While many AAA studios are scared of change,War Thundercomes in at the far opposite end of the scale. What started out as a modestWW2flight simulator now hasmodern supersonic fighters, tanks, and infantry.
Yes, you heard the last part right: after years of insisting that infantry would not be part of the game due to bothbalancing and technical limitations, developer Gaijin Entertainment revealed the change inan aptly-named updatecalled “The Next Big Thing ForWar Thunder”.
Players will earn their first taste of infantry combat in the next 24 hours. This will be part of “test battles featuring infantry” during a WW1-themed event.
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Mortars incoming!
The update video shows a confrontation between Russian and American troops, starting as your averageWar Thundercinematographic experience featuring a column of BMP-2M infantry fighting vehicles rolling through a destroyed town.
The first hint that something new is coming is the appearance of an American reconnaissance quadcopter over the armor. The two groups clash, and the Russian BMPs deploy an infantry squad to enter the building they are taking fire from.
War Thunder Infantry Weapons
The second part of the video is dedicated to showing off some of the features coming withthe addition of infantrytoWar Thunder.
You get to see a mix of AK-74, AK-12, and M4 assault rifles, M249 and PKP machine guns, MANPADS, and a wide assortment of anti-tank weapons.
Eventhe sniper crowdgot some love, with a brief shot of an unfortunate soldier getting sent to the shadow realm through a thermal rifle scope.
Also teased in the video is the kamikaze drone: small, inexpensive, and extremely deadly first-person view (FPV) drones that have revolutionized the battlefield in Ukraine.
TheWar Thunderinfantry update will play out in the same maps that host air and land vehicles, which has some players apprehensive over the visuals and balancing considering these maps were not originally designed with infantry in mind.
Should Gaijin succeed, War Thunder will become the closest thing to Playnet’s 2001 classic WWII Online, with the most balanced mix of realism and arcade concessions across vehicles and soldiers.
