Aside from the big 2.0 update for World of Tanks, Wargaming also announced World of Tanks: HEAT at gamescom Opening Night Live last week. Soon after the trailer’s release, I got to try a demo of this new game out, and it became one of my biggest surprises of the event.
In case you missed it, World of Tanks: HEAT is an upcoming 10v10 multiplayer game that essentially combines tank combat with hero shooter mechanics. That means players can select one out of a range of Agents, each with unique skills and abilities for their tanks. Yes, this makes HEAT essentially a hero shooter with tanks.
While hero shooters are quite popular, it’s fair to say that it’s quite a crowded market already. After all, there are already plenty of big titles in the genre that dominate the charts like last year’s Marvel Rivals, Valorant, and Overwatch.
On one hand, it may seem like an unusual decision to unveil yet another hero shooter in 2025. After getting some time with the game though, I found out that HEAT offers enough things different to help it stand out, all while being familiar enough so that players who don’t play World of Tanks won’t get intimidated.
All the hallmarks of a hero-shooter
Interestingly, World of Tanks: HEAT does have a premise that explains why there are Agents with unique tanks. This game is set in an alternate post-WWII timeline where the development of high-tech tanks proliferated, and with them came Agents that have specialized skills to drive them. It’s not clear why they’re having these 10v10 fights, though in all fairness to HEAT, actual combat isn’t exactly “canon” in other hero shooters.
Speaking of the Agents, the game will have a wide selection to choose from, with each Agent not only having three standard abilities, but also a choice of two tanks. Note that tanks are tied to each Agent, meaning you won’t be able to mix and match the Agents and tanks. This makes sense considering that Agents are divided into three roles.
As is the case with other games in the genre, there are Agents that specialize in attacking, while others have defensive abilities. There are also specialists with disruptive abilities. Plus, each Agent has progression paths, meaning the characters promise to have more depth as players play the game more.
Even though they have different roles, all Agents have three standard skills along with one ultimate ability. As expected, this ultimate is a powerful skill, though you’ll need to charge it up by hitting enemies.
Another thing that should be familiar to most shooter fans is the selection of game modes. This game will feature Conquest, Domination, and Kill Confirmed modes, meaning hero shooter players should quickly be able to understand what’s going on. That’s exactly what happened in my play session. Even with just a quick briefing, I quickly got to grips with the game’s mechanics.
Yes, this game plays very much like a hero shooter, even more so because I went with a defensive character (my usual preference). As my demo was just against bots, I can’t exactly say yet how competitive things would get when facing other players. What I can tell is that, mechanically, this game is a lot of fun to play.
Sure, the hero shooter mechanics aren’t exactly unique when you compare them to other games in the genre, but this familiarity works with the game. That’s because, at the end of the day, you’re controlling tanks. This gives it a unique identity that should help it stand out in the genre, while the familiar elements mean it won’t be a struggle to get started.
But you’re controlling tanks
Before we get into the tank movement mechanics, it’s important to note that Wargaming isn’t striving for realism here. Thus, you shouldn’t expect a sim-like movement feel for the tanks in HEAT. Despite this, moving in this game still very much feels like you’re driving a tank, meaning it won’t be effective to just run in towards enemies with no plan.
As you’re driving a tank, rushing in blindly can lead you to being vulnerable. Unlike other hero shooters where you can sprint (or have movement abilities to quickly move away), as a tank, there’s no magical way to get out of the open field. If this happens, you can quickly find yourself in a pinch. Because of this, movement in this game should be planned a bit more carefully,
Aiming is also similar. A tank’s main weapon won’t just snap quickly to your cursor, meaning there’s a bit of lag between aiming and actually getting your cannon barrel to line up. This delay also gives the game more of a tactical feel as you can’t just flick fire against enemies when you spot them on your side.
Still, despite the more methodical aspects of the tank movement and aiming, this game is still very much an action-packed affair. In fact, given the 10v10 matches, it can get quite chaotic. I imagine that for teams to take victory, they’ll have to coordinate properly given how, because of the tank mechanics, teamwork should be a bigger requirement for matches.
World of Tanks: HEAT Initial Impressions
Again, I can’t exactly say how well this would feel when played with other players as it’s intended, but based on my time with the game, World of Tanks: HEAT is quite a promising new multiplayer game from Wargaming. What’s more, the developers promise that the game will not be a pay-to-win experience as the monetization will be focused on visual customizations for tanks (there are a lot of customization options).
Even though it seems that we already have way too many hero shooters now, the familiar elements of the genre seem to mix well with the game’s tank movement and aiming mechanics, giving the game a familiar and unique feel. At best, this combination should make it more approachable than the OG World of Tanks, all while still having the depth that you would expect a tank combat game to have. Hopefully, the game’s release version lives up to the promise.
World of Tanks: HEAT will be released on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. For now, there’s no release date yet for the game.