Recent reviews by KeKinHell

Look at me.

War Thunder is unequivocally my most played game at nearly 3000 hours; and that's just what's been recorded on Steam. I have perhaps several thousand more from even before then. I've been playing since the game first launched into closed beta. 20 ranks, Me262 at top tier... I played tanks when they first came to closed beta as well.

I have first hand seen how this game has evolved; to the point where I cannot even bare to play it anymore. Many economic "reworks" ago, progress was fun and tolerable. Things weren't handed to you on a silver lion platter, you still had to work hard to earn vehicles, but things felt achievable; even without premium. Nowadays the wall you hit at tier 5 and higher feels steeper and ever, and vehicles start to feel less and less achievable. Modern tanks and aircraft are heralded as War Thunder's primary form of marketing, but the grind to the top to even touch these aircraft without paying exorbitant, AAA prices is Everastian at best.

That's ignoring, of course, the fact that the game is built in such a way that buying your way to the top leaves you disadvantaged. Not only in terms of experience, but also because the core game mode for tanks in particular is designed around you having an entire line-up at roughly the same tier.

A core gamemode that, mind you, is little more than glorified TDM every single damn match, with side "objectives" whose only purpose is to provide a way to end the game in the very common case of someone hiding from battle so as to not have to pay incredulous repair costs. Hell, some vehicles practically require you to ace a game in order for you to even be able to profit credits at all should you die; even with premium.

Take heed: this game is as free as inheritance from your long lost African prince-uncle. You're lured in with a free trial that lasts until tier 5 when you're most invested... and then the game manipulates you with progression stagnation into spending money... only to still be unsatisfied unless you spend even MORE money.

This game doesn't deserve your money. To feed into it would just be promoting this predatory "Free to grind" model.

Do yourself a favor and go play World of Warships.