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| Source // Microsoft |
Is there enough chaos on your couch? Do you even have local multiplayer in the games you're playing? Despite a remake on the Xbox 360 where online multiplayer was in full swing, Death Tank allows you and up to three friends to get your artillery hats on for some chaotic last-man-standing rounds of vehicular warfare - and then allows you to play against another four players online at the same time.
It seems to give you options, but what are you doing in the first place?
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| Source // Microsoft |
Fun Times
What you see in Death Tank is what you get. A random mountainous 2D environment that will play host to warfare on a similar level to that of Worms, only you're in tanks that can fly and get to move and shoot in real-time.
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| Source // Microsoft |
On the left stick are your turret controls, where you can change the elevation and power of your shot. When the red arrow fills and turns green, you're ready to fire, and Death Tank is all about mastering the arc of your shells as they rain down from the skies.
The tutorial puts on a ground-level reticule to help you out, but once in a game proper, that's gone and you're on your own. How quickly can you dial in the right angles to land a hit on your opponents? How soon will you have to move to avoid incoming fire?
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| Source // Microsoft |
You can roll along the terrain left and right using the triggers, but this isn't the speediest of solutions to escape danger. Pressing them both launches your tank into the air where it turns into something from Lunar Lander, and now you've got to worry about where you're flying and how fast you're moving through the air, all the while avoiding the shells hurtling through it, and while still able to fire yourself.
I hope you like maths, or at least have some sort of idea how and when to fire on a target. You'll pick up some tricks in time I'm sure, but for me playing the demo, it felt like a lot of dumb luck sometimes.
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| Source // Microsoft |
Games are round-based, and between rounds you can spend cash you've earned by defeating your opponents on weaponry and upgrades for your tank. I was only ever able to buy machine guns, and ammo for my machine guns, so I know that there is a more direct weapon to use against your foes - crawling up to them and pointing a machine gun in their face - but I highly doubt that it's more effective.
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| Source // Microsoft |
Frustrations
I was only able to play a handful of rounds on the Death Tank demo, though I suppose I could have played them again and again. Why didn't I? Because it felt like there wasn't much point in doing so. My opposition was always better skilled than I was, and when it inevitably racked up more kills and earned more money, it'd be better equipped in the round after, too.
The controls make use of most of the buttons on the controller, but the important one, the left analogue stick, is the one that you need to get on top of and fast. Did I? No. With plenty of practice I probably would, but then we're back to wondering why I'd want to do that. In single-player Death Tank, there just isn't an urge to continue playing.
Final Word
I've not played Death Tank as intended, with a bunch of friends and frenemies all scrambling to get a grip on the controls in an attempt to hang in there for as long as possible, while the environment slowly gets chipped away and a tank flies up into the air for no real reason.
I can imagine the chaos and the panic with multiple players, and I imagine it to be more entertaining than whatever I got out of playing it on my own, which was along the lines of "Yeah, it's alright."
Death Tank is a little game that has its place, but one that probably doesn't stand a chance against other multiplayer experiences, local or not. It's fun, but it's old-school, and while there isn't a problem with that, there isn't always a demand for it, either.
I wouldn't say it's on to be avoided, it is worth fiddling around with and seeing how it all plays, but you won't get much out of it if you don't put a lot into it.
Fun Facts
Death Tank was first released on the Sega Saturn, buried as a bonus game in PowerSlave, and would get a sequel... hidden in Duke Nukem 3D. It's the flashy Xbox 360 remake that would serve as the standalone debut.
Death Tank, developed by Lobotomy Software, first released in 1996.
Version played: Xbox 360, 2009.