Game has a predatory monetising system that is clearly built to cater players with addictive personality and deep pockets.

First of all if you can't dish out a couple hundred € and buy a sub, some gold and a couple premium tanks, you'll be at a huge disadvantage for a very long time. You're saying you got plenty of money and like to throw it all at your games? Fine, you're right. Company has to earn money, and you can do with your own money whatever you want.

BUT here come the reasons why I can't recommend the game in it's current state:

Matchmaking is complete garbage. You will get matched against 1 or 2 tier higher tanks A LOT. I tracked my own games for a while and figured I get matched with higher tier tanks 70% of my matches. If you don't understand how tier work in WoT, here's analogy from WoW. It's like getting matched against 10-20 lvls higher players. It's like the game tells you "♥♥♥ off I don't want you to play me". I believe instead this is how they keep forcing you to spend real money, through ability to skip farming redundant content. The problem is we're talking A LOT of money.

So an average new player would think, great than I'll endure a hundred hours per each tank line that I decide to play, and level it to last tier (10), and than just play there forever... NOPE. As each battle presents costs in ammo, consumables and repairs, at tier 10 the prices are so high that on average you will loose ingame currency. Meaning you will farm your ingame currency at lower tiers. Or spend LOTS of real money.

And finally. Poor have a lot of it. Rich pay for it to go away. But no matter how much you pay, RNG is gonna be there laughing at your failed shots. I understand that RNG to some extant is mandatory, but I hate when a game becomes casino online. You'll find WoT has it plenty, be it in combat or loot boxes.

TL;DR:
World of Tanks is a deep, rewarding, and addictive game that’s still the best in its genre — but it has a steep learning curve, rough early experience, and map balance issues. Stick with it, and it’ll hook you for years.

An Honest Review from a Long-Time Player (Thousands of Hours Off-Steam)

This is, by far, my most played game — even though the hours shown on Steam don’t reflect it. I’ve spent thousands and thousands of hours in World of Tanks over the years. It’s seen its highs and lows, and it still has issues, but in my opinion, it remains the best game in its genre.

Why I love it:

The gameplay is tight, satisfying, and super rewarding. Every upgrade, every grind — from unlocking a new gun to finally reaching that Tier X — feels like a true accomplishment.

The graphics scale amazingly well. You can run this game on a literal potato or crank it up and have it look like a modern AAA release. It's incredibly well-optimized.

There’s always something to do — events, missions, new modes — and the core gameplay loop is addictive.

Main Game Modes:

Random Battles: The bread and butter of WoT. It’s where most of your time will be spent.

Onslaught: A competitive 7v7 Tier X-only mode with adjusted tank stats and reworked maps. It's one of the most polished modes in the game and fixes many of the issues found in Random Battles.

Frontline: A massive 30v30 mode (Tiers 8 and 9) with respawns, sectors, and special abilities. Great for farming credits and just having chaotic fun.

Flaws (Still Important to Know):

Map Issues: A lot of the maps in Random Battles feel unbalanced or outdated. What's really strange is that Onslaught actually fixes many of these maps — better layout, flow, and balance — yet these changes aren’t brought over to Randoms. It’s frustrating because the improvements are right there.

Low-Tier Experience: This is probably the biggest issue for new players. Low tiers (Tiers 1–5) are plagued with unbalanced premium tanks and experienced players (“seal clubbers”) who drop down just to stomp new players. It creates a pretty terrible first impression. Wargaming really needs to rework these tiers and add better protections or matchmaking for newcomers.

Community & Clans: WoT has a massive community and a strong competitive scene. Clan activities, tournaments, and team play add a ton of value to your experience. I highly recommend joining a clan early on — you’ll learn faster, make friends, and have access to more content and rewards.

Tips for New Players: Start by watching some YouTube guides or checking out Twitch streamers. Also, join a Discord server or two — there are plenty of friendly veterans out there willing to help you get into the game.

Final Verdict: Even with its flaws, I still highly recommend World of Tanks. It’s an incredibly deep, rewarding game that keeps you coming back. Just know what you’re getting into: it takes time to learn, and the early grind can be rough. But once you’re in — and you “get it” — there’s nothing else quite like it.

Tankers, roll out! 💥

pay to win