Tanki Online --- An Honest Review

[SinYang 8]

Everywhere, I find numerous reviews of this great game, Tanki Online. Some find it great, some find it not so great, and others find it meh. You might have been put off by those reviews, so this one will be an honest one; from a gamer with some experience in this game and others.

 

Some self-introduction: My nickname in-game is SinYang, and I am currenty at the rank of Major. You may or may not have seen me before, I do not know. I have 2 other accounts, at Third and Fourth Warrant Officer and have been playing this game for about 3-4 years.

 

What do I aim to cover in this review? I intend to go over some details of the game in general (with some of my personal opinions) and the current state of the game.

 

In December 2013, a friend invited me to play a game that he liked. I didn't know much, and did not intend to really play it. A few days later, however, I made an account, just to see what the game was like. I didn't really enjoy the game very much at first, the graphics were reasonable, but the gameplay kinda sucked. I played for a while everyday, and then, I noticed that I was reasonably good at the game, being able to consistently get good scores. 

 

Tanki Online was still rather undeveloped at that point, not having a few turrets namely Vulcan, Hammer and Striker. The diversity of choices available was alright, I would say. Sure, popular combinations like Hornet+Rail and Viking+Ricochet were pretty common, but otherwise, they were pretty balanced and did not require too much skill to use.

 

After taking a break from Tanki for 2 years, I was surprised at how far it had come. New turrets had been implemented, certain hulls buffed and the all new modules section surprised me. I had not originally expected for the game to be so developed, yet alone with such a thriving community. All in all, a great bonus for me!

 

This was where i thought things were starting to go downhill: Smoky was 2x as overpowered as before; changes to Vulcan makes it so much harder to use (I will be going through this later on); buyers were everywhere and drugs were way too commonplace. I can only speak of these issues from a M1/M2 standpoint, since I have never reached M3 and never intend to.

 

Firstly, Smoky. i get it that it was not very good a few years ago, but did they really have to buff it that much? Sure, the damage at range is dreadful, but at CQC, it can even beat out certain weapons. Combined with the dreaded Double Damage drug, It is capable of 2/3-shotting a hornet of the same modification level and can even take down a Mammoth with ease. My suggestion is that its firing rate should be slowed down by 1.5x, as well as increasing its recoil to above-Thunder levels.

 

With the recent balance changes, Shaft was buffed, Vulcan nerfed. As a past Shaft user, and a current Vulcan user, I can safely say that this change was really not needed. If anything, they should have made it such that the Shaft and Striker laser beams can be told apart. For anyone that has not read the balance changes, Shaft's damage at M1 was increased by almost 400, making it able to kill an M2 hornet or severely cripple any M1 heavy/ M2 medium hull with just one hit. Sure, they increased the time needed to gain full damage, but even just scoping in half-way can reap devastating results. Now onto Vulcan: my biggest concern is of its gyroscopic effect. I don't have much to say on its auto-aim decrease, but the decrease in the gyroscopic effect has led to most shots being able to knock off its aim. Really, this was really redundant even though they did increase the damage at range which it so desperately needed. My suggestion for these two turrets is for the changes to be added as alterations, but for Vulcan's damage to be increased at range and slightly decreased at point-blank range.

 

The following are my ratings for this game:

• Graphics:  5/10
• Gameplay:  8/10
• Required Specs:  9/10
• Dev Resposiveness : 10/10 (I love those V-LOGS)
• How bad is paying to win: Very bad (Shaft and Titan M3 at 2nd lieutenant??)
• Overall rating: 8/10

 

This shall conclude my review of Tanki Online. I hope you found it interesting!

Edited March 6, 2017 by Blackdrakon30

[Hex 11,520]

Approved!

 

Edits ~

1. Please note that the names of turrets, hulls, paints, modules and supplies are proper nouns -- they start with a capital letter.

2. Revise your comma usage -- you're using it wayy too often, even in needed places.

3. Applied Bold and bullets to your ratings.

4. Minor grammar.

 

 

Nice review, but I certainly disagree with your rating on 'graphics'.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Hexed

[Penguin40 1,714]

I beg to differ about the P2W thing. I've been around for more than you have (joined May 2014, been around and witnessing updates ever since) and altho the drugs do dominate, it's nowhere near what happened then and even before in the era of the OP kits. M3s at Second Lieutenant AFTER the 2012 rebalanfe, just imagine it. Most of the real M3s (no MUs) in M2 ranks are from that era.

 

TO is adding more and more ways for crystals, and definitely looking into the supplies issue. Shaft and Striker lasers for one, should be the same so players can tell them apart by skill and experience. Shaft was fairly weak and boring before the recent update, now it's more forcing to be a sniper-combatant hybrid.

 

Vulcan was, on the other hand, OP before its nerf, and honestly its fairly balanced now.

 

Smoky's basically what it should be, right now. A close-medium range pest that is supposed to be a more tactical weapon that works only when used correctly enuff, else gets beaten up. The recoil is BIGGER than Railgun, let alone Thunder, and increasing the firing rate basically destroys it. It's meant to take out opponents with ease WITH tactics, but with boring old charge-in use, it's down in seconds.

 

Hope that helped!

[Bleach 491]

Your commas are slightly messed up, and I completely disagree with the P2W thing... Anyway, nice article despite these facts..

[Crip 4,735]

If you play on Full Graphics, the game is brought to life.

 

I actually really like the Tanki graphics.

[Blackdrakon30 2,943]

Interesting perspective. I personally like the Tanki graphics when they're on full, although it makes the game difficult for many computers to process. I couldn't help but find myself agreeing on several points. 

Edited March 6, 2017 by Blackdrakon30

[Viking4s 10,791]

Yes it was very interesting and instructing with a nice description of your assessment.

Also very good stats and pretty decent garage. Welcome back.

 

Please, could you explain "Required Specs" ?

Edited March 6, 2017 by Viking4s

[Crip 4,735]

Please, could you explain "Required Specs" ?

The computer specifications required to effectively run the game.

[Tofu 6,773]

People here are talking about playing with full graphics on while I hardly get 50 fps with all graphics off

---

Nice piece btw

Edited March 6, 2017 by Tofu

[SinYang 8]

Interesting perspective. I personally like the Tanki graphics when they're on full, although it makes the game difficult for many computers to process. I couldn't help but find myself agreeing on several points. 

yup, sound just like mine