lot of depth. Wargaming can be a bit rubbish, but what games publisher isn't.
Sounds appealing to me in some ways and unappealing to me in others. The review unusually has me on the fence. Also, microtransactions....
I've been playing it a couple of weeks. It's a great free game. There's no micro transactions as far as I'm concerned. They're not intrusive nor are they required. While you don't need tank progression, they are fun to get and try. Overall, the review is spot on. If I had a complaint about the game, it doesn't explain itself well. You get flooded with rewards without any clue what they're for. There's badges you "install" and "combine" - beats me how they're used. It's also worth noting you can quit a battle upon dying, select another tank and start another battle, and the ones you quit still play out. A log of results and rewards then eventually appear.
It sounds like this could really use a single player mode to make the upgrades more worthwhile, as well as for a reason to go back to the faster tanks when desired.
I'm here just to update my situation. We're now 12 months from my previous comment and I'm still playing this game. I play it everyday and put in 600 hours so far. It's brilliant.
In regard to my comment last September, it definitely is worthwhile to acquire the better tanks. They are so much fun to play, even if the players are much better at this level and typically you don't do as well. That's the trade off: reach the higher tier of tanks; expect a higher tier of player. Of course, you learn from these players, which helps you in the lower tiers.
I'll reiterate, the lack of tutorial about XP and boosters is one of the game's weaknesses. While there's hints dropped about various XP types and battle notes, there needs a better explanation about the differences between Combat XP (earned by the tank and used to research modules only of that tank or research the next tank in line) and Free XP (used to research any module or tank). It took me ages to learn Combat XP is shown on the tank icon itself and Free XP is top right of screen, so a simple graphical pointer in a tutorial, or even in the hints, would help immensely. Even better, a warning that if you're about to use a Combat XP booster on a fully researched tank, to reconsider as you are effectively wasting the booster. With this knowledge, I'd have researched my two tier 10 tanks - or any higher tier tank - much sooner.
There's definitely no pay to win or need to pay anything. Gold can buy you premium tanks and oodles of boosters if you want a particular cool tank (often they have special camo) or you lack patience to race through the tiers. While I took a few months for each of my two tier 10s, by judicious use of boosters and multipliers and doing the daily missions (that drop the boosters and Free XP), you could get one in a few weeks.
With all the hours I've played, I rewarded the developers and bought gold (when it was a double gold offer) and one premium pass for a battle season for total $30 AUD. I used the gold for some particular tanks I wanted, while the battle season offered some cool tanks and some extra gold I needed for the final special tank I wanted. It was the Independence Day special American T-34 heavy. I'd been eyeing the stock version for some months so had to jump at it.
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