World Destruction League: Thunder Tanks

"Range: 5 feet. Arc: 6 feet. Target:....the trash can."

Battle Tanks is one of those games where destruction is everything, and points really means nothing. In World Destruction League, the 3DO developers try, and fail miserably to cash in on a successful series.

-Visuals 5/10-

While the in game visuals are half-way decent, you're treated to a game filled with image break-up, blurring, and alot of on-screen clutter. The detailing of the levels is very simplistic; boarded up windows and run down buildings is what you have to look at. In with this is the tanks, weither they are actual playable characters, or tank drones that are, quite frankly, boring to watch.

The actual effects of the game are slow and un-inspired, with explosions happening every-so-often leaving burned out hulks of metal for you to look at and then run over with your own tank. While this might not be too bad, it pales in comparison to some of the other tank games out there. The on-screen clutter comes with there being too many tanks on-screen at one time, and this can be a strain on the eyes when you're trying to see what's ahead of you.

-Sound 5/10-

The only thing that saves this category, is the in-between game commentary. Again, you have very little to look at and in this case, very little to hear as far as music is concerned. With all of the firing that is going on, you can't hear the music track in the background {which isn't that up-beat and catchy to begin with}.

The sound effects are your general assortment of explosions and cannons being fired. This wouldn't be so bad if maybe there was some variation in the different types of tanks firing, but there really isn't. This is one of those games where the CD player comes in handy. It'll give you something better to listen to.

-Control 5/10-

Alright, this is pretty bad, and quite frankly, I haven't seen anything this bad in a quite sometime. The actual movement of your tank is stiff, and if you're using a turret tank, you have to control where the turret points as well. Honestly, the control in this game is geared towards expert players who have no trouble using stiff controls and using two different modes of movement at once. With that being said, even the tanks with no turret movement are hard to turn and point. After a few minutes, you'll really be wondering what the programmers had in mind for this.

-Gameplay 5/10-

You seek and destroy your opponents. Offering you a few different playing modes, you have the Tournament, which is the one player free for all, the Frenzy, in which you can have up to four teams of tanks, the Family, which is geared for younger players...and even then, it's really not that easy, and finally, you have the Deathmatch, which is a multi-player free for all.

While these modes seem like alot, there really is nothing that distinguishes them from one another. The Tournament revolves around either blowing up your opponents, playing Capture the Flag, or Base Defense in which a variation of Capture the Flag is played. Once you start playing, you'll notice that the only thing that changes, is the difficulty, and how many computer controlled tanks there are up against you.

3DO, in this reviewers opinion, did a horrid job, by not adding something in terms of secrets for you to get ahold of after having to subject yourself to the game for hours on end. Other things in Gameplay really don't apply, as the basis of the game is to blow stuff up, or get yourself blown up. Computer A.I in this game is cheap, unfair, and you'll find yourself wanting to smash your fist through the screen after you've gotten far enough into a stage, and then been blown up by 10 or 15 computer controlled tanks that have you cornered.

-Overall 5/10-

This game isn't for beginners..and hell, it's not even for experts. With the way that the control is set up, and then the super-cheap A.I, you'll be hard-pressed to find any enjoyment in this game. The visuals and the sound is also atrocious, in terms of image break-up, un-inspired backgrounds, too much background noise, and not enough actual music.

3DO did a horrible, horrible job with this title, and had there been a little tweaking, it could have ranked right up there with other vehicle battle games such as Vigilante 8 and the Twisted Metal series. This game isn't a purchase choice unless you want a 40 dollar coaster, but it is a rental for 5 days for about 4 bucks.

-Other Games like this done in better fashion-

-Battle Tanks: Global Assault
-Twisted Metal 1-4
-Forsaken

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/07/00, Updated 11/07/00