Act: TANKS 3D: Reign of Steel [by Deaddy Bear]

Game Review: Tanks 3D: Reign of Steel
Release Date: February 22, 2005
Developer: Deady Bear
Genre: Action
System Requirements: Windows 95/98/ME/XP/NT/2000, 1000 MHz, 32 MB Direct3D Compatible Graphics Card, 128 MB RAM, DirectX 8.0+
Players: 1-8 (LAN)
Price: $19.95


Tanks 3D: Reign of Steel is one of those games that I loaded on my computer and was stoked to try, but unfortunately it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

The game puts you inside one of five different tanks, each with its own unique strengths. The tanks have six different mounted weapons, consisting of a cannon, flamethrower, plasma gun, grenade mortar, mine mortar, and self-guided rockets. On the battlefield, you can pick up power ups that include the standard health box, invincibility, and speed boost. The best power up you can get is the meganuke. Drop this one on your enemy and keep your distance because it’s game over for them.

If you choose to embark on the single player missions, Colonel Jackson will brief you before you enter the battlefield. No voice-overs here, but he does a good job of spelling it out for you. The single player mode is comprised of 25 different missions. The missions are essentially the same: destroy tanks, gunners, and try to stay alive.

The maps look nice, but interactions are a little unrealistic. Don’t you think that if you dropped a meganuke on the ground that it would leave a big hole? It seems the land is impenetrable, and your tank goes as fast on water as it does on land.

Tanks 3D: Reign of Steel also gives you the option to play over LAN. If you can get a LAN game going you can play modes that include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, or Survival. For anyone looking for something different in a LAN game, Tanks will provide a little excitement, though it probably won’t hold the audience’s interest if they are die-hard gamers with experience in Counterstrike or Unreal Tournament.

GRAPHICS 8
The graphics on this game are done pretty well. The menus look like they could be taken from a console game. The tanks are rendered nicely and the environments are crisp and bright. I would have liked it if the land was affected by the constant carnage on the battlefield. The palm trees can be knocked down, but it would have felt more real if the land changed as the battle went on.

SOUND 7
The sounds of the tanks and weaponry worked well, and if you like the guitar solos from big hair rock bands of the 80’s, you will love the soundtrack to this game. The background music does not seem to go well with a shooter game in my mind, but you do have the option to mute the in-game music.

GAME PLAY 7
With regard to the controls, the tanks are very responsive and the targeting system never missed a beat. One of the missions is to stay alive for a few minutes and not lose more than the 15 lives you started with. Here is a little hint, just go hide in a corner. The A.I. won’t know where to look and you will win that mission. I hid, didn’t shoot once, and only lost 3 lives before winning. I have to knock a few points off for that, but otherwise the game controls quite nicely.

VALUE 6
You can download the demo and play the 1800 seconds that they spot you. I think that will be enough for you to make your decision on whether or not the game works for you. From looking at the panel scores from the monthly round-up there was a wide range of opinions on just how good this game is. If you want to see some similar games, look at Think Tanks and Airstrike II.

CONCEPT 5
This game is a lot like Think Tanks and I can name a bunch of other tank shooter games too. Bottom line: it’s not a new idea, but that isn’t necessarily bad.

FUN 6
Some repetitive game play is fun. Dare I say Tetris? In general, I don’t mind repetitive shooters, but going around similar environments to shoot the same tanks over and over gets old after awhile. Certainly having a bit more variety would have made the game more exciting.

OVERALL 7
Tanks 3D: Reign of Steel might be a good option for those of you who enjoy tank shooters and it should offer up a fun diversion for most FPS fans as well. In my opinion, the nicely rendered graphics aren’t enough to save the game from repetitive game play, but for the trigger-happy there are definitely some good hours of game play to be found here.
Added: May 20th 2005
Reviewer: Lenin Lopez
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