Recent reviews by A fluffy puppy

With a PC that meets the listed Recommended specs, I would've at least assumed half a year after its release that performance would have improved, and yet here I am, looking at shader optimization reduce my framerate in half, force my game to stutter constantly and turn it into an unplayable mess, while the game looks no better than MW2019 did (a game that runs far better).

As someone who started playing War Thunder back when it was in beta, back when it was only airplanes and locked to WW2, I sincerely miss those days over what the game has become over the last decade.

Back then, there were only five ranks, and unlocking the next rank only required you to purchase and "spade" a number of vehicles. To me, the game died the day they promised players that switching to a more traditional linear research tree (similar to World of Tanks) wouldn't change the progression and grind. Considering War Thunder is a Live Service Game, forever adding new content, it was very clearly a bold-faced lie.

Add to that the egregious nickel and dimeing as they follow the market trends with cash shops, seasonal battle passes and expensive premium packs, and it's a surprise to me that the game has even managed to stay alive for this long.

I would highly recommend you pass on this free-to-play title and find something else to spend your time and money on. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend alternatives that fit the gameplay or timeline either - for the tankers, Armored Warfare and World of Tanks both suffer from similar issues (the former only adds premium vehicles in updates and is essentially in life-support mode, the latter is also grindy and greedy.)

So simple and yet so elegant and relaxing, and it can still be pretty challenging if you're looking for a high score! It's definitely the kind of game everyone should try.

Fun and relaxing, the perfect little game for when you need to log off and clear your thoughts.

"Bringing the best features of the previous versions to a new America's Army environment."
This is not what I experienced in the beta at all. America's Army has been brought down from its complex but fun features to yet another Call of Duty/Battlefield competitor. Other than the guns being just as hard to handle, the game has been (and I hate using this word), "casualized".
If you're a die hard veteran from the early America's Army games or simply a fan of America's Army series, Proving Grounds will most likely not be for you, but if you're a CoD/BF junkie looking for another fast-paced (but tactical) FPS, then AA: Proving Grounds may be the fix you're looking for.