Game Preview: Tank Domination

Military-themed games have always been a genre that is popular with the gaming masses. There is just something about shooting and blowing things up that seems to interest games no matter where they come from and what games they’re used to playing.

Building on that notion of popularity, independent game developer game insight has put together a military game that is the first of its kind.

Set in a not-to-distant future in which world-wide government has collapsed, and teams of mercenaries have risen, Tank Domination is the first MMO Tank Simulator for mobile devices.

The free-to-play, always online competitive player vs. player game will support battles of up to 10 v 10, and will have world-wide matchmaking.

Players will have over 30 different vehicles to choose from when the game launches with more to come post launch. Each tank will have its own set of customization options to make their vehicle truly their own.

In the version, which the developer said was in an early beta, I was able to demo at an event in San Francisco this week there were only three tanks to choose from, and all the mods described weren’t available as they were still being added.

There is a lot going on in the menu system which can become overwhelming at times to sort through, and making and looking for your upgrade purchases can be tough if you don’t know exactly where to look.

For a company looking to capture both casual players and the hardcore crowd with this title, making an easy menu system should be near the top of the priority list for GI.

But while a menu system is important for users, the real test of a game comes, obviously, from its gameplay, and that is where Tank Domination shines.

When loaded up the first thing noticed is just how great the game looks from a visual aspect. The terrain looks real, the buildings look worn down like a war-time building should and the detail on the vehicles are the best any tank game has looked on a tablet device.

In terms of audio, the sounds are on par with any military game on mobile or console.

The control scheme had a pretty simple learning curve. There were two on-screen “joysticks” as well as a “fire” and “weapon” button. A big help to the learning curve of the game is the inclusion of an “auto pilot” mode that allows the player to worry about steering and aiming the turret instead of having to worry about too much when first trying out the game.

I won’t lie, I wasn’t very good at the game. In fact, I was one of the first players dead in every match (three) I played. Despite my terribleness at the game, it still left me wanting to play more. Just going around and destroying all of the inanimate objects – the game has a fully destructible environment – was fun in and of itself.

The team at Game Insight took a risk of making a MMO tank-battle game, but if the version I got my hands on is any indication, they may have it a home run with Tank Domination. Sure, there are still some issues – like the clogged menu system – that I hope gets fixed before final release, but if the game play itself gets no upgrades from now until then, then that would be okay.

Tank Domination is scheduled for a late 2013 release on Android Tablets and Apple iPad.