World of Tanks Blitz – Nintendo Switch Review

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Fast Facts

World of Tanks Blitz

Developer: Wargaming
Publisher: Wargaming
Website: www.wotblitz.com
Genre: Squad-Based, PvP, Team, Shooter
Platform: Nintendo Switch, PC, Android, iOS
Age Rating: 7
Release Date: 26/08/20
Price: Free to Play (additional costs may vary)

A code was provided for review purposes.

Introduction

World of Tank Blitz is is a massive multiplayer online game that has been developed by Belarusian developer; Wargaming. The game features combat within various mid 20th century combat vehicles which range from the 1930s to the 1960s. World of Tanks and its companion – World of Tanks Blitz, are built from a freemium gameplay model where the base game is free, however players have the option to buy additional premium features. The entire emphasis is on player vs player combat with each player controlling an armoured vehicle.

Gameplay

Jumping into a realistically modelled tank and destroying your enemies is pretty fun, and it’s a pretty straight forward process of aiming and shooting until tank goes boom! As we play matches and start to rack up kills we then get the option to purchase yet more tanks for our garage and the process starts again. This is all fine until you reach a point when the newer tanks don’t seem to do as much damage as before and we then have to rely on team synergy to win matches.

The vehicles in World of Tanks Blitz come under different classes. There are five different classes to choose from and each country has a vast variety of tanks to choose from. With each class having a different playstyle to the other, and each tank handling different to the next, it can take a variety of matches to get accustomed to your role. The five tank classes are; Light, Medium, Heavy, Destroyer and Artillery. Each class plays a role, such as light tanks are generally scouts who can speed across the battlefield to spot enemy units. Whilst the destroyer class is your typical sniper class and can pack a punch from long range. During my time with World of Tanks Blitz I mainly stuck to being medium/heavy class. These both suited my playstyle of rolling across the battlefield to fight up close or supporting longer ranged tanks with close support. My tactics weren’t 100% successful but more often than not, if my team won I was lucky enough to survive.

Combat

In terms of combat, World of Tanks Blitz is very similar to its PC and Console counterpart. We are given a range of different tanks and we choose one to then go into battle against others of a similar skill. Once we’ve outgrown our current tank we can then upgrade to a higher tier to then fight tougher, more skilled enemies. This carries on until we reach tier 10 and in doing so we then reach the top of the progression system. Blitz has been considerably streamlined from its original incarnation to better suit life on the Nintendo Switch. This time round teams consist of seven players and the maps are considerably smaller. This can make matches more intense as both teams come into range of each other a lot sooner. Controls and general match strategies stay the same so returning players or even players of the original World of Tanks will feel right at home.

Matches are for the most part pretty fun and we have to employ a small amount of tactics into our gameplay. Each tank has pretty poor handling and turning around can be pretty difficult especially when under fire. Each tank will also feature certain parts that are more armoured than others. This means that if we are hit in a poorly armoured compartment then we’re in for a rough time. Each damaged compartment can seriously effect or combat effectiveness, and dampen our teams chance of victory. For example if our tracks get damaged then we are effectively a sitting duck until our team repairs it. These can be repaired more quickly via repair kits however these are a premium item which come at a higher cost. This way of damaging tanks also works in our favour as we can damage the enemy team in the same way. Also if we get extremely lucky, we can land a shot that goes right through the target’s armour to deal massive damage and on occasion take the tank out in one hit.

At times combat can be frustrating and this boils down to the game’s matchmaking. We are matched up in terms of what tier of tank we are currently driving. This can at times result in some pretty bizarre team formations. As I said before; team synergy plays a big part and can make all the difference between victory and losing. A good team is preferably made up of a good variety of classes. More often than not, you will be on the team that either has four or five destroyers or the majority will be light tanks. This can then mean that an individual player can get a few kills but still lose the battle as their team doesn’t know how to play. As frustrating as it is this doesn’t take away the fun factor of playing Blitz but it can dampen the experience as a whole.

Character Select

Each country has a vast amount of tanks to choose from. Each tank comes with its own upgrade tree. Once we have researched and installed these upgrades we can move on up a tier within that country’s tech tree. Each country’s tech tree has various tanks to choose from and multiple classes can feature across many of the branches.

I chose to invest in the German and American tech trees and soon enough had a few tanks in my garage to choose from. The two main tanks I switched between were the iconic American M4A3E8 Sherman and the German Tiger I. Whilst both being heavy tanks, each had its own strengths and weaknesses. Whist the Tiger I featured harder hitting shells and higher armour, its reload speed and manoeuvrability were atrocious. Meanwhile the ‘Easy Eight’ couldn’t take as much damage but was great at supporting the team and assisting with kills. There is no right or wrong choice when it comes to selecting a nation and we can research multiple branches from multiple nations at the same time; however the XP grind more than doubles your time spent at that tier – which I learnt the hard way.

Conclusion

World of Tanks Blitz is an interesting take on the World of Tanks formula. Whilst Blitz has been heavily simplified for the Nintendo Switch, fans of the PC and Console versions will feel right at home. Whilst the slow progression may put off most people, if you stick with it then World of Tanks Blitz offers a vast amount of tanks to unlock and play with. Blitz isn’t without its issues and it can be plagued at times with frame rate issues and unresponsive controls. If you can look past these then World of Tanks Blitz is a fun game, just not near the same level as its counterpart.

Rapid Reviews Rating

World of Tanks Blitz is available now on: Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS and Windows PC.