War Thunder

War Thunder
Developer(s)	Gaijin Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Gaijin Entertainment
Producer(s)	Pavel Kulkov
Engine	Dagor Engine
Platform(s)	List Microsoft Windows Mac OS X Linux[1] PlayStation 4[2]
Release date(s)	List Microsoft Windows(Open Beta) November 1, 2012 Mac OS X (Open Beta) September 16, 2013 PlayStation 4 EU 20131129November 29, 2013 US 20140603June 3, 2014 Linux November 6, 2014
Genre(s)	Action, MMO
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Distribution	Download
Sound	Eilam Hoffman

War Thunder online World War II multiplayer combat game developed by Gaijin Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and PlayStation 4.

Game model

The game is modeled on a free to play system but with the ability to get almost every feature of the game without paying. This may require players to complete certain challenges, or submitting user created content such as skins, or camouflage for vehicles. There may also be other celebratory events throughout the year such as commemorating historic figures in aviation or famous battles allowing players to win the premium currency without any expenditure.

There is also a referral service, whereby players can invite people to the game, earning both themselves and the new player an in-game bonus.

Gameplay

The game contains several aircraft, and armoured vehicles such as tanks from the Spanish Civil War to Korean War period with an emphasis on World War 2.^[3] The full game currently contains more than 350 aircraft from 5 important different nations and a number of ground vehicles from the Soviet Union, Germany and, most recently, the United States. Ships, additional aircraft, and ground vehicles are to be implemented at a later date.

Most maps in-game are either directly or indirectly based on real battles of the era such as in Stalingrad, Russia or Peleliu, an island in the Palau chain.^[4]

The size of maps in the game currently ranges from approximately 65 km x 65 km to 200 km x 200 km, although the engine powering the game is likely to achieve much larger map sizes in the future. Estimates are said to be about 300 km x 300 km.^[5]

Arcade battles

In this mode, the game draws two teams of players (up to 32 people) with planes from different nations of similar level. It is possible to see vehicles of the same type on different teams, and different countries on your own team. Damage and physics are greatly simplified (e.g. in very high speed dives planes do not have their wings ripped off and are still controllable), but retain some realism (e.g. bombers are not as maneuverable as fighters, limited ammunition but able to reload midair).

Multiple views are available, from third person view, cockpit view, gunner view (if the aircraft has a gunner), virtual cockpit view (if the aircraft does not have a cockpit model the virtual cockpit will be used), as well as bombsights for bombing accuracy.

Arcade Mode games are played in either "Ground Strike," where in order to win players must destroy all enemy ground units, shoot down all enemy aircraft, destroy the enemy airfield and bombing points, or "Domination", which consists of seizing enemy airfields by touching down on them for about five seconds, causing the enemy team to lose points. Also, to help simplify aiming, a 'leading marker' appears when an enemy plane is in range. This shows where the enemy plane will be by the time the bullets arrive if the plane continues its current trajectory, greatly improving accuracy.

Realistic battles

Previously called "Historical Battles," this mode is designed for more advanced players. More realistic damage models makes long-range "sniping" difficult, and there is no 'leading marker' to assist with aiming. Also, due to realistic G-forces, making tight maneuvers at high speeds can cause pilots to black out or their planes to rip apart, and the views available are the same as in Arcade Battles. Once ammunition is used up, players will have to return to their airfield to reload and repair. In this mode, unlike arcade mode, players are selected for each team's nation, making it possible to recreate a real scenario, such as the Battle of Stalingrad between the Soviet Union and the Third Reich. This game mode also does not simplify aircraft flight models.

Simulator battles

This mode was previously called "Full Real Battles" and is based on more realistic simulation settings; only the first-person view in the cockpit and external turret gunner views are allowed, and "Full Real" controls (there is no 'instructor' to prevent stalls and the user must manually set their trim tab on his or her aircraft for cruising), however the flight physics are the same as in Realistic Battles.^[6]

Unrealistic battles

Unrealistic Battles is a game mode that was created specifically for April Fools Day. The games will either feature a playable vehicle or an attackable enemy. Past themes have included:

• 2013 - Flyable "My Little Pony" planes shaped in the design of a character from the children cartoon, My Little Pony.^[7]
• 2014 - The year that saw the release of the movie Godzilla (2014 film) also saw the release of an "experimental Japanese weapon" called "Gaijilla."^[8][9]
• 2015 - This year saw the release of two ground vehicles - a "bouncy" tank modeled after the M4 Sherman with rubber amour that could either shoot potatoes or carrots. And the more sophisticated STS-1 Alpha, which was modeled after the Star Wars battle tank AT-ST. Players were able to select various mechs that depending on the nation, had different color schemes. Players had forced tank/plane selection.^[10][11]

Development

The development of the game as World of Planes began in 2009. Gaijin Entertainment used its experience with its previous flight games such as IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, Apache: Air Assault, and Birds of Steel in its development. The name was later changed to War Thunder due to confusion with the similar competitor World of Warplanes, as well as other reasons due to Gaijin wanting the game to not just be focused on aviation anymore.^[12]

Nations

There are currently five nations available to choose from in War Thunder. These nations include USA, Germany, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and Japan, with a few aircraft from other countries such as Australia and France in the British tech tree and Italy in the German tech tree respectively. Each of these nations have planes that flew in their air forces in the mid 1930s to the late Korean War era, with the most advanced planes in the game being the F-86 Sabres from the USA and MiG-15 from the Soviet Union. Some planes within War Thunder are prototypes, such as the J8M, known in game as the Ki-200, a prototype copy of the German rocket interceptor, the Me 163 Komet. With the recent 1.39 patch, variants of the F-86 can be used by Germany and Japan and the MiG-15s from the Soviet Union can also be used by Germany. All of these nations are available to all players, and they can be switched between at any time.

Ground and naval forces

Gaijin has introduced playable ground forces and has planned to add naval forces to the game with players being able to play all forces types (Air, Ground, and Naval forces) in one battle. As of now, ground forces such as AFVs (tanks) have been added into the game with update 1.41. Currently, only three nations have ground forces, those being Germany, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The most advanced tanks within the open beta as of now for Germany are the Tiger II PzKpfw VI Ausf. B armed with the 105 mm KwK 46, the Panther II, and the Jagdtiger, with the Soviet Union receiving postwar vehicles in the shape of the IS-4M, T-54 mod 1951 and the ISU-152. The update 1.45, known as the "Steel Generals" update, introduced American ground forces vehicles. Vehicles include the M6 Heavy Tank, M103, M41 Walker Bulldog, M3 Lee, M16 Gun Motor Carriage (quad .50 caliber machine guns) and the M2 Medium Tank.

Although naval forces are not currently available for player control, due to development, players can take off from carriers in certain 'Arcade' and 'Realistic' mode battles.^[13] Naval Forces are in development, but not much is known about them. What has been confirmed is that the main ships types are going to be battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, and destroyers. There is much speculation as to whether submarines are going to be added with naval forces or not.

Timeline

• April 1, 2011 – The World of Planes project is announced, which was planned to be a multiplayer flight simulator.
• October 6–9, 2011 – World of Planes is shown at IgroMir 2011. All guests were given the opportunity to play in the alpha version of the project at the stand.^[14]
• January 9, 2012 – Edition of the popular British game magazine PC Gamer includes World of Planes in its list of the "Best Games of 2012", in the category of MMO.^[15]
• January 24, 2012 – Gaijin Entertainment announce a change of name of the project to War Thunder due to the fact that in future the game world will be expanded beyond the flight simulator to make it possible to manage land and marine equipment in one battle (also to avoid confusion with the game World of Warplanes made by Wargaming). On the same day, the official website was revamped.^[16]
• November 1, 2012 – Open beta test of the game begins.^[17]
• March 5, 2013 – War Thunder reaches 1 million players.^[18]
• July 25, 2013 – War Thunder reaches 3 million players.^[19]
• August 15, 2013 – War Thunder is released for Steam.^[20]
• August 20, 2013 – War Thunder is officially announced as a launch title for PlayStation 4.^[20]
• May 15, 2014 – An open beta for Ground Forces is announced with Update 1.41.^[21]
• June 3, 2014 – War Thunder is released on PSN in North America and is announced as being cross-platform between PS4 and PC.^[22]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score Metacritic PC: 82/100[23] PS4: 76/100[24] Review scores Publication Score Eurogamer 9/10[25] GameSpot 8/10[26] IGN 7.2[27] PC Gamer (US) 78/100[28]
Awards Publication Award Gamescom Best Simulation Game (2013) KRI (КРИ) Best Developer, Best Game, Best Technology, Best Sound Design (2013) Guinness World Records Most planes in a flight simulation game (2014)[29] Most players online simultaneously on one Flight Simulation server (2014)[30]

At release, War Thunder was well-received with generally positive reviews. It was praised for its variety of airplanes and high-quality visuals.^[26] However, the user interface was criticized for being "overly abundant and cumbersome" in contrast to the "sparse in-battle HUD".^[27]

Additionally, since the 1.37 patch, the game has been criticized by the community, pointing at a disorganized tech tree^[28] and unbalanced tiering that has resulted in poor match making and lopsided results. The Battle Rating system has also been strongly criticized by players as well.

See also

• Birds of Steel
• Dagor Engine
• World of Tanks
• World of Warplanes
• World of Warships

References

External links

• Official Website