Made by Wargaming (WG), World of Tanks (WoT) has been with us for more than 15 years, throughout which it continued to change, sometimes in a good and others in a bad way. I discovered the game during the beta phase following the sudden death – RIP, my old friend – of my graphics card, which pushed me to look for free games and save my cash for a new GPU, and I have been playing it regularly since then. Along the way, I discovered multiple armoured-combat games that tried to mimic WoT, with varying levels of success.
Today, I will share that list with you, in case you were looking for a change of pace or simply want to see if the grass is greener elsewhere. If, like me, you are a big fan of armoured warfare games, you may know these; if so, don’t forget to share your experience with us on social media.
War Thunder
War Thunder is both the biggest competitor and existential threat to World of Tanks and Wargaming in general. It combines tank, plane, ship, helicopter, and, soon, submarine warfare in a single game, countering all WG’s big titles in one mahoosive sweep. More importantly, it does so with a greater focus on realism, giving it a unique gameplay and feel. Heck, even its Arcade mode is still more realistic than WoT has ever been. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Where WoT gives your tank a health pool that you need to chew through to kill an enemy, War Thunder provides modules and crew members to knock out. It encourages you to learn the internal layout of each tank in order to target exactly where to do the most damage. While there is a small amount of Random Number Generation (RNG) shenanigans; often, if you aim for an ammo rack, the enemy will go up in flames. Also, being able to jump into a plane and bomb the hell out of a camper is quite satisfying, if you like that sort of carnage.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean it’s without flaws. For instance, if you didn’t like getting liberally spammed by artillery fire in WoT, you may not like it here since planes can be an even greater menace. That said, the part that most players dislike is the slow, slow grind. If you want to play modern Main Battle Tanks (MBTs), better prepare your combat rations because you’re not going outside any time soon. Though on the bright side, the most fun is had at low and mid-tiers, in my opinion.
Overall, the best parts in War Thunder, for me, are the ability to spawn multiple times during the same round, the very large maps that feel more like real battlefields and less like a handcrafted ring, and the ability to jump into a plane or helicopter to counter any annoying campers. Boom!
Armored Warfare
Armored Warfare is a game that tries hard to offer something still missing from WoT until this day, namely modern vehicles. Instead of focusing on World War II tanks, Armored Warfare starts directly from Cold War-era MBTs, which many prefer over the slow hunks of metal of WoT. Once more, you will find a health-based combat system where you need to drop the enemy’s HP to zero to obliterate them. The same goes for engagement rules, where heavy tanks are better attacked from the side and rear.
Game progression feels faster than WoT and War Thunder, more so if you subscribe to a premium account – shocker, I know, but at the same time, there are fewer tanks to choose from. If you come from World of Tanks, you will find many resembling mechanics, from improving crews to upgrading vehicles. And the same goes for combat, where you can deal and receive damage to modules which impact the behaviours of the tanks in different ways. Nice.
Unfortunately, the server population of Armored Warfare is quite low, especially compared to the juggernauts WoT and War Thunder. That said, matchmaking is still acceptable, easily building parties under a minute.
Its strongest point against the competition is its PVE mode, if you are looking for more fun and less stress. There are over 40 of these missions, so you can have plenty of fun before submitting to boredom.
PANZERKAMPF
PANZERKAMPF is a young, in-progress game that became available about a year ago, and through Steam just four months ago. As such, it still requires lots of improvement to reach the level of the games listed above. Even so, PANZERKAMPF is quite promising, offering a different flavour of WWII-era combat.
The combat in PANZERKAMPF is fast-paced; you don’t waste a lot of time going through a big map to find opponents. The main section of the UI is similar to WoT, which isn’t a bad thing, especially for those switching between all these titles. The gameplay is slightly more arcadey than WoT, too, mainly because of the tanks’ fast acceleration, which many will find unsuitable for these multi-tonne vehicles. Realism, be damned.
The thing I felt the most during my limited play time is that maps feel empty and lifeless compared to WoT, which is a further-accentuated issue considering the limited number of maps available. Nevertheless, the variety of tanks is acceptable for a new game.
Other than this, you will find a similar experience, based on HP, armour, and weak spots, so WoT players can jump straight away.
Tank Force
Tank Force is a mix between Armored Warfare and WoT, designed to play nicely both on PC and mobile devices. It’s an even faster-paced game than PANZERKAMPF, focusing on Cold War-era tanks. The menus are, once more, very reminiscent of WOT, but the gameplay is more forgiving and better suited for new players. For example, you can respawn multiple times in each game, to keep you learning instead of waiting in a loading screen.
I liked the possibility to gain Gold coins, a thing other games rarely offer, as well as the tournaments, which net you many goodies. It’s a simple game that focuses on close combat, getting you in the thick of it right away. Because of this, the maps are quite small for my taste, but that may be exactly what you are looking for.
Final thoughts
Before we close, let me bring to your attention the improved state of World of Tanks. If, like many, you had taken a long break from the game due to its declining state over the years, I wouldn’t blame you. But you must know that Wargaming is in the process of fixing many of the game’s flaws, starting with match-making, which now targets +1/-1 games as much as possible.
Furthermore, many tanks have been reworked (buffed) during the last big 2.0 update. Most surprisingly, WG gave plenty of genuinely nice gifts such as a month of premium (plus another through simple daily missions), 15,000 Bonds, and 2,500 Gold; yes, WG gave gold! I would have never imagined witnessing such a day.
This holiday season is also the perfect time to come back to the game, since you can combine the aforementioned gifts plus plenty more specials for December’s celebrations, among which is a special Tier VII premium tank. What are you waiting for?
Overall, if you want the closest experience to World of Tanks, go with PANZERKAMPF, and if you want to try something different and better in many ways, in my opinion, opt for War Thunder. If you like modern vehicles but can’t go through the arguably abysmally long grind of War Thunder, then Armored Warfare is a safer bet. Either way, you will have plenty of fun smashing the enemy to smithereens.
