World of Tanks for Xbox 360 was originally announced back a few months ago at Microsoft’s E3 conference. It wasn’t anything amazing – a quick trailer played, someone from Wargaming.net came on stage to tell us about how exciting this was, and that was it. I’ll admit – I didn’t expect much.
I signed up for the beta when it first went live – again, not expecting much, just hoping I would get in for the bragging rights. I was accepted in the first wave. I downloaded the very rough beta the day it was available and booted it up on a buddies old standard definition television. I couldn’t read any of the text, the game was very buggy and slow, and quite frankly not fun at all.
A few months down the road after trying and failing to have fun with the game, a member from Wargaming contacted me asking if I’d like a press account to play on. I said sure, why not? It’s not like I had anything to lose, and I didn’t have anything pressing to play until Batman: Arkham Origins.
So, I booted it up (now on an HD TV) and used my press account to purchase all of the higher level tanks. I jumped in to a game and to my surprise; it was a lot of fun.
After coming to terms with the fact that this is more of a simulation then a game, in the sense that different areas of your tank have different penetration rates, and the fact that you can’t drive your tank nose-first off of a cliff and expect it not to explode – something I learned firsthand in one of my first games. After acquainting myself with the feel of the game and getting a few hours of practice in, I’ve actually really started to love it.
The little details are what really get me. Ski lifts move in the background, hills stretch out as far as you can see, airplanes and recon planes fly overhead as if you’re in a real battlefield, and tank tread tracks stay in the dirt indefinitely. The men and women at Wargaming managed to craft a beautiful world that I wasn’t expecting, but I certainly love.
Gameplay takes a while to get acquainted to, for sure. As I mentioned before, each tank has different ammo and penetration rates to find, meaning that you can’t just “spray and pray” and hope to win a battle. World of Tanks is akin to a great game of chess, you want to take it slow, plan your moves, use a good strategy, and communicate with your team to survive. Far too many times I found myself rushing in gung-ho only to be obliterated by the enemy team that had set up a firing line.
When I did finally figure out how to properly play, the fun factor multiplied tenfold. Being able to slowly roll around in my artillery tank, setting up in the bushes with my camouflage and waiting for the enemy to enter my sites so I can obliterate them with my coordinated offense was chillingly fun and suspenseful; and winning a fight feels even better.
Imagine spending four or five minutes setting up in what you think is the perfect position – on top of a bridge overlooking the enemy encampment. It was unflankable… or so I thought. Right when I started to search for enemies I started getting shelled from a tank destroyer across the map. I did what any man would do – ran away screaming for help. Somehow, I managed to run in to a few teammates, who quickly destroyed the tank destroyer and sent its crew home in a closed casket.
I can’t emphasize enough how well Wargaming has pulled of porting a PC game to the 360. It’s simply amazing and for all the right reasons.
World of Tanks is currently in closed beta and will launch for free as a free to play title in the near future. You can sign up for the closed beta and reserve your spot in line here.
