My latest mini obsession is Crossout. It's a 'free to play' vehicle build and battle game set in the post apocalypse. So basically, a computer 3D version of Car Wars for those that remember. And I loved me the heck out of Car Wars. Still do, though it's hard to find opponents with the game in limbo. I say 'free to play' because it's a pretty aggressive market for microtransactions. And most of what you can buy is the actual parts and weapons for your vehicles. It does it in a somewhat round about way though. They've got packs you can purchase with a vehicle, coins for use on the market and the like. Some of which are pretty pricey. Or you can buy coins directly from them in various amounts. The market is an in game where you can buy and sell parts you need or have spare for coins, with the developers taking a small cut.
To get the parts in the first place there's four avenues... The market is easiest if you've got the coin. Playing battles gets you some base line parts, the cheapest and simplest stuff. As you level up you reputation with the six factions they'll give you new parts and finally you can craft them. Basic stuff may take scrap and copper you get from doing the PVP and PVE battles. More advanced stuff requires harder to get materials and/or other vehicle parts... Like you might need some scrap, copper and basic cannons to make a better cannon. But to craft anything but the basic stuff you need to rent space on the faction's workbenches which costs coins. So one way or another, unless you stick to the most basic stuff you're going to need coins from somewhere. You can play match after match and sell the parts you get or craft on the basic workbench to earn pennies, saving up to buy better stuff from the market or time on the workbenchs to build better. But that's the long grind. Or open your wallet.
It pretty much straddles the line for pay to win with two major saving points. The best stuff you can't get until you play and level up, there's no shortcut around that. I've been playing for about two weeks now and have reached a level I can use any gear I think. More importantly the size of the vehicles you can make are limited and go up at level milestones. Or if you buy a vehicle pack with a higher limit. That limits how many parts you can place on a vehicle. And each part has a power rating, added together to the total power of your car. And since players are matched in games by power rating you don't run into seal clubbing insidents where guys with a pickup that has a machine gun bolted to the roof are facing off against custom death machines with cannons and missiles.
The game plays great though. Wait times are short, matches tend to be over relatively fast and building vehicles is both intuitive, creative and fun. I do recommend it, even with the pay to play elements in it. Just know that this is one of the free games where you're probably going to want to spend cash in it. So know what you're getting yourself into.