Gratuitous Tank Battles Demo

The tower defense genre is quite old, even if it only got popular a few short years ago and there already are hundreds of titles available, each one of which tries to bring something new and make itself stand out from the crowd. Few of them managed to so so, on the other hand, since it is way easier to just put out a generic product than try to innovate something.

Gratuitous Tank Battles is the second game in the series, although it concerns itself with an entirely different theme, given the fact that the first installment was set in space. Hence, this time you get to witness a different result for the first World War and use some of the same weapons to wage war against the enemy. Moreover, the story also includes a bit of hybridization, which means that robots and mechs make an appearance as well.

In essence, the game is about as classic as it can get when it comes to the gameplay mechanics, but if you pay close attention, you can observe some striking differences and a few mildly original ideas. Thus, beside the fact that you can place defensive towers to deflect incoming troops, there are also trenches in which infantry units can be positioned, which are highly effective against certain types of enemies.

Another interesting addition, although not very original, is the fact that you can also play as the attack and control the incoming units, rather than build the defensive grid. Hence, you can repeat the same maps and switch roles if you feel like it, in order to see what it takes to bring down the towers and reach your objective. Obviously, this feature shines the most in multiplayer, because the A.I. is not very bright, regardless of what role it plays.

The selection of units and towers is satisfactory, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary and you can quickly go through all of them in one session. However, the game also includes a map editor, which can be used to create your own adventures and make them as complicated as possible and struggle to fight against your own creations.

All things considered, Gratuitous Tank Battles is not exactly a bad game, but it really does not offer anything too great and it certainly doesn’t really come close to its predecessor. On the other hand, if you want to lose a few hours and you are out of ideas, you can just as well give it a chance, because it can be quite fun in short bursts.