Let's get the obvious point out of the way first: Why would I not recommend a game that I have spent over 1500 hours playing. Well the answer is simple. It has really gone down the drain in the last few years. When I first started playing Warthunder in the early days of the open beta I was truly impressed by how much content it offered while being free to play. But nowadays Gaijin only seems to care about making money, instead of actually trying to improve the game. For the purpose of this review I will focus mainly on tank battles since that's where most of the problems become apparent. Also I feel that tanks are the main reason why people download Warthunder in the first place. If you are only interested in playing planes or ships the following issues might not affect you that much.

1. Pay to win:

If a game is free to play it's obvious that the developers have to earn money through ingame purchases, that's nothing new. Games like League of Legends sell skins, which allows the players to customize their favorite champs, without giving them an advantage over other players. This is pretty much the ideal solution for this problem. Warthunder chose a different approach which also worked pretty well in the beginning. By buying premium status you earn more money and research points per match. This allows you to progress faster, without giving you an unfair advantage.
You can also buy premium vehicles, which provide higher kill rewards even without an active premium account. These vehicles used to be unique but not op. However this has changed. Many premium vehicles nowadays are just broken. Therefore they give players who are willing to pay insane amounts of money an advantage over those who aren't. Two very prominent examples would be the E.B.R. or the Harrier. And even though Gaijin knows about this issue they are unwilling to change anything about it, since, you know, money.
Another example of pay to win are bushes. In tank battles (unless you play arcade) you have to spot enemy tanks yourself, which means that staying hidden is key. Bushes are one of the many cosmetic items you can put on your tank and they can only be bought with golden eagles (premium currency). They can be used to hide entire tanks (depending on the size) or cover weak spots (like MG-ports). Meanwhile Gaijin claims they are purely cosmetic and don't provide an ingame advantage... yeah right.

2. Close Air Support (CAS):

One of Warthunder's defining features is "mixed battles". This means that you can spawn in planes in tank battles to support your team. While this sounds great on paper, it completely ruins the fun for those on the receiving end. Planes are incredibly easy to spawn in and there is no limit to how many can be spawned at the same time (except for arcade). So even if you are doing great with your tank there is always the chance someone will just strap bombs or rockets to their fighter and destroy you anyway. And by "there is a chance" I mean it will basically happen every match. This is especially frustrating when it comes to "revenge bombing". You see, since the kill-cam shows your enemy where you shot then from they can just spawn in as a CAS-plane and revenge kill you. And there is zero counterplay. Sure, there are anti-air vehicles but they are not gonna stop someone who choses to ram their plane into you, releasing their bomb at the last second. I've had rounds where I couldn't even get out of spawn since someone in a plane (if I joined late which happens sometimes due to the weird queue system) or in a helicopter (can be spawned at the very beginning of the round) was already waiting. And while Gaijin is also aware of this problem, they choose to ignore it instead of simply fixing it by increasing CAS spawn points or creating a separate mode without it.

3. Advantages through graphic settings:

First of all Warthunder looks really good for a free to play title. Therefore not everyone will be able to run it on full graphics settings. And that's where the problem begins. If you turn down the settings to the absolute minimum you gain an overwhelming advantage over other players. Grass and entire bushes will simply not exist for you which means you can see enemy tanks when others can't. A player who hides in a forest covered by grass and bushes is usually extremely hard to spot. And since the one who gets the first shot off usually wins in a tank fight, cover is extremely important. Players who abuse low quality settings however will be able to see that palyer anyway. This issue has also persisted for many years but Gaijin is also not willing to change anything in that regard.

4. Balance:

Every vehicle has a battle rating (BR) which determines what opponents it's going to face off against. Gaijin determines these ratings by looking at win rates of that particular vehicle. Therefore vehicles that are usually played by less skilled players will be broken at a specific BR. A good example would be the Tiger 1, probably the most famous tank in the world. And that's exactly the reason why new players will usually research it as soon as possible. They will join a battle with it and get their butts kicked since they lack experience. Therefore the win-rate of the Tiger 1 drops and it will go to a lower BR where even those players will be able to perform decently with it. Those who know what they're doing however will absolutely crush opponents whose tanks don't stand a chance against the Tiger. The Youtuber "Spookston" has published a great video about this issue called "The Tiger Problem", where he explains this in detail. I recommend you check it out.


That's pretty much all there is to say about this game. It certainly has its strengths but it could be so much more if Gaijin decided to listen to the community. Instead they sometimes chat-ban those who talk about these issues in all-chat, while players who insult others seem to go unpunished. So unless you are willing to pay a lot of money i recommend you check out a different game or focus on air- or sea battles, at least until Gaijin decides to actually address these issues.

Let's get the obvious point out of the way first: Why would I not recommend a game that I have spent over 1500 hours playing. Well the answer is simple. It has really gone down the drain in the last few years. When I first started playing Warthunder in the early days of the open beta I was truly impressed by how much content it offered while being free to play. But nowadays Gaijin only seems to care about making money, instead of actually trying to improve the game. For the purpose of this review I will focus mainly on tank battles since that's where most of the problems become apparent. Also I feel that tanks are the main reason why people download Warthunder in the first place. If you are only interested in playing planes or ships the following issues might not affect you that much. 1. Pay to win: If a game is free to play it's obvious that the developers have to earn money through ingame purchases, that's nothing new. Games like League of Legends sell skins, which allows the players to customize their favorite champs, without giving them an advantage over other players. This is pretty much the ideal solution for this problem. Warthunder chose a different approach which also worked pretty well in the beginning. By buying premium status you earn more money and research points per match. This allows you to progress faster, without giving you an unfair advantage. You can also buy premium vehicles, which provide higher kill rewards even without an active premium account. These vehicles used to be unique but not op. However this has changed. Many premium vehicles nowadays are just broken. Therefore they give players who are willing to pay insane amounts of money an advantage over those who aren't. Two very prominent examples would be the E.B.R. or the Harrier. And even though Gaijin knows about this issue they are unwilling to change anything about it, since, you know, money. Another example of pay to win are bushes. In tank battles (unless you play arcade) you have to spot enemy tanks yourself, which means that staying hidden is key. Bushes are one of the many cosmetic items you can put on your tank and they can only be bought with golden eagles (premium currency). They can be used to hide entire tanks (depending on the size) or cover weak spots (like MG-ports). Meanwhile Gaijin claims they are purely cosmetic and don't provide an ingame advantage... yeah right. 2. Close Air Support (CAS): One of Warthunder's defining features is "mixed battles". This means that you can spawn in planes in tank battles to support your team. While this sounds great on paper, it completely ruins the fun for those on the receiving end. Planes are incredibly easy to spawn in and there is no limit to how many can be spawned at the same time (except for arcade). So even if you are doing great with your tank there is always the chance someone will just strap bombs or rockets to their fighter and destroy you anyway. And by "there is a chance" I mean it will basically happen every match. This is especially frustrating when it comes to "revenge bombing". You see, since the kill-cam shows your enemy where you shot then from they can just spawn in as a CAS-plane and revenge kill you. And there is zero counterplay. Sure, there are anti-air vehicles but they are not gonna stop someone who choses to ram their plane into you, releasing their bomb at the last second. I've had rounds where I couldn't even get out of spawn since someone in a plane (if I joined late which happens sometimes due to the weird queue system) or in a helicopter (can be spawned at the very beginning of the round) was already waiting. And while Gaijin is also aware of this problem, they choose to ignore it instead of simply fixing it by increasing CAS spawn points or creating a separate mode without it. 3. Advantages through graphic settings: First of all Warthunder looks really good for a free to play title. Therefore not everyone will be able to run it on full graphics settings. And that's where the problem begins. If you turn down the settings to the absolute minimum you gain an overwhelming advantage over other players. Grass and entire bushes will simply not exist for you which means you can see enemy tanks when others can't. A player who hides in a forest covered by grass and bushes is usually extremely hard to spot. And since the one who gets the first shot off usually wins in a tank fight, cover is extremely important. Players who abuse low quality settings however will be able to see that palyer anyway. This issue has also persisted for many years but Gaijin is also not willing to change anything in that regard. 4. Balance: Every vehicle has a battle rating (BR) which determines what opponents it's going to face off against. Gaijin determines these ratings by looking at win rates of that particular vehicle. Therefore vehicles that are usually played by less skilled players will be broken at a specific BR. A good example would be the Tiger 1, probably the most famous tank in the world. And that's exactly the reason why new players will usually research it as soon as possible. They will join a battle with it and get their butts kicked since they lack experience. Therefore the win-rate of the Tiger 1 drops and it will go to a lower BR where even those players will be able to perform decently with it. Those who know what they're doing however will absolutely crush opponents whose tanks don't stand a chance against the Tiger. The Youtuber "Spookston" has published a great video about this issue called "The Tiger Problem", where he explains this in detail. I recommend you check it out. That's pretty much all there is to say about this game. It certainly has its strengths but it could be so much more if Gaijin decided to listen to the community. Instead they sometimes chat-ban those who talk about these issues in all-chat, while players who insult others seem to go unpunished. So unless you are willing to pay a lot of money i recommend you check out a different game or focus on air- or sea battles, at least until Gaijin decides to actually address these issues.