War Thunder Infantry CBT – Gameplay Feedback and Suggestions
Overall Impression
I finally got access to the Infantry CBT and was able to play several matches.
Overall, I was extremely impressed with the mode.
The biggest strength is the feeling of actually being one soldier on a battlefield. The combination of infantry, ground vehicles, and aircraft creates a very immersive atmosphere that feels quite different from regular War Thunder.
The realistic visibility is also a major part of this experience. Enemy infantry and aircraft can be difficult to spot, which makes positioning, awareness, and movement important.
Despite being a beta, I honestly think this mode has the potential to become an amazing addition to War Thunder.
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- Infantry and Vehicle Balance
One thing I really liked is that vehicles do not feel completely overpowered against infantry.
Infantry can still fight back against vehicles if they use the right positioning and equipment. This makes the battlefield feel much more dynamic.
At the same time, I sometimes felt that tanks were a little too fragile.
I don’t necessarily think tanks need a huge survivability buff, because positioning and player skill are clearly important. However, there were situations where a tank could be destroyed surprisingly quickly.
Overall, though, I think the basic infantry/vehicle balance is quite good and mainly needs fine-tuning rather than major changes.
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- Suicide Drones / UCAVs
This is the biggest balance issue I noticed.
The problem is not simply that suicide drones are powerful.
The combination of several factors makes them particularly difficult to deal with:
- They are difficult to spot due to the realistic visibility.
- There is little or no warning that one is approaching.
- Intercepting them is possible, but extremely difficult.
- They can deal very significant damage to vehicles.
- Multiple drones can attack the same vehicle.
This can create situations where even a tank player who has taken a very good position and is playing carefully can simply be overwhelmed by repeated drone attacks.
That feels less like a skill-based engagement and more like the vehicle player being unable to do anything about the situation.
I think suicide drones should remain as an option, but their anti-vehicle effectiveness may need to be reduced.
For example, they could be more focused on damaging, disabling, or forcing vehicles to reposition, rather than being extremely reliable vehicle-killing tools.
I also think infantry should primarily rely on conventional anti-vehicle equipment for direct anti-tank engagements.
The goal should be to make drones an additional tactical tool rather than something that can completely invalidate good vehicle positioning.
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- Movement and Gameplay Feel
The biggest gameplay issue outside of balance is movement.
The infantry movement currently feels very slow and somewhat sluggish.
I understand that this may be intentional because the developers are aiming for realism, but I think the game could benefit from slightly more responsiveness and speed.
The realism is great, but there should also be some degree of gameplay responsiveness and momentum.
I would personally like to see:
- Slightly faster movement
- More responsive acceleration/deceleration
- More responsive overall controls
- A little more movement-based gameplay flow
The mode already has a strong realistic atmosphere. Adding a little more responsiveness would make it much more enjoyable without necessarily sacrificing realism.
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- Lean Controls
The current lean system also feels uncomfortable, especially for players coming from tactical FPS games.
Having lean activate only while holding the button feels less convenient.
It would be great to have an option to choose between:
- Hold to lean
- Toggle to lean
Having customizable control options would make the system much more accessible.
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- Bugs and Technical Issues
I encountered several bugs during the test.
Getting stuck
When moving/teleporting to an allied position, I sometimes became stuck in the environment.
Grenade bug
I also encountered a bug where a grenade would remain attached to my character instead of behaving normally.
This could eventually result in the player being killed by their own grenade.
Hit detection
The hit detection also felt somewhat inconsistent at times.
I understand that this is a closed beta, so I am not particularly concerned about these issues as long as they continue to be addressed during testing.
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Final Thoughts
Despite the issues above, my overall impression is extremely positive.
The most impressive part of Infantry mode is the feeling of being an actual soldier participating in a combined-arms battlefield, rather than simply controlling a vehicle.
The realistic visibility, infantry combat, vehicles, and aircraft create a very unique experience.
The main things I would like to see improved are:
- Slightly more responsive and faster infantry movement.
- Better control options for leaning.
- Continued improvements to hit detection and environmental bugs.
- Careful balancing of suicide drones, especially their ability to overwhelm vehicles.
- Possibly slightly increased vehicle survivability.
If the movement becomes a little more responsive and the drone situation is balanced properly, I think this mode could become an excellent addition to War Thunder.
For a free-to-play game, the amount of immersion and combined-arms gameplay already possible here is genuinely impressive.
I am very excited to see how this mode develops during the CBT.