BI thought tanks were awesome by nature, but not so fast. Enter Awesome Tank, a little green tank that's runs on awesomeness. (I am going to attempt not to say "awesome" for the rest of this review).
I had some good fun while playing this one, hence the B rating. I've always liked this type of top down tank shooter, so I might be a little bias. The game plays smoothly too, with simple controls and satisfying explosions. And it's fun to hunt down the dumb grey tanks as they wander sort of aimlessly.
What bugs me about this one is the lack of polish, because it actually has great potential to capitalize on the likable concept and good gameplay. I struggled on the number of emblems here, but I had to go with one because there were just too many situations where I was left shaking my head.
The most annoying bit for me was that the HUD covered a good portion of the screen, blocking out a sizable chunk of the playing ground much of the time. And while the 3D environments look solid at first, you have to wonder why a little more effort wasn't put into creating some variety and detail into the graphics (cones and snowmen?). I would have loved to see some non-square maps that were a bit more maze-like and less of a standard grid. The music is uninspired (albeit simple and non-distracting), and the power-ups seem limited and uncreative. (faster bullets, and faster tank).
This sort of feels like a beta to me, but one with nice potential. Props to the developer for getting it to a fun, playable level, but I'd encourage him/her to pick it back up again for a couple rounds of awesome (dammit!) polish.
I will admit, I could not play the multiplayer and I only tried the trial (several times). (note to the developer: please contact me if you feel that the full version will counter some of of my critiques).
Hi, I'm the developer of Awesome Tank. Thank you for reviewing my game, and I'm glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteI would like to address some of your concerns with the game. First, you can turn the HUD off in the Options screen (press Start->Options or select Options from the main menu). You can also set when it appears, so it only pops up when you die or get a powerup so it isn't distracting.
I purposely kept the level design simple. I did add a lot of variety with several types of 'maze' style maps with destructible blocks, but I wanted to keep the layout itself as simple and clean as possible. Also, changing the size/grid of the level would present significant technical difficulties and take a lot of time. I decided to spend time polishing the gameplay and graphics instead.
Lastly, I'm not a musician, so I did not do the music. It is stock music from SoundSnap.com, and you can adjust the volume from the Options screen, or play your own from your hard drive if you prefer.
Thanks again for the review! I hope you can try multiplayer at some point, it's a total blast! :-)
Hey there! Thanks for stopping in, appreciate the note. It's definitely a fun play and those tips will help.
ReplyDelete