When comparing War Thunder with its biggest competitor, World of Tanks, one major difference becomes apparent to me:
In WoT, it feels like there is a clear vision of how the gameplay is supposed to work.
Generally speaking, there are different tank classes that fulfill specific roles on the battlefield. This creates a relatively coherent and refined gameplay loop, and the overall game design is built around that idea.
In War Thunder, however, I often get the impression that there is no clear gameplay philosophy. Maps sometimes feel random, and when new mechanics, weapon systems, or vehicles are introduced, it often doesn’t seem like much consideration is given to how they actually fit into the gameplay.
There have been several updates that significantly disrupted the gameplay balance. In particular, many maps added around 2019 and later simply don’t offer meaningful gameplay opportunities for a large number of vehicles.
Examples
Some maps illustrate this problem quite well in my opinion:
- Vietnam – Gameplay often turns into a chaotic jungle fight where the only objective is to somehow spot the enemy first.
- Sun City – Fast vehicles and many tank destroyers struggle to make effective use of their strengths on this map.
Because of this, War Thunder gameplay sometimes feels like it revolves around using whatever tools you have just to survive. You’re not really playing toward a defined role or tactical objective – often it just feels like trying not to die immediately.
Example of a Gameplay Decision: Scouting
There have been attempts to add more depth to the game. One example is the introduction of the scouting mechanic for light tanks.
I’ve shared my opinion about this several times, and to me it was one of the worst gameplay decisions ever made.
The issue is not that light tanks were given a role — they already had one.
Previously, their strength came from:
- performing flanking maneuvers
- surprising the enemy
- operating behind enemy lines
- exploiting gaps in the enemy team
With the introduction of scouting, this role wasn’t expanded — in my opinion, it was simplified and flattened.
Instead of encouraging those tactical playstyles, the role of many light tanks has increasingly been reduced to simply spotting enemies to generate points.
This doesn’t feel like an organic gameplay role, but rather like a system that was added on top of the game without fully fitting into the existing gameplay structure.
Gameplay Felt More Structured in the Past
Interestingly, I would argue that War Thunder was objectively worse in many areas up to ~2018 than it is today — with one major exception: the maps.
Maps back then were generally more structured, and vehicles that weren’t part of the current meta could still be used effectively.
The gameplay allowed for many more different playstyles, such as:
- long-range sniping
- setting up ambushes
- flanking maneuvers
- more deliberate positional gameplay
Today, much of the gameplay often devolves into close-quarters combat on rather uninspired maps.
Conclusion
War Thunder has enormous potential and remains the best game of its kind in my opinion. However, it often feels like the game still lacks a good gameplay philosophy, especially when it comes to map design and the introduction of new mechanics.
With more structured maps, vehicles could naturally find their place in the gameplay based on their inherent strengths and characteristics. Instead of forcing specific roles onto vehicles, better map design could allow different playstyles to emerge organically, giving each vehicle type meaningful ways to contribute to the battle.