Game Review Mobile
World of Tanks Blitz
TAW Going Mobile: World of Tanks Blitz
-QuinoaAOC
Back in 2014, the crew over at Wargaming.net released the mobile companion to their wildly popular online multiplayer tank simulator World of Tanks. Aptly title World of Tanks: Blitz the mobile game offers a familiar bunker busting experience to its older brother, but has a scaled down, quick action focus to satisfy the impulsive nature of mobile gaming. As a whole, Blitz stands on its own with minor changes that clearly separate it from the traditional World of Tanks experience that the boys and girls down in World of Tanks [WT] enjoy everyday in TAW.
The primary difference between the Blitz and the original game is that maps are smaller and battles have been scaled back from 15 vs 15 to 7 vs 7. There are also fewer tanks and the the crew mastery and chat systems have been significantly scaled back. While this offers inherently less in-depth gameplay overall, it also makes the action a lot faster and the battles significantly shorter. The result is both understandable and preferable for a mobile platform where most gaming is short lived and based on impulse. This allows a player to flip their phone sideways during the commercial break on a football game or snatch up a tablet in that last 15 minutes of a lunch break and knock out a few quick battles where a more involved game with twice the players and four times the map size would be virtually impossible to get a full match in. The controls are also simplified for obvious reasons as most people don’t have a full keyboard and mouse set-up for their mobile devices. The progression, even without spending real money on upgrades, boosts, and premium memberships, is smooth and never feels like hitting a paywall where a credit card is a condition of victory.
On the downside, despite having fewer tanks, smaller maps, and a less feature rich experience, it is still a massive file for a mobile device. The game uses a whopping 3.71GB of storage in additional to patches and updates as opposed to the 100MB that most mobile games average. As one would expect, Blitz is also data intensive, leading to a need to restrict gameplay to areas with reliable, accessible, fast wifi for those who have data limited or restricted mobile plans. The app itself also has a lengthy setup process after download that annoyingly cannot efficiently function in the background. All in all, it took 30% of a battery charge and 20 minutes to install after download. Definitely not a game for less efficient devices.
At the end of the day, World of Tanks: Blitz is definitely worth a download, especially for the hardcore, wargaming addict. Even the casual action gamer can get a pleasant overall experience from the game, which backs up excellent graphics with smooth as butter gameplay. Less pleasing is the bill from the mobile carrier if the game is downloaded, patched, or frequently played while not connected to a solid wifi signal. It’s freemium gaming done right, credit card optional. Just keep the charger and the wifi router close at hand.
-QuinoaAOC
Back in 2014, the crew over at Wargaming.net released the mobile companion to their wildly popular online multiplayer tank simulator World of Tanks. Aptly title World of Tanks: Blitz the mobile game offers a familiar bunker busting experience to its older brother, but has a scaled down, quick action focus to satisfy the impulsive nature of mobile gaming. As a whole, Blitz stands on its own with minor changes that clearly separate it from the traditional World of Tanks experience that the boys and girls down in World of Tanks [WT] enjoy everyday in TAW.
The primary difference between the Blitz and the original game is that maps are smaller and battles have been scaled back from 15 vs 15 to 7 vs 7. There are also fewer tanks and the the crew mastery and chat systems have been significantly scaled back. While this offers inherently less in-depth gameplay overall, it also makes the action a lot faster and the battles significantly shorter. The result is both understandable and preferable for a mobile platform where most gaming is short lived and based on impulse. This allows a player to flip their phone sideways during the commercial break on a football game or snatch up a tablet in that last 15 minutes of a lunch break and knock out a few quick battles where a more involved game with twice the players and four times the map size would be virtually impossible to get a full match in. The controls are also simplified for obvious reasons as most people don’t have a full keyboard and mouse set-up for their mobile devices. The progression, even without spending real money on upgrades, boosts, and premium memberships, is smooth and never feels like hitting a paywall where a credit card is a condition of victory.
On the downside, despite having fewer tanks, smaller maps, and a less feature rich experience, it is still a massive file for a mobile device. The game uses a whopping 3.71GB of storage in additional to patches and updates as opposed to the 100MB that most mobile games average. As one would expect, Blitz is also data intensive, leading to a need to restrict gameplay to areas with reliable, accessible, fast wifi for those who have data limited or restricted mobile plans. The app itself also has a lengthy setup process after download that annoyingly cannot efficiently function in the background. All in all, it took 30% of a battery charge and 20 minutes to install after download. Definitely not a game for less efficient devices.
At the end of the day, World of Tanks: Blitz is definitely worth a download, especially for the hardcore, wargaming addict. Even the casual action gamer can get a pleasant overall experience from the game, which backs up excellent graphics with smooth as butter gameplay. Less pleasing is the bill from the mobile carrier if the game is downloaded, patched, or frequently played while not connected to a solid wifi signal. It’s freemium gaming done right, credit card optional. Just keep the charger and the wifi router close at hand.