E3 2012 – Tank! Tank! Tank! Preview

Now this is a game that has an exciting title. Tank! Tank! Tank! is the first home version of the crazy arcade machine that was released in back 2009.

Tank! Tank! Tank! is a game that purely focuses on the important job of blowing stuff up while driving a tank. You have to admire the simplicity of the game, which to me, makes it all the more fun. There is no tome-like manual to wade through or a billion button combos to memorise, just a few simple controls to move your tank and fire its weapons.

After the 20 seconds it took me to master the controls and get my picture taken by the Wii U camera – sorry, the NamCam – I was off trundling about in my little tank around the city and blowing the crap out of a pesky infestation of giant spiders. I did laugh when I saw my terrible face picture for the first time, plonked right above my tank. I think it was meant as some sort of warning to other players to stay away.

The game itself brought back memories of playing Rare’s N64 classic destroy-em-up Blast Corps as I watched another building crumble to the floor from the effects of my cannon.

Each level is a playground, just like Blast Corps. While you can just take out the giant monsters and leave the city intact, I decided to blow up as much as possible. This approach was much more fun. If this game had a signature tune it would be Boom! Shake the Room by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. Tic-tic-tic-tic boom!

When you add in up to 3 other players in to the multiplayer matches, each level becomes a warzone. Explosions, bits of monsters, buildings collapsing left, right and centre. It’s utter brilliance. If you need a break from all the multiplayer madness then the single-player story missions give you the opportunity to unlock new tanks and upgrade them, for future multiplayer carnage.

On top of your tank’s powerful, but slow, cannon there are a variety of ever-deadlier weapons just lying around every level. My favourite one had to be the colossus missile, a giant missile that inflicts epic amounts of damage on anything you point it at.

When faced with a bloody huge three-headed red dragon that dwarfed my tank, the colossus was an absolute godsend. After a few of those little beauties down its many throats and followed up by swarms upon swarms of deadly warheads from the missile rack weapon, the dragon was finally defeated.

Tank! Tank! Tank! is a simple but fun game with a wonderfully hectic multiplayer component. It’s not something that really takes advantage of what the Wii U can offer, as for starters it’s not the prettiest game ever. While I did have my very own screen on the GamePad, when compared to the giant LCD that the other players were using via their Wiimotes, I would have had more screen space if I’d simply shared the TV.

As a Wii U launch title, Tank! Tank! Tank! doesn’t look like a system seller, but it is huge amounts of fun.