Last year, I was experimenting with mobile games, namely tank games that I could play on my Android phone. When I am at home, there are a least two computers, a laptop and desktop, that I could find the time to play something. On the road however, lugging around the laptop isn't so....appropriate.
Naturally, since I was already playing World of Tanks on the PC, why not give the Blitz version a try. I was rather surprised how big the app was and even with a WiFi connection, how slow it downloaded/updated.
Despite the screenshots showing a victory for this battle, it wasn't the norm of how most would turn out for me. I am not going to complain about what is wrong with the game, per say, since there are many successful players that have made it work for them. For me, it was a clear struggle on just getting used to the touch/drag controls, let alone master them. Perhaps, I just gotten too used to using a keyboard and mouse. I kept on trying, but the improvements for this skillset just never came to me.
Then, things started to get....weird. Like the above pictured campaign announcement, I wasn't sure what direction things were going in with the game. I can kinda understand the visual metaphor they were implying here, but it struck me as odd for a tank game.
Right about the time the Tankenstein event started last October, I stopped playing.
****Warning, the following text may contain hypocrisy, reader discretion is advised****
First off, I realize it's just a game, however, it seems they have taken a strange detour into the realm of fantasy. When I want to play a tank game, it's mostly for the real life examples the virtual choices are modeled off, part of the reason I was attracted to Battlefield 1942, so long ago. Baring that, I can make certain, limited leaps of faith for proof of concepts, those tanks that were a least mocked up in miniature, partial scale and/or fully realized prototypes that almost saw service or even combat (the Maus is a good example of this), but I would consider those more as premium material.
With Tankenstein, WarGaming introduced a vehicle that was mashup of German, Soviet and American tank parts and created an event so players could earn this....abomination. Now, I know that game developers and producers will exercise some creative liberties to generate interest in their products and entice sales, but this?
World of Tanks on PC has quite a few vehicles that can only be described as pure fantasy, fabricating a history to justify their virtual existence ( Waffenträger auf E 100 anyone?). Some of these vehicles are needed to flesh out lines, because no other real life examples could be found to fill the role, due to the technological limitations of the time. Some of these very same vehicles have carried over to Blitz.
"Try out over 100 legends of armored warfare, based on genuine blueprints. Get closer to the epic tank battles of the mid-XX century."
Now, for a hypocritical confession, my most used tank in Blitz was the tier III Soviet premium Light Tank, LTP. I know it never made it past the proposal and drawing stage, however, I have made a personal exception for plausible prototypes and proposals (as in, they could have been built in the given time period, based on the materials and technology) as premium tanks, especially free ones.
But Tankenstein? That and not being able to finally get a good grasp on the controls was the cumulative straw that broke the camel's back, for me.
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