How do you make a second act spectacular? Turn the volume up even higher.This summer, World of Tanks Modern Armor gets loud as Motörhead and Rob Zombie take the stage for Metal Fest, the central event of our new Heavy Metal season!
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Just like all the best music festivals, Metal Fest has become an annual event. Anyone who missed our 2023 headliners (Sabaton, Megadeth, and Iron Maiden) is in luck; for a limited time, we’ll be bringing back last year’s content in all of its guitar-shredding glory.
But you don’t want to just relive last year’s epic moments. You want to hear about the new stuff. So let’s talk about what it took to make this year’s event happen with the legendary Motörhead and Rob Zombie!
Motörhead
Motörhead blasts its way into battle with new content that includes:
The Thunder Chief Object 452K tank
The “Bomber” Skin for the FV107 Scimitar
2D Commanders representing band members Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell, and Mikkey Dee
3D Commanders modeled after Lemmy and the band’s mascot, Warpig
Motörhead is one of the true vanguards of heavy metal. Their lifestyle and legend remains fiercely popular, and founding father Lemmy (who passed away in 2015) continues to be revered in the community.
But as well as leading Motörhead to deafening global popularity, Lemmy was also an avid gamer, and the band was actively involved with concepts and ideas for Tanks’ new content. Talking about the Lemmy 3D Commander, the band states, “Modern technology has enabled us to have Lemmy fully integrated into the game, which felt appropriate given that this is exactly the sort of game he played and avidly enjoyed.”
It’s a legacy that the Motörhead superfans in Tanks’ design and development crews took seriously. “We did a ton of visual research to make sure we were making the most authentic version of Lemmy seen in any video game ever, and I think we achieved that,” says Andy Dorizas, Tanks’ art director. “I wanted to make sure we honored him as the amazing guy he was.”
This dedication is reflected not only in the Commanders but in the Motörhead tank and skin (“the back of the tanks, the amps—you will know if you know,” says Dorizas) as well as the Warpig 3D Commander. According to Dorizas, “We even have Warpig carrying the bomb from the Bomber album cover into the game when you choose him in the UI.”
In fact, this marks the first time that fans will get to hear Warpig’s voice, a responsibility that fell to another Motörhead fan: Brendan Blewett, Tanks’ audio director.
“Motörhead provided clear goals and direction for Warpig in that they wanted a character that was a cross between a wild, free-wheeling-no-rules biker and an English bulldog,” Blewett explains. “I had to think about how to achieve this, and I decided that interpolating recordings, in combination with modulating a human voice recording against a different recording of dog vocalizations, was going to be my method.”
So, who was chosen to assist with this iconic role? “My sister-in-law has a puggle named Ollie, and he is a legendary vocalizer when it comes to snorting and breathing and grunting and whatnot, so the solution presented itself,” says Blewett. “The whole of every line is a human voice being directly modulated by dog vocalizations.”
Sometimes you go to great lengths to make rock and roll happen.
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie thunders onto the battlefield with new content that includes:
The Dragula T-55AGM tank
The “Superbeast” Skin for the M53/55
2D and 3D Commanders modeled after the man himself
Zombie is an unmatched creative force who, with the 1998 release of Hellbilly Deluxe, solidified his status as a ruler in the realm of shock rock. The Dragula T-55AGM acknowledges this with a design that pays tribute to the album’s lead single.
But Zombie’s career extends far beyond that, which meant that his 3D Commander in particular had to reflect all his accomplishments and interests.
“We made two designs of his 3D commander,” says Dorizas. “Rob chose the one that was more authentic to Rob and not tied to any one album theme … a bad-ass tanker with evil style and some serious menace.”
No matter which act is your favorite, this year’s Metal Fest aims to thrill. Motörhead and Rob Zombie were among players’ top five most requested acts, and we’re honored to bring them you.
So crank it up. We’ll see you on the battlefield for Metal Fest starting July 30 on PS5 and PS4!