Destructanks

Tanks are pretty good vehicles for destroying things, given the fact that they are fully armored and ready to deal a lot of damage in a very short period of time. On the other hand, they are also pretty slow and exposed if they are not behind some kind of cover, so it’s not advised to use them alone in an assault of some kind. The video games world is different, however, so you can break the rules and have as much fun as you can on the battlefield.

Destructanks is a top-down action game in which you control a tank with a single purpose: blow everything up. Each mission challenges you to destroy every single object in the level, and you have to do it before the timer reaches zero. This adds even more pressure, especially when you consider the fact that you also have to watch out for weapon heating and things like that.

To begin with, the first couple of stages are designed to be a tad easier, although not by much. Hence, you start by destroying suburban houses and trees, which is pretty simple once you figure out the shooting mechanics. After that, you move onto big cities and a few other environments, which are obviously more difficult to navigate and handle, especially quickly enough to keep up with the timer.

To make things even harder, enemy tanks make an appearance later on as well, and they attack you on sight. It’s imperative that you destroy them, otherwise you’ll find yourself blown to bits in a couple of seconds. However, you lose precious time by fighting them, so it’s always a struggle. Speaking of which, the buildings you destroy reward you with a couple of extra milliseconds, so it’s also important to keep shooting in order to keep the timer from slipping too fast.

There’s not much one can say about the game’s graphics, because there’s nothing flashy about them. The top-down perspective is quite appropriate in this case, but the way it is implemented is not the most ingenious. Hence, the camera automatically zooms out when you move, exposing more of the map. It goes back to normal if you stop, which can be seriously annoying sometimes.

In the end, Destructanks is a pretty enjoyable game, at least if you can contain your frustration and accept its unforgiving rules. On the other hand, it could use a handful of improvements as well, especially when it comes to gameplay fluidity and the camera.