World of Warplanes

World of Warplanes (WoWp) is a free-to-play aerial combat massively multiplayer online (MMO) game developed by Persha Studia and published by Wargaming.net. The game was originally released in November 2013 in CIS countries, North America and Europe. It was relaunched as World of Warplanes 2.0 in October 2017 in the same countries, achieving significantly better reception.

World of Warplanes (or "WoWp" for short) features over 300 aircraft, namely military and prototype aircraft from Germany, the Soviet Union, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, and China. It allows players to choose from 5 main warplane classes: fighters, multirole fighters, heavy fighters, ground attack planes, and bombers. In addition to this, Premium aircraft are also available. Each nation's tech tree introduces squadrons of planes ranging from Tier I entry-level 1930s biplanes all the way up to Tier X late 1940s jet-powered aircraft. All warplanes can be unlocked and upgraded through a continued gameplay progression.

It is possible to upgrade your aircraft with various weapons, engines, equipment, and consumables. The game features 4,635 possible aircraft configurations, which along with customisation options, such as camouflage, allows the player to create planes that are uniquely configured with specific needs in mind, such as increased speed or ruggedness. Battles in World of Warplanes unfold at dozens of unique maps, most of which are based on real-world landscapes. Unlike similar games in the genre, World of Warplanes does not feature limited ammunition in-game, instead implementing a system where bombs and rockets have cool-downs before they can be reused, and overuse of guns results in overheating, limiting the rate of fire and accuracy of overheated guns.

Aircraft of each class in the same tier vary in flight characteristics and firepower across nations. For example, a Soviet or a Japanese fighter of the same tier will be more horizontally maneuverable than its German or American counterpart but would have limited vertical manoeuvrability and would be more fragile. WoWp features an aircraft comparison system to assist players in understanding the differences in capabilities between different aircraft. The official website has a History of Aviation section, where one can find additional information on specific planes. Available tech trees expand as development continues on WoWp. New nations and additional aircraft for each nation’s tech tree have been gradually introduced post-launch.

The basic game features mixed PvP/PvE combat sessions in two basic scenarios: Conquest and training battles. Training Mode is a sandbox environment for new players and teams, helping them test tactics, new planes, and practice shooting at static and flying targets. No experience or credits are earned in training mode.

In Conquest, the objective is to capture sectors via "capture points", which are earned through destroying enemy aircraft and bot defense aircraft and ground targets.

As of Update 2.0, respawning has been added into WoWp, thus further differentiating WoWp from other Wargaming titles, which often do not feature respawning. The primary game mode has been changed to 'Conquest', in which two teams of opposing players accumulate points by capturing territories on the game map, which can be accomplished by destroying enemy aircraft or ground fortifications within capture zones. Different capture zones have different effects on gameplay. For example, the 'Airfield' and the 'Military Base' zones both help to accumulate points towards a team's score, but differ in function. 'Airfield' zones provide an extra spawn point for players, reducing travel times for players occupying 'Airfield' zones. 'Military Base' zones also routinely bombard enemy zones with rockets, enabling faster capture of enemy zones. When a team has earned a noticeable point advantage, players would be warned of the 'squall line' event, wherein players can no longer respawn upon being shot down. The victor of the game is the team that has accumulated more points in the time limit of the game, or when all enemy players are permanently killed after the arrival of the 'squall line' gameplay event.

Players are graded on their performance in battle via a personal score, which increases when players carry out activities specific to their aircraft type in battle. For example, fighters earn more personal points more effectively when engaging in maneuvering combat with other fighters and bombers earn personal points more effectively by destroying ground targets. A higher personal score generally reflects a greater skill on the part of the player, and higher-scoring players earn more in-game credits than their poorer-scoring teammates. Medals and awards are also provided to players who accomplish specific tasks in battle, such as shooting down a certain number of enemy aircraft in a sortie. Tokens are awarded to players who earn medals, and an in-game tracker maintains a record of the medals that a player has earned in-game. Earning medals determines the amount of experience earned.