Apr 10 2009
“BattleTanx” (1998) ****
Story:
After a virus wipes out most of the female population on Earth in 2001, countries engage in battle over their own quarantine zones, leading to full scale nuclear war. The last females are held captive by gangs. You play as Griffin Spade whose fiance, Madison, has been abducted by the U.S. Government.
Separated from his wife, Spade claims a tank and travels across war-ridden America to find and rescue her, fighting off any gangs he comes across.
Graphics:
Well-detailed explosions. The tanks are well designed and each contain their own abilities and weaknesses. The developers really went to town with the levels with plenty of things to destroy within huge, wide open areas that are unbelievably long (hey, longer the levels, the better they are).
Controls:
Controlling the tanks is very easy and realistic. The controls feel very responsive with no difficult movements, making it very fun to play. There’s no need to feel around for a button while you’re focusing on the screen.
Gameplay:
You can select from three tanks - a Moto Tank, M1A1 Abrams MBT, or the Goliath. You will control your tank through seventeen levels in the single player campaign and battle enemy tanks all throughout. All of the levels are set across the United States including New York City, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Chicago. Each environment is fully destructible and interactive. The game has multiplayer as well where you can team up with 2-4 players. There’s four multiplayer games to choose from: Battlelord (a variation of capture the flag), Deathmatch, Family Mode, and Annihilation.
Overall:
Blow up as much things as you would like in this game - Tanks, walls, streets, buildings, heck why not nuke the entire city!? Totally doable here. This game contains strategy, adventure, action, and free-roaming fun. Every level is complete with enemies, shortcuts, and fully destructible environments. “BattleTanx” contains high replay value, especially with its multiplayer options which has all sorts of weapons and goodies to mess around with.
Armor up, lock and load, and pop “BattleTanx” into your Nintendo 64. It’s going to be quite a while before you get bored with this game.
Rating: ****
