Of the many heroes from World War 2, none were greater than tank. Zinaida Portnova? Sophie Scholl? Lyle Bouck? Very few if any of them had a 76.2mm gun capable of piercing 60mm of armour at distances of up to a kilometer. And yet who do we fill our so-called ‘hero’ shooters with? Humans. It’s a disgrace.
But no longer, because I guess there’s a World of Tanks hero-shooter-type thing now? Okay! Announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live, World of Tanks: Heat promises to bring World of Tanks’ “tactical tank combat into faster, more dynamic, and explosive grounds.”
It’s all very bright, colourful, and futuristic, and the tanks in question all seem to be piloted by equally bright, colourful, and futuristic people. People with distinct silhouettes, which will be nice to think about when they’re safely ensconced behind several tonnes of metal.
It’s World of Tanks for the Overwatch crowd, in other words, and sure, I’ll be interested to see how that goes. It looks like there’ll be a big emphasis on tweaking your horrifying war machine into the tank of your dreams: “Tanks can be outfitted with advanced weapon systems, armor modules, visual upgrades, and battlefield-altering abilities. As elite Agents— specially trained to pilot these mighty war machines—players will shape every vehicle to match their playstyle.”
Much like its forebear, World of Tanks: Heat will be free-to-play or, in the parlance of the marketing blurb, “free-to-win.” What does that mean? Wargaming says it means the game is “Designed to foster long-term engagement where success is driven by skill. Monetization focuses on cosmetics, battle passes, and time-savers.”
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Which, hmm. Cosmetics? Sure. Battle passes? Makes sense. “Time-savers”? I dunno that you can really say your game has no pay-to-win elements if players who can open their wallets can skip a hefty grind. But maybe I’m jumping to conclusions; Wargaming hasn’t said anything about what those time-savers will actually be just yet.
The PR about the game keeps making reference to “heroic tank gameplay,” which I find intrinsically amusing as a concept, but I know more than a few people whose eyes filled with a dark and insatiable hunger when I floated the notion of a World of Tanks hero shooter at them, so I suspect World of Tanks: Heat will do just fine.
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