Update from me in May 2023: The developers made extremely unpopular changes to the gameplay and the player economy. Doubled down on those changes when players retaliated to their changes with criticism and review bombing. So this rest of this review has not aged a single day since I wrote it in December 2020. lol, lmao even

Original review
This game is honestly more of a quite niche game, for a starter.

War Thunder is a game that features hundreds of airplanes, helicopters, ground vehicles, and navies of following nations; United States, Soviet Union, Germany, Britain, Japan, China, France, Italy, and Sweden. At time of writing this review.

The good:
* Specatular and immersive graphics overall, it has had its kinks and wrinkles, but the developers have impressively worked them out.
* Wide selection of vehicles
* There are three different modes appealing to different kinds of players; Arcade for the casual, Realistic for the who wish a more anal experience, Simulator which is a niche for the niche kind of players.
* The damage model has no visible health bars, there are many ways to kill one; knocking out the crew, destroying the hull (light vehicles only), munition explosion, fuel explosion, uncontrolled fire, chipping wings off planes, forcing a ship to sink faster than it bilge itself out. Creativity gets you far ways.

The bad:
* A free to play trap. The grind gets horrendous starting just as you finish the second rank of every tree in every nation. Premium can only get you far to ranks 3 and 4, or 5 if you stick to just air planes, as they are faster to grind thanks to lower requirements and higher rewards.
* The developers skirt between obvious money grabbers and costumer-friendly. Not to mention the whole debacle of censoring Taiwan from the entire game.
* Absence of PvE content. ---- Well. There are a PvE mode. But can you say "WT's PvE is playable and rewarding" with a straight face? If PvE is your thing, Then, I recommend other games like Armoured Warfare (free to play with premium, starting with cold war tanks up to present day), Ace Combat, IL-2 series, and World of Warships (the PvE is decent, even for a WarGame game). There are lot more games like WT but have better PvE.
* The community. It's a basket of fresh apples with some rotten apples. The problem is, the rule of "the loud minority" applies here. The majority who wishes the better of the game often go unheard or ridiculed.
* The "MUH REALISM" part of the former community. It's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game for ♥♥♥♥♥ sake.
* The game is designed to make you frustrated as possible, then sell you a "better experience" to incentive you into putting money on this game. The game also features lot of grind content and stress-inducing features are built to incentive you to use their premium features. If getting pointlessly furious is not your thing, or wanting to have a relaxing game is your thing, avoid this game.

I enjoyed War Thunder, but I have difficulty to enjoy the game time to time. And at several times it had made me question myself why did I even bother playing this game.

As a short-term game where you just play on and off just to kill time without minding the other content and the community. Or just a game to play with your friends. I reckon it is a good game.

But if you plan to play this for the long-term, like Destiny 2, World of Tanks, or Team Fortress 2. Or plan to play this by all yourself. Then I say with a heavy heart. No, this game is not a good game for this intent and purpose. The grind is honestly not worth it. The developers only care about filling their pockets with cash fast as possible.

Hopefully. The developers change their business practices and how they plan up their economy, it'll help making the grind less unbearable and the gameplay more rewarding no matter how you play it. But right now, it feels more like a far-fetched dream.

[b]Update from me in May 2023[/b]: The developers made extremely unpopular changes to the gameplay and the player economy. Doubled down on those changes when players retaliated to their changes with criticism and review bombing. So this rest of this review has not aged a single day since I wrote it in December 2020. lol, lmao even [b]Original review[/b] This game is honestly more of a quite niche game, for a starter. War Thunder is a game that features hundreds of airplanes, helicopters, ground vehicles, and navies of following nations; United States, Soviet Union, Germany, Britain, Japan, China, France, Italy, and Sweden. At time of writing this review. The good: * Specatular and immersive graphics overall, it has had its kinks and wrinkles, but the developers have impressively worked them out. * Wide selection of vehicles * There are three different modes appealing to different kinds of players; Arcade for the casual, Realistic for the who wish a more anal experience, Simulator which is a niche for the niche kind of players. * The damage model has no visible health bars, there are many ways to kill one; knocking out the crew, destroying the hull (light vehicles only), munition explosion, fuel explosion, uncontrolled fire, chipping wings off planes, forcing a ship to sink faster than it bilge itself out. Creativity gets you far ways. The bad: * A free to play trap. The grind gets horrendous starting just as you finish the second rank of every tree in every nation. Premium can only get you far to ranks 3 and 4, or 5 if you stick to just air planes, as they are faster to grind thanks to lower requirements and higher rewards. * The developers skirt between obvious money grabbers and costumer-friendly. Not to mention the whole debacle of censoring Taiwan from the entire game. * Absence of PvE content. ---- Well. There are a PvE mode. But can you say "WT's PvE is playable and rewarding" with a straight face? If PvE is your thing, Then, I recommend other games like Armoured Warfare (free to play with premium, starting with cold war tanks up to present day), Ace Combat, IL-2 series, and World of Warships (the PvE is decent, even for a WarGame game). There are lot more games like WT but have better PvE. * The community. It's a basket of fresh apples with some rotten apples. The problem is, the rule of "the loud minority" applies here. The majority who wishes the better of the game often go unheard or ridiculed. * The "MUH REALISM" part of the former community. It's a goddamned game for fucks sake. * The game is designed to make you frustrated as possible, then sell you a "better experience" to incentive you into putting money on this game. The game also features lot of grind content and stress-inducing features are built to incentive you to use their premium features. If getting pointlessly furious is not your thing, or wanting to have a relaxing game is your thing, avoid this game. I enjoyed War Thunder, but I have difficulty to enjoy the game time to time. And at several times it had made me question myself why did I even bother playing this game. As a short-term game where you just play on and off just to kill time without minding the other content and the community. Or just a game to play with your friends. I reckon it is a good game. But if you plan to play this for the long-term, like Destiny 2, World of Tanks, or Team Fortress 2. Or plan to play this by all yourself. Then I say with a heavy heart. No, this game is not a good game for this intent and purpose. The grind is honestly not worth it. The developers only care about filling their pockets with cash fast as possible. Hopefully. The developers change their business practices and how they plan up their economy, it'll help making the grind less unbearable and the gameplay more rewarding no matter how you play it. But right now, it feels more like a far-fetched dream.