Recent reviews by Wolfi

Is this game about a Comanche helicopter or am I playing a drone simulator?

In the first "real" mission, after almost every fight, I am bound in some way to do something with a drone (which the Comanche can spawn in infinite ways). In most cases, I have to fly through some ventilation shafts and "hack" a panel. It's also immediately noticeable how "stupid" the AI behaves. In one case, you have to infiltrate a base with the drone to open a gate. However, the soldiers are already waiting for the drone in a kill corridor, but don't move an inch and behave as if they have no intelligence and can simply be eliminated. Even the soldier AI from Comanche 4 in 2001 (which was 23 years ago!) was better than this. They didn't even bother to give the copilot a full model, the poor guy only has an upper body, not even arms. I noticed that within 5 minutes in first person...

What also always pleased or interested me about Comanche was that destroyed vehicles, helicopters, boats etc. with their destroyed model were still present in the game world, here helicopters just explode and that's it. To come back to Comanche 4, even here it was the case in 2001 that destroyed boats / ships, even helicopters left oil stains in the water. In Comanche 2021, they sink and that's it.

Sorry, but the game is being returned. For me as a fan of the Comanche series, even 5€ is unfortunately still too much. It might be fun for some people that are just looking for a quick way to have fun, but for people like me, who have played the older titels this is not it..

Would be better if you could buy the old games on GoG without having to struggle to get the games to run on modern systems.

I have been playing this game for about nine to ten years now with many on and offs and in this time, I have seen many changes that this game went through. Most of the changes that happend within the last two years were mostly against the wishes and hopes of the community and its players. Of course there were changes that were not that bad, but there are errors and bugs present for years and there is no improvement or fix in sight. Whether problems with the stingers of the Ocelot / Gepard 1A2, problems with the volumetric armor system, ghost shells, the KA-50 / 52 damage model, the SU-25 that can withstand up to 10 stingers and still land and repair itself or recently turrets of the tanks that shoot at you although they are not pointing in your direction and much more which would surely go beyond the scope.

War Thunder is an online multiplayer game that simulates aerial, ground warfare and Ship battles across various historical periods and nations. While it offers thrilling combat scenarios and a wide range of vehicles to choose from, the game falls short in terms of its economy and game design, which greatly affect the overall experience.

One of the major issues with War Thunder lies in its economy system. The in-game progression and unlocking new vehicles heavily rely on research points (RP) and Silver Lions (SL), the game's currency. Unfortunately, the rate at which these resources are earned is imbalanced, leading to frustrating and time-consuming grind. Players often find themselves stuck in a tedious loop, unable to progress without spending excessive amounts of time or real money on premium account or premium vehicles. This creates an unfair advantage for those who are willing to invest more money, creating a significant divide in the player base.

Over the course of the year Gajin often organizes special events (victory day and many more) with special prizes like planes, tanks or some cosmetics. Sadly most of the time Gajin sets the bar to be able to get all rewards or most rewards so high, that people that work normaly dont have the chance to get everything, exept you are able to play about 4-7 hours a day or every two days.

Moreover, the pricing of vehicles and upgrades within the game is exorbitant, making it difficult for free to play players to keep up with the constantly increasing costs. This undermines the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that should come from unlocking new content. Additionally, the repair costs for damaged vehicles are unreasonably high, discouraging players from experimenting with different strategies and loadouts. Here spawncamping and abusing CAS in Ground Battles (GRB) are major factors.

Another aspect that hampers the game's enjoyment is its game design. War Thunder suffers from a steep learning curve that can be overwhelming for new players. The lack of proper tutorials or guidance often leads to frustration and confusion, making it challenging to understand the mechanics and nuances of the game. Additionally, the matchmaking system is inconsistent, frequently resulting in unbalanced matches where new players are pitted against experienced veterans. This not only leads to a frustrating experience for newcomers but also creates an uncompetitive environment for seasoned players.

Furthermore, the game's interface and menus are cluttered and unintuitive, making it difficult to navigate and access various features. The overall user experience could greatly benefit from a more streamlined design, ensuring that players can easily find what they need without wasting unnecessary time.

Despite these issues, War Thunder does offer some redeeming qualities. The game features an impressive selection of vehicles from different eras, allowing players to experience a wide variety of combat scenarios. The attention to detail in the graphics and sound design contributes to the immersive nature of the game, enhancing the overall experience. The combat mechanics, while complex, can be highly rewarding once mastered, offering a sense of accomplishment and adrenaline during intense battles.

In conclusion, War Thunder falls short in its economy system and game design, which significantly impact the overall experience. The imbalanced economy and exorbitant costs hinder progression and create an unfair advantage for those willing to spend real money. Additionally, the steep learning curve, inconsistent matchmaking make it difficult for players to fully engage with the game. In my opinion, so much needs to change in this game and I hope that due to the current circumstance some of it will happen and if it only starts with changing the repair costs and RP gains

So after 19 hours I'm ready to draw a conclusion - also because the game really annoys me with some game mechanics. In this review there might be some Spoilers so beware. Conclusion at the bottom.

Graphics:
First of all - the game is all in all nice to look at, because it is based on the CryEngine. You have several graphics options etc. There is also a FoV slider - which is not always guaranteed nowadays.

Story:
It's about a fictitious republic in Russia, more precisely the Republic of Siberia. After an uprising and a fight for independence, this republic is now autonomous, albeit by force of arms.
One is assigned as a sniper to kill important members of the said republic and to reveal their researches / secrets.

Gameplay:
Let's get to the point that will last the longest.
This is a sniper game - you kill 90% of all targets or enemies with your sniper rifle, you have to take into account the distance and the wind speed (the game gives you help even on the highest difficulty level). This help is provided by a mask that you receive from your client at the beginning of the game. This mask has some useful functions, like detecting enemies, mines, weak points of vehicles and as already mentioned it helps with sniping. Also as mentioned before there are different levels of difficulty - in this case three of them. You are able to purchase different Snipers, Pistols and Assault Rifles. All of your guns can be customized aswell with Silencers, muzzle brakes, differenz Scopes, Ammuniton and of course Camouflages.

Let's get to the points that are annoying. It can happen that at some points in the game you fall through the map and have to reload it. There are times where your character or NPCs are having trouble walking some paths and sliding down some slobs is not really fun. At some terrain points it seems to me as if our "professional sniper" is the greatest amateur there is, he can't even climb a bigger rock without problems and move around there, no you have to keep on jumping like a fool to get one little jump further up. Most of the time when it comes to this point you will be seen or almost seen by opponents which is of course annoying.
The AI in this game is a bit split in two, in some moments the AI is not able to think at all - the next moment the AI is as smart as a supercomputer. You can snipe away enemies one by one without anyone noticing, but if you miss twice, EVERY enemy in the area knows where you are AUTOMATICALLY via TELEPATHY. If you can still kill the enemy fast enough, nothing happens, but if you wait about 2 seconds too long, you have to reload the checkpoint. Of course the enemies can also spot you trough objects and terrian, also the kilometer wide shooting with assault rifles (and hitting) is included. In some moments it is really easier to just kill all the enemies in the area (no matter if someone has been alerted), because as soon as you go to another area nobody knows what happened in the other area. Even if you work with mines, hand grenades and C4 or shoot your way out with an assault rifle, in my eyes a bit strange.
In every mission there are main tasks that have to be done and also "Challanges" these are completely optional. Unfortunately some of them do not fit into a sniper game at all. For example - kill enemies with hand grenades or mines, blind enemies with flash bangs etc. I find it a little bit incomprehensible what such tasks are doing there, I am there as a sniper to (actually) only kill my target and not to start the third world war.
The missions usually last between 25 minutes (if you already know where to go) and about 1 hour+ if you want to be extremely stealthy or your just not getting lucky. For the missions – you have 5 Missions and a Trainings Mission.

Conclusion:
I think the game is not bad, but unfortunately there are so many little things that are simply not solved well (e.g. telepathic communication between the enemies).
I can recommend this game if you just want to have some action and don't mind taking out all the enemies instead of sneaking through. On the other hand, if you want to play the missions the way they are supposed to be played, it becomes very difficult to recommend it..

"Resolved a bug where bullets would sometimes ignore armor" Yeah, you did ♥♥♥♥ - it even got worse. Getting killed by an dude with two AK shots while i have a level 2 Kevlar and a level 3 Helmet. Same goes for the Hackers, you ban 700.000 on one weekend and 1.000.000 come back on monday.

If the Game goes out of early access in this state, then i wish you well in maintaining a "mixed" review of the game.