Bugs Vs. Tanks!

Genre: Top-Down Action

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local Wireless)

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Review:

Bugs Vs. Tanks!, released on the Nintendo 3DS eShop in 2013, is a game that has players taking the role of a German World War II tank platoon (that’s right, this game has you playing Nazis, even if it doesn’t refer to them as such) who has inexplicably been shrunk down to a miniscule size, and now faces a completely different sort of war, a war of survival against hordes of bugs.

It’s an odd concept to come from Mega Man co-creator Keiji Inafune, but as outlandish as the concept may be, the gameplay is ultimately fairly simple and repetitive. By default the game handles the firing for you, and you only need to move and aim. Players wanting a bit more direct control and a greater challenge can opt to change the settings to fire manually, though.

There are at least different mission types and different collectibles to find throughout the game’s 40 levels. However, the slow pace and perhaps fittingly clunky controls of the tanks doesn’t make for a thrilling Action game. You’ll be doing a lot of finding a bug, getting yourself in firing range, lining up a shot, then backing up so you don’t get hit with a counter-attack while you’re reloading.

The presentation isn’t anything special, either. The terrain you’re navigating has hills and valleys along the spider-web of paths (figuratively and literally) that you’ll be traveling, but is largely bland-looking, The bugs themselves look nice, and the larger once look particularly fearsome, but they animate poorly. And the tanks themselves look decent enough, but nothing particularly noteworthy. All of this is backed by a somewhat militaristic soundtrack, bug noises, and the sounds of German shouting.

If you’re looking for a unique Action game on the Nintendo 3DS, Bugs Vs. Tanks might interest you, but aside from its concept, there’s not much here to keep things interesting. For $8, it’s not a terrible game, but it’s not a great one either.

tl;dr – Bugs Vs. Tanks! Is a Top-Down Action game that has you using a shrunken-down tank to fight off hordes of insects. The concept here is amusing, but the game itself is somewhat bland and repetitive.

Grade: C

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