Beta Watch - World of Warplanes

First up, could someone mod this into the news section or give me access so I can move it there and remove this after. Thanks. Click read more for the full article.

From the creators of World of Tanks comes a new MMO title, World of Warplanes. Set back as far as the 1930’s, it moves forward through WW2 right up to the Korean War jet fighters that led the way to modern fighters. The planes will be spread across multiply factions across different countries and plane types. Plus it comes packed with a selection of light, heavy and ground-attack fighters with custom engines, ammo, modules and other upgrades. This will lead into a diverse and exciting dog fight close combat roll out, through to heavy ground engagement. If this is any thing like World of Tanks, it sure to be full of content and detail of the era. If you like the idea of getting into air born combat, then this might be the game for. I myself had the chance to play the beta of World of Tanks and I love every minute of it. Since its full release though, I have only been back to it briefly. It still feels and plays the same, bar some little changes they made to introduce the payment system. Unlike some MMO micro transaction games, they don’t bog you down with unlocks with cash. You can get boost to get your EXP up faster, or buy up special ammo to give you an edge without over balancing in your favor. There will be some planes you can only buy with cash, but this will be more of a boost ahead versus unlocking your way down the tech tree which has some minor bonuses. Admittedly though, if you did buy ammo and special planes with cash, yes you might have a decent advantage over others. This might win you more games then others, but the cost of doing so really wouldn’t be worth the payout. Like most F2P MMO, very few people stack the cash on equipment and units, more using it for fast unlocks, if paying any thing at all.

Ok, so down to a little more about the game play directly. There will be both a PVP and PVE section, so those just wanting to play for free and have fun against some bots, they have still made you feel welcome. Currently there are only 20 different plane types in testing leading into 60 for the beta, which will grow into 100 on release with constant release to reach 100 per faction (USA, Germany and USSR currently with Japan and Britain coming later). In these section you will have 2 tech trees per faction, leading down paths of three main classes of fighters, heavy fighters and ground-attack planes. Later a third tech tree will be made available and extending it down ten tiers. Weapon upgrades will be available as you move down the tech tree, unlocked with the planes as you move down, along with component upgrades as well. Your pilots will also rank up in experience, adding to the skill of your plane, how it fires and flies. With the unlock of more planes, means more choice, which they will not be limiting you with. You can keep all the planes you like in your garage, but there will be space limits you need to expand with cash. Now like World of Tanks, you will need to work as a team, there is no doubt about that. If you are flying a slow class ground-attack plane, you will need the fighters keeping your skies clear while you head in to do your air raids. They will also be including a very detailed balance between arcade style and realism. Being of this franchise, they love there realism. Each plane has different hit location with different outcomes depending on how you are attacked, so if your engine gets a heavy hitting, then your going down even if the rest of your plane is still skimming along fine. Also the controls will swing more towards realism but with a slight touch to arcade to keep the fun in it. These control systems will spaced across most platforms including keyboard, mouse, joystick and gamepad, so whip out your preferred system style. Now with the ammo, unlike WoT they will only allow you to pick the order of the ammo. In WoT you could just free switch between ammo as of course you are a tank. In WoP, you will have it in a order system, so you will need to pick your fights as to what ammo you want to use on whom. They are also throwing in unguided missile systems and of course bombs. There is only one camera mode for the moment, which is following camera with the hopes for testing in free camera but nothing promised just yet. Ok, so what about the map… well depending on your map being loaded, it could be any where up to 220 square kilometers scattered with destructible buildings including AA. So make sure you keep an eye on whats underneath you too. There will be different time and weather conditions as well, and keeping with realism the weather will make a difference to your handling just to add more spice to the scenario.

Most importantly to us I suppose, is will there be teams… not at this time, and unfortunately like WoT, if you want to make one on full release it will cost cash to make.

So I know both Robag and myself have signed up for this, if you are interested just head to the sign up page and get in the list. At this stage its still in alpha, so if we get invites soon we have months before they will be throwing us out for full release.

Hope to see you in the skies,
Delta