Dodging bullets and dollar bills as we take to the skies in World of Warplanes

Of course none of that matters if it's not free

I couldn't have said it better myself, except that I did say it myself. The Free Agent is all about exploring whether not you can find a game worth playing and never have to pay for it. We've already covered the "is it worth playing" part so what about the "never have to pay for it" part.

Unfortunately with World of Warplanes it's difficult to discuss them as two separate elements. Like many of the lacking-depth-match-based-online-free-to-play-games that have been covered on the Free Agent, one of the few sources of depth lies in the customization of equipment, in this case, warplanes.

For many of these games, it's only the depth of customization that gives it any hope of keeping me interested, but like so many others that depth of customization comes at a price. Of course as is the way of free-to-play, you can do most of what you want, unlocking new planes and upgrading their equipment, with currency earned in game (in this case both Experience and Credits).

If frivolous expenditures are your thing, you do receive a small amount of free real money currency (measured in Gold) that you can spend on things like permanent nose art and paint jobs. First hits free. After that if you want to avoiding throwing down real money, you'll be stuck 'renting' these customization options in 7 or 30 day increments at the cost of in-game Credits.

Which brings me back to the in-game currency. The road block to free gaming with World of Warplanes, and so many other titles like it, is that one of the main things that makes it worth playing, depth of customization, costs too much in-game currency compared to the rate at which you gain it. But at least it has depth of customization; some titles plagued with this issue don't even have that to hang their hats on.

To put it in perspective, it felt to me like the free-to-play experience hit a wall after reaching Tier III planes. Perhaps if I had focused more exclusively on single progression path I'd have been sitting in a Tier IV plane after two weeks, but being new to the game and wanting to experience a reasonable cross section of what it had to offer, I opted to spread the love around a little bit.

By the end of my run I was sitting on two Tier III UK Fighters, a decked out Bristol133 that was my aircraft of choice, and a half upgraded Skua that served more as a stepping stone into my attempt unlock a Tier IV Heavy Fighter, that is unless I was in the mood to drop a 250lb bomb on the enemy base.

I also had two Tier II UK fighters that were basically retired, the prerequisites to my Tier IIIs. The only Tier II plane that was still seeing action in my roster was the Japanese A4N Fighter, just for something different. The rest of my planes were freebie Tier Is that I barely touched (sorry USA, USSR and Germany, I was raised on tales of Billy Bishop, so it was UK planes for me).

I spout all of this off to say, that at first it seemed as though I could progress through the tech tree and customization options at a reasonable pace, without the need to spend real money on a premium account to boost my income, only to find that my progress ground to a halt much past Tier III. I can only imagine that the gap between Tier IV and V is even worse, and so on up to the Tier IX and X early model jet fighters.

Ultimately, I think you could play for free, but the longer you attempted to do so the less there would be to keep you interested and the more there would be to encourage you to pay up. It's a bit of a double edged sword on that front. Whether this is brilliant or sadistic marketing, I'll leave up to you to decide.

Which brings us to the end

Indeed it does. This is neither the most generous endorsement nor the most scathing critique we've given here on the Free Agent, leaving World of Warplanes flying somewhere in between. I suppose for a game all about warplanes, that's not a bad place to be.

With great visuals, easy-to-learn controls, and gameplay that is enjoyable in small doses, World of Warplanes is worth checking out. Regardless of mixed feelings on its staying power, at least now you can go in with the information to make the decision for yourself.

That's all for this episode, but since the next regular scheduled episode falls right smack on top on Christmas Day, we're going to mix it up a little. In exactly one week, we'll be bringing you a very special Free Agent Episode 18: Game of the Year Edition.

Did you have a favorite episode? Did you try out any of the games featured here on the Free Agent? Well then by all means let us know by posting in the comments below or sending me a Tweet before December 18th and you might even see your favorite free-to-play game take the award for 2013 when the Free Agent Game of the Year edition goes live.

After that there won't be a new episode until the New Year, so stay tuned to ZAM.com to find out what game we'll be covering next. Thanks joining us.

See you next time on the Free Agent.

Robert "Caergan" Gray

               Follow me on Twitter @Caergan