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[Preview] World of WarPlanes: The Open Beta Takes Flight
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Wargaming's second big foray into the MMO-space comes at the hands of World of WarPlanes, recently entered into open beta. We've been playing WoWP and have a few early thoughts to share. Read on and then tell us about your experiences in the comments.
I’ve spent a decent amount of the past week’s gaming time enthralled with my Arado Ar 68 and my AGO Ao 192 Kurier. Before this past week, I didn’t have a clue what either of these were, but now I have a newfound love and respect for German aeronautical engineering, that’s for sure. World of Warplanes recently hit its open beta, and as we well know in the F2P world that means the title is as good as launched. I’ve put in more than 20 fights (which go by quickly even if you manage to last the entire battle), and I can’t wait to sink in more time with this game. WoWP has the same breadth of persistent progression through tech trees as World of Tanks, only the action is far more fast-paced and, to me, more fun. It’s not going to please the flight-simulation fans out there as the action is decidedly more arcade than realistic, but Wargaming’s sophomore effort is much more my own personal speed than their flagship title.
Read more of Bill Murphy's World of WarPlanes: The Open Beta Takes Flight.
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The calm before the storm...
Comments
Bill, congrats on the new baby byw let us know how mum and little gamer are coming along, I was wondering if you have played War Thunder at all and if so how you would compare one with the other? Given that each game covers the same area it would be valuable to hear your views.
I have been playing WT which is also in that wierd open beta stage where you can spend money so is really in release and certainly find it to be great fun, but I also play WoT and enjoy that as well.
Do what thou wilt, and harm ye none. - Witches Rede
I couldn't agree more about War Thunder, imho it is definitely the superior game.
Completely agreed. Superior product overall. (I've played both extensively, but of course WT more)
Past [MMO] Games: Lineage 2 (quit c5), Aion, RIFT, SWTOR
Current[MMO] Game(s): TERA
Future [MMO] Game(s): ArcheAge, Blade/Soul
No matter how cynical you become, its never enough to keep up - Lily Tomlin
Don't see how you can like World of Warplanes better, the flight mechanics are horrible and so are the controls. War Thunder wins hands down in my book.
Kind of a shame, since they did a such a good job on WOT.
i am the immortal who will find perfect utopia at all cost .
War Thunder over WoWP hands down. I don't really feel that the two could even be camparable considering that War Thunder feels and plays worlds above WoWP.
Once Gaijin has the land warfare ( tanks etc.) which is coming next and finaly naval warfare that will all be going on in the same battle/map, I believe that Wargaming are going to find themselves desperately looking for more players.
The big difference is in WT crews DO NOT forgot how to fly a past flown plane and once you unlock a plane you always have it - no selling and rebuying.
If you are flying with a mouse in ANY game please refrain from talking about controls.
Hands down the better product (played both extensively), not to say World of Warplanes is bad though. A lot less polished, resource heavy, and more questionable tech tree choices. Couple that with the ability to play historical scenarios and campaigns in WT and the choice is easy.
Can't wait to see what Gaijin does with their tank version. If they follow the pattern there will be an arcade arena similar to WoT, but with the ability to play scenarios that are more like a sim.
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.? -Albert Einstein
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent" - Qui-gon Jinn. After many years of reading Internet forums, there's no doubt that neither does the ability to write.
So if you notice that I'm no longer answering your nonsense, stop trying... because you just joined my block list.
If Wargaming.Net reads this review and gets this far in the comments, this letter is for your consideration.
Here is what might possibly be a general opinion of the public about your product.
Finer points differ from person to person and there are plenty of people outside of the 'general' spectrum.
You have a wonderful, amazing GUI ! Beautiful, polished graphics engine with Very well done and represented airplane models, very nice iteration of the tank game's Tech Tree and all the other GUI elements well presented with beautiful fonts and colors that don't burn eyes, and are pleasing to interact with for prolonged periods of time.
You have done very very well with the custom plane skins, most people love the outright customization ability. And you have a nice looking hangar with gorgeous lighting and particles.
And all of this - is in the hangar. However, push the Battle button and the problems begin.
Starting with the matchmaking system. It has still to this day not been perfected, the algorithms in the background need to be more complex and take more variables into account. Hire a better mathematician and work on those algorithms!
And then the battle starts.. Engines on, planes hang in the air suspended for half a minute while everyone loads - ok.. this isn't a tank platoon guys.. Your officer in the plane ahead can't just stick his head out, put up his hand and signal for all the planes to stop in mid air and strategically wait. Yea, fine, it's an arcade. So moving on.
This is a big one, like bigger than the entire code base of every game ever written on the planet - controls. For those people insisting that flying should only ever be done with a stick,please refer above^^ it's an arcade, not a simulator; most people on the planet with computers have a mouse, but do not have a joystick; and since this is the bigger populace, this also happens to be the moneymaker.
Now the reason control is such a big topic- every game ever made, every mmo ever made, has succeeded or suffered entirely because of 'how it felt' when controlling whatever object, in the entire history of gaming. People, who have been gaming for many years, perceive it now at such a subconscious, minute level, that they don't even realize sometimes what has turned them away from a game other than 'it just felt wrong'. (This is ignoring the fact that people like to focus on other bad/good things)
There was an mmo once, it was a really good and incredibly popular mmo, clocking over 14 million accounts around the world. Can you guess what it was?
It was Lineage 2 in it's heyday. And even though it was amazing and new at the time, it's biggest problem and the worst thing about it - it was click on the ground to walk, and then while walking your character would, at every point that it's running towards, desync from the server and appear to be a few steps away from the spot you clicked on.
Yet, ignoring everything else about WoW, when it launched, That was the revolutionary thing about it. That was, what got most people to start playing it and stick with it- It's smooth, pitch perfect AND responsive controls.
Back to WoWP controls. If there ever was a bigger failure in a control system of Aircraft in any game, other than this one, we do not know of it. Now, it is somewhat excusable. Wargaming.NET, afterall, was never a flight game-engine maker. On the other hand, War Thunder creators, not the publishers - Gaijin, but the company who made War Thunder, have made Flight Games before, in fact it would not be surprising if they reused many of the elements from their previous engines to make War Thunder. So, sure, as a first timer in flight, for Wargaming, it will be difficult.
However, it appears to most people that Wargaming has really missed the mark there. Not just in a small way either, but it has botched up the most important aspect of any game.
Obviously scrapping the engine isn't an option at this stage, even if it is a re-purposed one from a different genre and clearly doesn't fit. Best way to describe the co-relation? Artillery; have a deep think, how does artillery handle in WoT? Once you are in the sniper mode, you move the reticule around the map, and if it needs to, the main body of the tank will turn after a delay. That's how the planes feel, except for constant adjustment in the case of the plane.
So what is the solution then? If a wrong engine was chosen from the start, or improperly suited for the task, then will any amount of scripting, and algorithms help? Possibly, but if that's what it's going to take, and if Wargaming decide to put in the effort, then the worry is - how long? How long will it take them, and will it be too late by then? Will anyone stick around long enough to find out, or will there be left just a few die-hard fans?
In conclusion. On the other hand, what War Thunder has, in it's interface design, in core systems of how the management aspect of the game is handled, how you manage your crews and planes, they are terrible. Some are seeing improvements and polish, but overall they are at every click and turn, geared to push the player into spending money. Everywhere. And all of the systems that WoWP got right with GUI design, crew management, plane management, and other related systems, War Thunder got wrong.
And none of it matters, because the single most important aspect of all, when you hit the Battle button and the game loads, and you release the plane, you feel like a free bird soaring through the skies, and the plane obeys as it should instead of fighting you.
They got that right.
http://sigs.griefwatch.net/index.php?kb=LESTUS&name=lestus&template=chaos
What a silly statement. Flown a lot of flight simulators and the good ones always allow for the mouse.
Funny how Wowp flops as soon as you take off and WT is a stinker until you actually start flying, but then again, isn't this game about flying?
If you have a problem earning lions in F2P Warthunder, you're simply not good enough yet.
I like both games but I would rather stick to a company I know and not someone I don't know like the creators of war thunder.
I have played both games plus I also play WOT.
It really depends on how good the land and sea warfare are going to be and how they will work with the air battles.....Just having them is not enough and might even be detrimental.