First, we want to note that as of the beginning of this month, 60,000 additional beta codes were given out at random. This means most that will read this review will indeed already know what the beta is like.
A summary:
World of warplanes is pretty much wargames' attempt to create a pre-world war II to Korean era flight simulator for combat aircraft. As such most of the early reconnaissance biplanes, and early jets are included. Most world war II fighters, bombers and heavy attack aircraft have already been implemented , and hundreds are being finished up before the "open beta" launches.
We personally went down the "all German" line, as we did in world of tanks.Furthermore, the game is really divided into three "sub niches"(the initial being nationality like in wot).
These would be:
- The standard fighter, designed to really only combat enemy aircraft, and not really destroy targets. Most of all, these are the reconnaissance aircrafts, the aircrafts designed to down enemy bombers(interceptors), and the primary "escorts" to counter enemy fighters.
- The Bomber , designed primarily to destroy ground targets, and usually well equipped to fight off any fighter that is stupid enough to try to get in front of you. Really, as the name suggests, the goal of a bomber is to bomb stuff =).
- The heavy fighter , lets just call this one "the jack of all trades". It is designed to intercept enemy fighters, bombers, and heavy fighters. It also usually mounts heavy bombs or missiles to destroy ground targets.
So , really, the bomber is like the spg in world of tanks, the fighter is like a tank destroyer, and the heavy fighter is like a medium tank. We don't know if they plan on adding heavy bombers yet, but perhaps that will be the equivalent of a heavy tank?
The game really plays out much like world of tanks, you go out and work in a team, with the intent to eradicate the enemy team. Unlike the "capture the base" concept in world of tanks, world of warplanes focuses on destroying ground targets to achieve points. As such, this game is tricky to get a hang of, and you have to learn your role relying heavily on friendly support to actually get anything done.
The controls are difficult to master at first, especially if you are rather new to flight simulators, and therefore might be a turnoff to most newcomers. But we assure you, after a few days of game-play, the game begins to grow on you, you will realize that it is "on par" with world of tanks, best of all your account is unified, and the game is free to play.
Customization:
As with the recent patch in world of tanks, the planes are customizable. We mean this both physically and in armament. For instance, a heavy fighter is pretty slow if you mount two 500 pound bombs on it, and it can easily become prey to the enemy in this sluggish state.
So what can you do?
1) you can press b twice when your getting attacked, and loose your bombs (which will cost you after the battle to buy again) , or you can mount two smaller 200 lbs bombs, which would not have such a large impact on your performance (climb rate, turnrate).
2) At the same time, you have to understand that being heavier means you dive much faster, so maybe you could keep the 500 pounders and try to do a downwards circle to get on your enemy's tail?
The possibilities, and fun you can have with this is endless. All Soviet, American, German and soon to be British, Italian, French and Japanese can also be paint schemed as of last patch.
Before this patch, you would randomly be a different color each battle.
Now, you can choose the color of your chassis, nose and all your appropriate markings.
We also have a nice image of a BF109c early fighter with a red nose and green chassis here:
And here is a BF109E (lighter model of early fighter than BF109C) with a yellow checkered nose:
The Game Play
The gameplay, as we mentioned before is really quite fun, once you get the hang of it, you will be screaming, hoping to make an "almost crash" save every time you try to avoid someone on your tail with a ground dive. You really get into it, it's more fast paced than world of tanks, and camping is practically impossible.
The music that constantly plays is also a huge bonus(plus), amidst the chaos, you have these sort of very fitting marches playing in the background, it's really dazzling in the midst of battle.
One thing that does get annoying over time is the people on your own team Kamikaze[ing] you , constantly. But this does become less rare in the future(as you go off tiers people are less nooby). Although it will still happen, more often than not, a desperate enemy might try to kamikaze you to get a suicide kill, or simply crash into a ground target. Again, this is a bit frustrating at first, but it adds flavor to the game(and gives you options when you are down to less than 10% health). Do also note that module damage is very realistic, and as your plane gets damages, you see it physically.
We also want to add that the maps are indeed beautifully done, on maximum settings, you will be amazed with the detail of work put into every corner of the maps.
Suggestions
We would highly like to see weather implemented in both world of warplanes, and world of tanks. But overall, for something in a closed beta, it's really quite great! We wont give too much away, but prepare to be surprised once it is released in open beta!