The Good about Armored Warfare
- What I liked excellently about Armored Warfare is the sound of the game. It is atmospheric and immersive.
- The feeling that you understand Armored Warfare better while playing and begin to think more strategically was a very satisfying experience.
- Additionally, the “progression” feels good. You get closer to a goal after every round, either unlocking “fresh tanks” or slightly improving and configuring existing tanks. Each time is motivation to see how an improvement shows up in the next match. And of course, the new tanks are the carrot in front of the nose.
- And the most important thing: It is just exciting when you have to survive the last seconds in a mission with heavy damage. That creates real tension. The “blind understanding” with teammates in some matches when you take down enemies in crossfire is also a nice experience.
The Bad about Armored Warfare
- While it goes quickly at the beginning and you unlock new tanks relatively quickly, from tier 3 it becomes noticeably tougher, and later it goes even slower. Armored Warfare wants to improve that, but it’s already tough. When improvements stall and you don’t get any new toys, it does become monotonous.
- I would have expected the RPG elements to be more exciting. While the 4 commanders you can choose gain new abilities, they are all essentially passive bonuses. You notice no personality of the commanders except in a dossier. The tank crews didn’t even get such dossiers. It’s all totally interchangeable, they grant minimal benefits. Nothing really feels “RPG” to me. More creativity could have been put into that.
- Then there’s a “stuck-on” browser-based base expansion thing… that’s also very rudimentary.
- A disadvantage of the scripted PvE missions: It often felt to me like everyone knew the map by heart except me. When 4 players drive to the exact right spot 30 seconds before something happens to greet the always same spawning enemies in crossfire, it’s not really exciting. In PvP mode, as a beginner who wasn’t part of the closed beta phases at the beginning (they call it Early Access here), you get pretty stomped. I did not put myself through that.
Is Armored Warfare worth it?
There’s no need to beat around the bush: Yes, Armored Warfare is definitely worth it.
It’s a free-to-play game, the launcher is good, the download is quick. Armored Warfare already feels rounded and mature. I can only recommend it to anyone who has an affinity for “shooters” or who watched “Saving Private Ryan” with their mouth wide open, to download it and check it out.
That’s the beauty of free-to-play games: Trying it out costs nothing. You just have to play more matches than a premium player to progress through the tier levels if you forgo premium and real money. But after several hours, which you can definitely play for free, everyone should have a sense: Yes, Armored Warfare is for me or not.
