January 19 can be considered the date of completion of the expansion World of Tanks- the game appeared on PlayStation 4, the last major platform left undeveloped. Last summer, the console version was already released on Xbox One (and even earlier - on Xbox 360, where it is almost not popular anymore) and, in our opinion, has successfully stood the test of time: at the moment, online in the game is consistently above 10 thousand - this is even an order of magnitude lower than on PC, but still enough to not have problems finding a match. However, the Xbox One is mainly played by Americans and Europeans - in Russia, the version for PlayStation 4 will be of much greater interest.

The differences between the versions for the two consoles are minimal - for example, the PlayStation 4 now has two exclusive maps, including Scorpion Gorge, the largest location in the history of the game. Unique functions of the consoles are also supported: on PlayStation 4 you can play remotely on PS Vita, and on Xbox One you can play remotely on a computer or tablet with Windows 10. It is also important to know that each of the consoles has its own servers that are incompatible with each other.

Otherwise, we have almost the same game as in the summer (read) - a port of the PC version, with some simplifications, but also with its own interesting features. First of all, it is worth noting the graphics. The game looks great on a large TV screen - the picture is clear, full of details and special effects. Plus, optimization for just two consoles with very similar hardware makes itself felt - even the most intense battles go smoothly, without delays or twitches.

Of course, you now need to play with a gamepad, and not with a keyboard and mouse. This is not a minus or a plus - you just need to get used to the new control scheme. It is more difficult to aim with a gamepad (but this is also true for opponents), but it allows you to more accurately regulate the speed of the tank and “feel” map irregularities and collisions due to feedback. Keep in mind that the game has several different layouts, and the one offered by default is far from the most convenient.

It is worth noting a noticeable lag in content - for example, the British tank destroyers added in December on PC appeared a year earlier. But the console version was released quite recently, players have just begun to level up, so the existing set of equipment today is sufficient - and this is more than 130 tanks and artillery mounts belonging to the armies of seven countries. The park continues to be updated quickly - five updates have already been released since the summer with new equipment and maps.

The situation with the modes is gradually improving - let us remind you that in the summer only training, regular team battles and platoon battles were available. Now they have added “Team Deathmatch”: these are 15 vs 15 battles, but without capturing bases - to win you must destroy the entire enemy team. In addition, the developers have prepared a PvE mode - essentially the same team battles, but with bots instead of live players. It is primarily intended for beginners - instead of the boring old tutorial mode, it is now enough to go through a few slightly crazy battles, figuring out how to control the tank along the way. However, if you are already an experienced player, but for some reason you don’t want to fight with live opponents (for example, you’re just tired) - then you can also start PvE, shoot at bots, complete several combat missions and earn money.

A clan system also appeared. For now, their only function is to unite players with similar interests. Each clan has its own chat, as well as a simple interface with which you can, for example, look for partners for battle. Obviously, the developers will not stop there: despite the lack of official announcements, it is logical to assume that the clans will develop approximately as in the PC version - they will introduce their own rating battles, as well as, possibly, a mode with the construction of fortified areas, about which .

Unlike Xbox One, another tank game is available on PlayStation 4 - War Thunder. However, this is a more hardcore and slower project, which, due to the same servers as the PC version, is also better played with a mouse and keyboard. World of Tanks is the complete opposite. It's dynamic, easy to learn and beautiful - a great choice for those who like to play while watching TV.

Recently World of Tanks released on PS4. And now that the most popular project Wargaming available on both main consoles of the current generation, we are ready to tell you how the console versions differ from the computer version.

The controls and interface take some getting used to

Transferring World of Tanks on PS4 and Xbox One (and don't forget the "trial" version for Xbox 360, released in 2014), Wargaming put a lot of effort into making playing on a gamepad just as convenient as on a keyboard and mouse. You don’t have to look far for examples of other successful adaptations - Diablo 3 And Divinity: Original Sin They feel great on consoles.

It turned out well, but not without compromises, especially if you are switching to the console version from a PC.

The first thing that catches your eye is that the developers, for obvious reasons, had to sacrifice text chat in favor of voice communication and an additional interface with quick commands.

As for the gameplay, the main shooter mechanics really fit organically into the classic gamepad layout, but movement tied to the left stick can be confusing at first: you can accidentally start turning the tank, throw off the aim and lose precious seconds on aiming.

You also need to get used to navigating on the map again: viewing sectors with a cursor is still much more convenient than with a stick. After Destiny, where the “computer” role-playing interface with a cursor is executed in an exemplary manner, the return to cumbersome menus that have to be scrolled with buttons (if, say, you already have a decent collection of vehicles and camouflages for them in your hangar) is depressing, but not fatal.

This is not just a console version

Console control and interface, coupled with minor mechanical changes (Wargaming added a barely noticeable auto-adjustment of the sight and multi-colored marks showing the probability of causing damage) do not have a very noticeable effect on the overall dynamics.

The class system has not changed - “fireflies” quickly fly behind enemy lines, artillery provides cover, light, medium and heavy tanks fight in positional battles of varying degrees of intensity, and self-propelled guns sit in the bushes and wait.

The set of maps is current, but in terms of variety of cars, console WoT is now at the level of its older brother from 2011: at the start, the game has only three classic branches, no French or Chinese yet. Presumably, other nations will soon add patches.

But visually the console version turned out to be much more lively thanks to the new engine. Here the developers also made technical concessions, limiting the frame rate to thirty FPS, but otherwise the console World of Tanks wins. The rendering distance is higher, the lighting is more natural, updated physics and destructibility are in place, and the tank models and environmental textures look no worse than in the PC version, although nominally fewer resources were spent on them due to technical limitations.

But the main thing is that the console versions have a full cycle of day and night and weather conditions. After five years, familiar maps in night and rainy settings are perceived completely differently, and an ordinary battle on a mountain on the Himmelsdorf instantly adds drama when there is evening twilight all around, a thunderstorm is raging overhead, and raindrops are flowing down the hull of your hidden IS-7. This is the case when a fresh look at the visuals changes the feeling of the gameplay, and that’s great.

* * *

It's a small matter. Wargaming just needs to fix the little things in the interface and controls and make sure that the console versions of WoT receive updates and additional content more often. Well, it would also be nice to introduce changes in weather and time of day into the PC version. Everything else is good.

Company Wargaming I decided not to sit on the sidelines and get involved in the development of consoles. The game is finally released on all new generation consoles. At first it was X-One, and now the time has come for the Japanese with their PS4.

At the same time, the developers decided not to port the game, but gave a small branch Wargaming from America the task was for them to create a game from scratch using a new engine in the shortest possible time. They turned out even better than we expected.

The combat mechanics themselves remained untouched. Why reinvent the wheel if it already exists and functions well. You just need to adapt it to gamepads. Since there was no port from the PC version, everything was made for the gamepad from the very beginning, as a result it is very convenient to play, you don’t need to get used to it for months, like with the same shooters (or the latest ones), where dynamics in the battle predominate.

You don’t really need to rush into battle: sit out in the bushes, move little by little from one house to another, look for a position where you don’t even need to move, but only control the tower. You get used to all this from the first minutes of the battle. And these battles at the beginning are purely against artificial intelligence.

What really can’t be said about the content: at the start, only three are available to us development branches: USSR, Germany and America. On the one hand, this is correct, this game has not been around for the first year, and if you add everything at once, there will be some problems with balance. Well, as they say, "A little bit of good stuff", otherwise we’ll eat some more.

There's no way to pass by hangar, about which there are two opinions: some believe that it is very convenient, everything is intuitive; and the other is that nothing is clear, it takes time to figure everything out, it’s better on a PC, “azaza”... I join the first camp, I don’t see any difficulties in controlling it, although the gamepad is not my native one. Everything in the hangar remained the same as before. You can take tasks, research a new tank, buy it, attach new guns, tracks, and a turret to it, but not individually - everything here comes as a kit.

You can even bring a penny from your pocket. Donat did not suffer any changes, as in the good old days, here you are allowed to buy a premium account, gold, change experience, etc.

At the end of my short review, I want to express my respect to the developers. They were given a task, and they completed it with an A plus.

The release on PS4 gave the game new life in some ways. If you have a console, why not download, because everything is free. You'll ride for a couple of evenings, and you never know, it will drag on. See you later!

It has truly become a popular game, like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series in its time, and today it is difficult to find a person who has not at least heard about the project that made a small Belarusian development studio a giant of the media industry. Therefore, its release on the current console was only a matter of time and that hour, as they say, has struck.

Are console Tanks really so different from the PC version that they deserve a separate article? In our review of World of Tanks PS4 Edition we will try to figure this out.

- At our factory, everyone plays Tanks.
- What does the plant produce?
- Nothing. I’m telling you: everyone plays Tanks.
joke

They meet you by the cover

Despite the fact that the game was released back in January (on Xbox One last summer, but who even has a “box” in our country?), I have not come across a single review that would briefly and succinctly describe the most significant differences and achievements of the console versions. Usually all attempts, both in the West and here, came down to conclusions in the spirit of “wow, cool graphics, cool effects” or “what can I talk about, everything is the same.”

But if we look at the project from the point of view not of a journalist, but of a “tanker” who served in virtual armored forces for more than four years, it turns out that a neat picture is not even the tip of the iceberg compared to everything else. And just in case, I’ll clarify: this publication was not intended to throw mud at the PC version of World of Tanks and the developers from Minsk, it just happened that way...

Why does Lasville Gorge attract crowds of players? The answer is simple: the local swamps are very beautiful.

Still, it’s worth starting with what catches your eye first. The visuals on PS4 are truly an order of magnitude superior to their older computer counterpart. The game is based on a new engine, all equipment and maps are initially in HD quality, and this has been worked out to the smallest detail: attachments on tanks wobble when driving, grass sways in the wind, buildings collapse beautifully when hit by a shell.

With the recent update, a bunch more graphic effects arrived. During a snowstorm, the roof of an armored vehicle is covered with a layer of snow if you stand and do not move; when driving, sand gets swept onto the tracks, grass and snow stick to them; Depending on the weather and type of soil, the tank becomes dirty or wet. Such little things do not affect the gameplay, but they make a beautiful game a little more atmospheric.

A typical view of a tank on a winter map after update 2.7. But most often you only see your car from behind, so this innovation is unlikely to be very noticeable.

Various weather conditions are another advantage of the PS4 Edition. Snowfall and cloudiness make it difficult to aim artillery, in particular, searching for enemies using tracers from shots; raindrops authentically tap on armor. But what impressed me most were the night battles: it’s breathtaking when the airfield’s runway is illuminated by searchlights, and on the hills anti-aircraft guns fill the sky with fire, targeting the planes.

After the PC version was transferred to the Wwise sound engine in patch 9.14, the gap relative to the console in this area narrowed slightly, but console Tanks are still on the horse, at least due to the expanded voice acting of the crew. “Focus on this square”, “the enemy is exposed”, “we have lost all the artillery”, “the enemy destroyed all the scouts” - many replicas allow you to orient yourself in battle in time.

Weather conditions complicate the already difficult fate of the artefacts in this game.

American Wargaming employees also paid more attention to information content than Belarusian ones. The battle loading screen clearly explains with illustrations how to conduct reconnaissance and lure out opponents, why tank in a diamond formation, and how different types of shells differ. The artillery sight has a projectile flight time timer, which in Tanks on PC is still possible only with the help of modifications.

Combat training is also worthy of praise. On PS4 there is a single training mode, where you can practice shooting against bots using any vehicle in various modes, and even get money for it with experience. They also did not skimp on full-fledged lessons explaining how to shine and request the support of allies, shoot at moving targets and hit the vulnerable spots of armored vehicles.

In combat training there is a lesson dedicated to roleplaying light tanks. I’m not sure if this will bear fruit, but this format is still better than nothing.

The only thing that can scare away hardened “tankers” from the new product is the controls. Steering and shooting with a gamepad is even more convenient if you think from a position of comfort, but you will need more time to aim. There is not enough ability to reassign the buttons: there are only a few ready-made layouts to choose from (I think the optimal one is the one where driving is triggered), but each has quite illogical solutions.

If you wish, you can connect a keyboard and mouse via the console’s USB ports (a wireless kit is ideal): the game accepts them, albeit partially. You can control the tank, aim and shoot in the same way as on a PC, but you will still need a gamepad to use consumables, use contextual commands and change the distance in sniper mode. In general, the decision is not for everyone.

Clinching the “Goose” on the IS-3 is not the best idea. But we see how spectacularly tanks explode when destroyed.

One of the shortcomings of the PS Edition is the interface. In battle, there are not enough active “ears” of commands, inscriptions and viewing circles on the mini-map, or at least minimalistic markers over allies and enemies so that they work constantly, and not just when aiming at a target. It is not known why a mini-map in the form of a radar was made, because it is less informative and has no advantages over the classic one.

Navigation around the hangar is also not the best. I never managed to figure out how to view the detailed performance characteristics of modules of “stock” equipment before purchasing it, and I learned about the opportunity to buy “golden” shells for silver purely by accident. There is a missing button for quickly returning the crew and sorting in personal statistics. Indicators of armor, damage, visibility and other things are presented not in numbers, but in the form of strips that are never informative. But we are pleased with the most detailed tank “carousel” filter, which will appear on PC only at 9.15.

Maps, tanks, three guns

Graphics, sound, controls and interface - speaking about the console World of Tanks, everyone is limited to these topics, perceiving the game as a typical port to another platform. We will dive a little deeper into our bathysphere, into the maelstrom of current problems of the PC version, and using their example we will see how the American studio Wargaming managed to avoid this in its project.

Let's start with the main thing - the balance of technology. About a year ago, Belarusian developers refused to introduce premium tanks with a reduced level of combat, after which they began selling outright “cacti” like the T-54 of the first model, STA-2, 59 Patton, M4A1 Revalorise, FV 4202 (P). Their Western colleagues did not repeat these mistakes, and at least the Japanese were released with well-deserved benefits.

Reward ribbons for active actions do not disappear over time, but are neatly stored, reflecting your effectiveness. Why isn't this available on PC?

Another sore subject of computer Tanks is adherents of dishonest play. Bot drivers, team killers, keychain drivers, cheaters and just weirdos with a capital “M” - you won’t find them in the PS4 Edition, since friendly fire is simply disabled here, and you can’t take vehicles with a difference of more than two levels into a platoon. These solutions are so elementary that it is absolutely incomprehensible why they have not yet been implemented on PCs.

The closed nature of the platform eliminates the possibility of circumventing the rules of the game, which is very important for any project focused on competitive multiplayer. Alas, only all fashions are banned, but on the other hand, their absence is not so critical when you realize that everyone is on an equal footing.

On PS4, too, there are gifted individuals who reveal the potential of an armored vehicle behind the furthest bushes. It ends predictably.

The Minsk office has long promised to revise the system of skills and abilities of the crew, because there are few useful ones among them, and they take a long time to upgrade. On consoles, this problem has been partly solved: tankers are represented by a single entity, there are no related specialties, and the first five perks are upgraded at the same price. You will get a good crew with combat fraternity, repairs and camouflage after 150 good battles, not 500.

We also resolved the issue with the long-suffering light bulb. On PS4 it triggers instantly and stays lit as long as you remain on enemy radar. But besides this, in battle you receive a “detected!” notification when enemies take aim at you (not a skill, works by default). An excellent “foolproof”, because an inexperienced player will immediately give himself away, while a skilled one will aim at the opponent’s outline only just before the shot.

Medals in this game are given for everything. And with some skill, even from a hopelessly losing battle you can get good dividends.

A pleasant surprise awaits those who buy premium tanks to upgrade their crews. There are no restrictions on the classes of equipment on the consoles, that is, you can transfer tankers to your IS-6 without retraining not only from other Soviet heavyweights, but also from middle peasants, lightweights, anti-tank and conventional self-propelled guns of the same nation. My M6A2E1 heavy tank is ridden by M44 artillerymen, and I have not received any complaints from them yet.

A good help in leveling up on PS4 is daily combat missions. There is a similar thing on PC, but here it is implemented not so crookedly, because you immediately receive an increase in experience or credits, and not personal reserves, which still need to be activated and used in subsequent battles. And the conditions themselves are structured in such a way that you don’t have to sit in the game all evening to collect a portion of the day’s cream.

You can also get unique tanks for combat missions. This German with a unique camouflage will be given to you for only 20 thousand experience on his analogue from the leveling up branch.

In World of Tanks on personal computers, they have been struggling with problematic maps for many years: they are taking them out of the game, remaking them beyond recognition, ranking them by level, and the creators of the PS4 Edition once again prove that everything ingenious is simple... just by changing the location of the starting positions . Are you also annoyed by the pressure of medium tanks on Fisherman's Bay from the upper base, which cannot be countered in any way? This is not the case on consoles, because the “respawns” are located in the corners, and the map is played completely differently, without any digging of the area.

The variety of regimes is another trump card that Minsk has nothing to cover. Many times more maps are used in competitions such as “counter combat” and “assault”; there is also a “team fight” competition, where teams do not have bases, and the game is purely about extermination. In this regard, cards are rarely repeated, and even after two hundred battles I came across layouts that I had never seen before.

Night battles look amazing, it’s a pity that this has little effect on the gameplay. But it was possible to beat both the decrease in visibility and the lighting shells.

There are also more maps on PS4. Scorpion Gorge and Pacific Island are console Tanks exclusives. Empire Frontier will also seem new to you, because on PC it is only available on the Chinese cluster. Old locations taken from the computer version also found shelter on the console - Port, Komarin, Dragon's Ridge, Severogorsk, Southern Bank, North-West, Hidden Village, Province.

Some of the battlefields here are still of an old style. The local Siegfried Line lacks a central depression in the middle of the field; in the Yochisan Lowlands, better known to you as the Sacred Valley, there are no forks in the northwestern corner of the map and no passages from the upper part to the center; The bases on Erlenberg in standard battle mode are located in the center, and the teams start on opposite hills.

The largest World of Tanks map, 1500 by 1500 m. And, as often happens, players simply do not use two thirds of it.

I won’t say that there are absolutely no complaints about the Americans from Wargaming. The mentioned Scorpion Gorge is probably hated by everyone because of the huge size of the map, and there are questions about the “no bases” mode, because the slow heavy, left alone against the “firefly”, in such a situation is doomed to chase it forever. But the cards here are repeated so rarely that the most problematic ones simply do not have time to infuriate you.

The social component suffers the most on console Tanks. The game does not yet have team and company battles, fortified areas, a global map, “superiority” and “steel hunting” modes. Even though all these competitions, to put it mildly, are not for everyone, and are not interesting to most, but for some this can be a noticeable disadvantage, as well as the lack of text chats both in battle and in the hangar.

The fight begins

Let me remind you that World of Tanks is a 15 vs 15 session team game, a kind of Counter-Strike about tanks in Deathmatch mode, only with bases and an original system of exposure and camouflage, as well as armor penetration mechanics. And if we talk about the concept itself, the PS4 version does not offer anything new: the same tanks, the same classes and nations, only they are controlled from a gamepad.

But this little thing, you may not believe it, changes EVERYTHING! Moreover, it’s not about how well you personally handle the sticks and how long you’ve been playing similar games on consoles, it’s more about the opponents and their ability to inflict damage. And they won’t be able to react to your appearance as quickly as on a PC; it’s harder for them to calculate the lead and target vulnerable points. Here the game is simply more forgiving.

Many people underestimate scouts, but in vain. This battle will end in our victory, because I will be able to shoot the enemies in the back while they are distracted by the allied heavy forces.

This makes significant adjustments to the roleplaying of entire classes of vehicles. Light tanks “shine” more boldly, since they are very difficult to hit at a distance; artillery is easier, because everyone else spends more time aiming, and moving in sniper mode is not very convenient; armored tanks survive longer under enemy fire, because it is not so easy to hit them in the turret or hatch.

Auto-aim is very popular on consoles. It allows you to take aim at the nearest enemy relative to the direction of your barrel (it is not necessary to aim at the outline of the enemy, as on a PC), and the color indicator will immediately determine whether he is in the crosshairs or behind an obstacle. Need I say what a scourge this is for “cardboard” tanks, and how do heavyweights benefit from this?

The capture bar displays the number of enemies present at the base. But few people know that, just like on a PC, there is no point in having more than three guns standing there.

Due to the fact that on PS4 there is no division into regional clusters, you most often play with foreigners, and they have different ideas about the ideal armored vehicle. Here you will not find a dominance of Soviet technology, unlike examples of German tank building: heels of “Tigers” and a pair of “Panthers” - a familiar picture for 8-level battles. This is a small thing, but it also significantly changes the game.

And since we’re talking about leveling up branches, there are now fewer of them in the PS4 Edition than on the PC, but what’s more interesting is that apart from LT, there are no drum tanks on this platform yet, which completely broke the balance at the tenth levels in the neighboring project. I will also note that new modules are installed on pumped tanks not separately, but in packages, which allows you to avoid cases when you do not have enough carrying capacity.

Buying a new tank is a special event. A pathetic camera flyby, confetti and fireworks from sparks from a welding machine are included.

The relatively small online presence also plays a role. During peak hours, the server gathers at most 20-25 thousand players, which means that the balancer is not overloaded and most often forms the right teams with an equal number of “tops”. Getting into the “meat” when 10-12 tanks of the same level meet in one battle is almost impossible here: a balance of +2-2 is maintained in most cases.

Another important change: active voice chat for all players of the allied team. In theory, even outside a platoon, you can cooperate with random fighters, receive operational reports from the fields and give timely advice, but most often the best option for helping your teammates is to simply not pollute the airwaves. However, this is not the worst way to practice speaking English.

Conclusion

The console version of World of Tanks is almost “the same” Tanks of 2010, when there weren’t a bunch of unnecessary upgrade branches, all classes of vehicles played an important role in battle, and armor really mattered. Over time, the game will change, and not necessarily for the better, but today it is the best simulator of tank battles, superior in all respects to its PC counterpart.

To be frank: I don’t care about graphics and effects - it’s not for me to explain to you why this level will never be in the computer version. What’s much more annoying is that the American studio not only invented solutions to many of the project’s problems, but also successfully implemented them, while in Minsk all this is still at the “long-distance KTTS” stage. So don’t wait for the grass to turn green again in our area, enjoy tank battles on PS4.

Verdict: The Americans from Wargaming have proven that PC versions of games are not always more beautiful and more sophisticated than console versions. But whether this is their merit, or a puncture of colleagues from the Minsk office is a completely different story.

Rating: 8.8 (“Excellent”).

Vitaly Krasnovid aka Disintegration

• Discussion of the game at the conference site.

Performance

An attempt to conduct detailed testing of 12 video cards and 64 processors in World of Tanks PS4 Edition was unsuccessful, since we did not find so many different revisions of the Sony game console. The PlayStation doesn't have a tool for measuring frame rates, so a "by eye" approach was used and with its help it was found that on an average single configuration the game runs fine without experiencing any performance issues.

The game doesn't load very quickly on the console's standard hard drive. Replacing the HDD with a high-speed SSD will solve this problem and you will have a few extra seconds to analyze team compositions and decide where to go on the dropped map. When ten enemies are detected at the same time, slight freezes are possible, so shining in the center from the very start is not the best idea.