World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition

World of Tanks may be the most aptly named game I’ve ever happened across, and while we don’t know much about it, we do know is that some horrifying occurrence took place during the raging maelstrom of World War 2. The result is a world where only tanks remain. Sentient tanks, who continue to fight among themselves, perpetually engaged in the only thing they know: war.

The world is still littered with the remnants of human civilisation. Buildings dotted here and there. Small towns make great hiding spots that these tanks take full advantage of to ambush their fellow tanks. Once these buildings have all been trodden over or blown up by the feral machines there won’t be a single sign of civilisation left. Whatever killed all the humans didn’t even leave the bodies.

To describe World of Tanks, or WoT as I shall henceforth refer to it, in more simplistic terms I’d say it was an always online free-to-play third-person shooting game with RPG elements. You assume the role of one of the rampant machines and work with your fellow tanks to hunt down and destroy the enemy, or alternatively to capture your enemy’s base while they’re not looking.

Death can and will come at you from any angle

It sounds so simple and yet when faced with the reality of navigating the rocky terrain while dodging tank shells in some hulking object it really becomes somewhat of an art.

When it comes to WoT you need to get a grip of what you’re doing fast or you’re just going to have a miserable time playing it. Death can and will come at you from any angle and the only thing you can really do about it is either hide behind a rock or find a way to kill the other player first.

The Xbox 360 specific twist is that tanks move faster, XP and in-game currency is earned quicker, and it’s much easier to find a game quickly to jump straight into. Other twists include a drop in graphical fidelity and less precise controls but that second one isn’t such a bother because consoles offer a level playing ground. Dudebro197 can no longer blow your nostrils off at 1000 paces because he’s got some Razer Naga mouse with five million DPI and you’re playing on your laptop. It’s nice to be able to ensure (to some degree) that everyone’s playing on equivalent hardware.

It’s one of those games that’s just a horrible, painful time when you first start off. You’ll spend a lot of time feverishly trying to work out where in the bloody hell all these shells are coming from and why your tank appears to have died so quickly, but once it clicks and you begin to understand the whole thing it feels much more fair and balanced.

Teamwork is helpful too when it comes to surviving for any length of time in WoT. You spot the enemies so your team can see them and your team must be doing this too. An enemy you can’t see is an enemy that can ruin your day at any given moment. There’s really nothing to lose from trying out WoT, probably the biggest perk of F2P games is that you can try them out without having to drop money. No risk, but the prospect of lots of reward, and when it comes to WoT that’s a whole lot of reward, provided you can wrap your head around the mechanics.


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