Back in the winter of 2014, Word of Tanks rolled onto the Xbox 360, inviting console gamers to partake in the series' previously PC-exclusive brand of massively multiplayer competitive armored warfare. The jump to Microsoft's platform proved so popular, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the free-to-play tank battler soon followed.
Still, despite many a tank commander being made from behind a gamepad, console fans—accustomed to having a side of solo play with their PvP—wanted more than World of Tanks' competitive skirmishes could offer.
According to Wargaming Chicago-Baltimore's Creative Director and Executive Producer TJ Wagner, his team began noticing this craving when console players were spending tons of time in the sparse PvE bot-based missions the studio had introduced a year ago. “We saw that people really had an appetite for single-player or co-op content...they were playing through them an insane number of times.”
...All kinds of different stories, whether they're historical, alternate fiction, or even fantasy.
Known for their commitment to their passionate community, Wargaming didn't hesitate to answer the call. “So we're adding single-player missions to World of Tanks for the first time.” Wagner continued. “We developed these campaigns called 'War Stories'...all kinds of different stories, whether they're historical, alternate fiction, or even fantasy.”
Spread over three chapters, each one of these contained tales puts players in the cockpit of a tank— and in command of crew—specific to the story. Once they've completed the story, a “Challenge” mode unlocks, encouraging them to replay the content with any war machine in their garage. Doing so contributes to their overall multiplayer progression, meaning they can grind for boosts, silver, XP, and even premium tanks in War Stories. Gamerscore addicts will also be pleased to know the new content comes with its own Achievements and Trophies.
During our recent visit to Wargaming's Chicago studio, we got to take a couple of these new story-driven missions for a spin. Our couple of hours with the game didn't let us dig into every new feature, nor did it allow us to test co-op play—we were teamed with AI partners—but it did give us a good look at what the studio's aiming for with this fresh take on its fiercely competitive formula.
Even if you've never fired a shot in World of Tanks, these first three chapters quickly bring you up to speed.
Our first mission, dubbed “Brothers in Armor”, put us in the role of an American commander tasked with teaching Russian tank crews how to pilot M4 Shermans. Opening screens offered a nice synopsis of the story, complete with primary and optional secondary objectives, but this text-based intel was merely a primer to the chapter's more impressive narrative start. Before we found ourselves in the belly of a metallic beast, we were treated to a slickly produced animated comic. Complemented by cool effects—like sparks flying from a welder's tool—the motion comic unfolded over several frames, nicely setting up the story with quality voice-over narration.
As the very first War Story, “Brothers in Armor” clearly has new recruits in mind. Even if you've never fired a shot in World of Tanks, these first three chapters quickly bring you up to speed, covering everything from basic controls to more advanced maneuvers. While admittedly more of a training mission, this story isn't without its action-packed objectives, including ample opportunities to transform enemy tanks into smoking metal husks.
We were given a number of offensive and defensive objectives, from defeating baddies to capturing bases, but mostly we just had a blast tearing up the destructible environments while turning German tanks into charcoal. As we progressed, we were updated on the mission via story-supporting narration. Dynamic music, tailor-made for the new content, also added some nice cinematic flair.
The game's as much about thoughtful tactics and strategy as it is making the bad guys go boom.
Comfortable with the controls and format, we next dove into “Flashpoint Berlin”, an alternate history Cold War story involving a convoy of Western Allies infringing on Soviet territory while en route to West Berlin. The opening comic offered more details we won’t spoil here, but suffice it to say this story is all about not taking any BS from the Red Army or their inferior hardware.
We began by capturing a convoy – an objective that quickly forced us to shelve our guns-a-blazing approach in favor of one that called on the more nuanced skills we'd learned in the previous story. As seasoned World of Tanks fans are well aware, the game's as much about thoughtful tactics and strategy as it is making the bad guys go boom. This holds true in War Stories.
As we soon discovered though, it can also be about survival. Directed to capture a small town—just as a darkening sky began dumping snow on the battlefield—we found ourselves low on ammo, lower on health, and severely outnumbered. This lead to a tense game of cat-and-mouse, as we systematically sought out supply pick-ups before carefully maneuvering through the town's concrete cover to eliminate our enemies one by one.
A version optimized for Xbox One X will also arrive in time for the console's launch.
With a victory just barely achieved and another animated comic closing our demo, we exited War Stories feeling like we'd completed the first couple of campaign missions in a dedicated tank shooter. The downside to that, of course, was that we couldn't continue...not yet, anyway.
The two stories we played land on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 4 Pro August 22nd (a version optimized for Xbox One X will also arrive in time for the console's launch), but two more are already in the pipeline for 2017.
Details on these next installments are still under wraps, but Wagner did leave us with this tease: “The third one, 'Sealion', takes place in London, and the fourth, 'Kennedy's War', is an alternate take on the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
Matt Cabral is a contributor to IGN. See if you can out-nice him on Twitter at @gamegoat.
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