Awesome Tank is a grid based shooter, developed by UberGeekGames featuring Singleplayer, Online and Local multiplayer co-op, a global scoreboard and its very own version of achievements. The game will set you back 400msp.
As soon as you jump into Awesome Tank you're met with a standard menu with a simple left hand side set of options for you to choose from. One thing I did notice almost straight away was the framerate from the background gameplay video was all over the place.
Awesome Tank reminds me of another grid based tank shooter which I once played on the NES. Much like UberGeekGames' other title A Game of Tennis, the game focuses on retro styled simple gameplay concepts. Each level puts you in an arena with various other enemy tanks. Your objective is either to destroy them all or collect the tokens scattered around the level, however the twist is that you are only able to shoot one shot at a time - the key is the timing and lining up of your shots to ensure they hit your target. Also various power ups are scattered around the arenas such as the ability to fire 2 shots at once, faster speed and faster bullets. Sounds simple enough right? However the enemies also begin to start with some of these power ups on their tanks from as early as level 3 making the games difficulty ramp up extremely quick.
Sadly I did not get to try out the Online Multiplayer as there was nobody online at the times I played. However Local Co-op is a welcome addition and makes the game more enjoyable. It wouldn't surprise me if the developers designed the game to be played cooperatively due to the steep difficulty curve. Sadly much like A Game of Tennis the same problems occured with the global leaderboards - only my score was showing up.
Graphically the game is a mixed bag. The resolution of many of the textures are extremely low along with the model polycounts, however the tanks themselves look relatively decent. Particle effects in the game all look rather pretty, yet as soon as a few of them come onto the screen the framerate drops massively. When you destroy an enemy tank the camera pans in, freezes and then resumes to see the explosion - a neat touch, however again is plagued by huge framerate drops when the explosion occurs. The audio in the game is nothing particularly special - with standard explosion sounds, and a repetitive background music beat.
A neat touch that UberGeekGames have added is the 'Awardments' system. This is their form of achievements in every way possible, from the pop-up sound they make to the styling of the 'Awardment Unlocked' message. Now all we need is Microsoft to allow Indie Developers to use the real deal.
Overall Awesome Tank is a relatively enjoyable experience, yet suffers from major issues. The core gameplay is fun but punishing, however some of the games flaws really bring the experience down. The framerate drops are prevalent throughout the entire game although the awardments system is a welcome addition. Sadly price is the biggest concern with Awesome Tank. At 400 points the game is at the very top of the current pricing scale for Indie Games, and is it worth it? Not particularly. Although you can have a short but interesting experience with the game it never really justifies the price.
Awesome Tanks gets an Official Indie 2.8/5
