Looking Ahead to Wargaming’s Generals and British Tanks

As has become the trend over the last few years, Wargaming.net put on quite a show when we last met with them at Gamescom this year. Not only did they throw a bit of a bash, they presented updates on both World of Tanks and World of Warplanes, and we were lucky enough to see the early stages of a new game they are working on, a new trading card game by the name of World of Tanks: Generals. On show for us was a heavily-diluted digital version of the game which will eventually translate the typical World of Tanks match into something you can play on your ‘phone or tablet.

The game uses cards for things like tanks, infantry and special orders which work much like magic cards in other games. The developers explained that they have taken features they most enjoy from other trading card games and implemented them into Generals to produce games that should last around ten to fifteen minutes at a time. The combat will be intense; units will be killed quickly and speedily reinforced, giving the entire game a slightly faster pace than the norm.  To continue their plan for world domination, Wargaming.net are making Generals a true cross-platform title, with every minutiae being stored in a cloud save, allowing you to seamlessly switch between ‘phone, tablet, PC, or any other format that science may decide to throw at them, without any loss of information or momentum.

To go with this multi-format video game, Wargaming are also producing a table-top version for those of you who prefer the collectible, and tangible, side of gaming. The cards in this table-top version (as well as the video game) have incredibly detailed images of the various units and orders, with all tanks using the meshes from World of Tanks before being repainted in true collectible card style to make sure that none of the feel of their flagship title is lost in translation.  At this point, over 200 different cards are planned for the launch, with more to follow in due course, all which will unlock as you progress through the game and level up, opening up various slots in the tech tree.  As you’d expect from the free-to-play model, special premium cards can be purchased with real-world currency to improve stats, but these aren’t necessary.

Although many will question the motives of Wargaming in their move away from the tanks MMO, it’s important to remember that they cut their teeth on the Massive Assault titles, and strategy is their foundation.  If anything, what Generals appeared to be was a sidestep within the World of Tanks franchise rather than a step in another direction, and we’ll hopefully have more details on the gameplay shortly.

No meeting with Wargaming would be complete without yet another update on what’s going on within the massive arena that is World of Tanks, and this time it seems the British are in fact coming, with the introduction of British tanks to the considerable arsenal. For the history buffs out there, I think it’s fair to say that our tanks were more than a little ugly, and that is beautifully captured in this expansion pack. While the British tanks may be ugly, at the higher levels they pack a bit more of a punch and provide a much smoother ride than their continental cousins thanks to some ground-breaking engineers, hell-bent on ensuring our gunners could fire while moving without taking out their buddies. Not only that, but British tank commanders will be able to enjoy a spot of tea and cake as a new consumable.  Jolly good show!

With World of Tanks out of the way, it was time to look to the skies.  Most notable news was that World of Warplanes will soon be moving into another phase of beta, as Wargaming gear up for the final release. A number of new planes have been added along with the module system which will allow players to upgrade their aircraft in a similar vein to World of Tanks. Unique to World of Warplanes was the tier feature which allows one plane to be upgraded in a modular fashion so, for example, one plane may have started life as a standard fighter plane only to be upgraded later to a ground attack plane.

So it is all systems go and chocks away for Wargaming.net. They are still pushing the boundaries of free to play games, and seem set to take over the world… just don’t ask them to tell you when the Worlds of Warships, Warplanes and Tanks will be integrated as there isn’t enough alcohol in the world to loosen those lips.

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