World of Tanks update lets you play out all sorts of alternative historical storylines

EVER wonder what it would look like if Hitler invaded Britain? A new game lets you play out all sorts of alternative history storylines.

DRIVING tanks around and firing large guns at things is a lot of fun and unless you’re in the military, generally something you can only do in a video game.

One of the most popular tank games around at the moment is Wargaming’s World of Tanks, which is a free-to-play online multiplayer game on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and mobile devices.

The game has been around since 2010 and developed a huge following among history fans, competitive players and people who just like playing a game where they can fight tanks with other tanks.

Being legitimately free to play — the game contains microtransactions but is absolutely playable and enjoyable without spending any money — it’s extremely popular, with hundreds of detailed historic tanks, including those which saw active service, prototypes, and even a few that never left the drawing board.

Earlier this year the PC version of the game underwent a massive overhaul, dubbed World of Tanks 1.0 and now it’s the console version’s turn with the addition of new exclusive content in the form of Mercenaries for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The major change for the console version is the addition of an entirely new ‘nation’ (tech tree), in this case the Mercenaries — who have tanks cobbled together from bits and pieces from all the other nations in the game.

There’s a single-player alternate universe War Story called The Heist, in which the player takes control of a Mercenary tank and, after accepting a contract from a mysterious client, find themselves raiding a military base, stealing nuclear material and basically ending up on the wrong side of both the US and the Soviet Union as a result.

In multiplayer, the Mercenary tanks can be acquired in two different ways: By simply buying them outright (via an in-game transaction involving real money) or by signing a contract — essentially, being given a set of tasks to complete in-game with your existing tanks in a certain time period. There are several stages to the contract — the first might be “Win a battle in a Tier III German tank” and “Earn 1200XP”, but the next might be “Win two consecutive battles in the same Tier III tank” and “Earn 2400XP”.

Basically, if you want to play as the mercenaries you’re going to have to earn it, unlike all the other nations which have free starter tanks available.

The update adds new maps, crews, and gameplay tweaks.

The new Mercenary tanks bring some variety to the game, especially for more dedicated players who are prepared to invest the time or finances into getting the equipment and training their crew.

Wargaming have said the current five Mercenary tanks will be joined by others in due course, so it will be interesting to see how the new tech tree evolves alongside the established ones for major countries such as Britain, USA, Russia, France, Japan, China and Italy.

The Mercenaries update also adds new maps, crews, and gameplay tweaks to the game as well.

It’s interesting to see the PC and console versions of the game heading down different development paths — the PC version is clearly aimed at more hardcore multiplayer gamers, while the console versions offer both the multiplayer experience along with a range of quick and easy single player modes where you can take on the AI in a range of battles or play through war stories.

It’s worth noting the computer and console versions of the game are totally separate.

The War Stories are quite interesting, exploring alternate history ideas like “What if Hitler invaded Britain?” or “What if the Cuban missile crisis went nuclear?”, so the addition of Mercenaries stealing an atomic weapon fits nicely in that and provides as good a reason as any to trundle round in an armoured fighting vehicle and blow up anything between you and the objective.

It’s worth noting the computer and console versions of the game are totally separate, so if you have a PC account it won’t transfer over to the console game, and vice versa. Having said that, both versions offer different experiences and there’s nothing stopping you playing the PC version as well as the console version if you are so inclined.

There’s not a huge number of free-to-play games out there which aren’t full of ads, and while microtransactions certainly exist in World of Tanks, it’s refreshing to see significant content additions being made available to all players, both free and premium.

If you’ve been looking for something you can play for short bursts on your console and you like the idea of commanding a tank in combat, World of Tanks: Mercenaries is a good opportunity to try your hand at virtual armoured warfare.

Originally published as World of Tanks update lets you play out all sorts of alternative historical storylines