It’s not every day that one comes across a game developed by a Hungarian indie studio, so needless to say, I booted up Tank Maniacs with mixed excitement and anticipation. Genre-wise, it’s a rather simple 2D shooter that works perfectly well as a couch game; players take control of quirky characters and their equally quirky tanks, then proceed to unleash hell upon their AI- or player-controlled opponents across a variety of levels where, depending on the game mode, random events and a never-ending stream of loot drops make things even more chaotic.
Admittedly, what I’ve just described may not sound particularly complex; the game’s strength instead lies in its ability to go against certain exasperating trends of the industry and actually offer the exact experience it advertises on the tin. And it does this with a satisfying level of polish; indeed, Tank Maniacs is a well-thought-out, competently crafted game with an appealing art style to boot. Its soundtrack matches the style of its gameplay reasonably well. And last but not least, the constant trickle of humorous witticisms from the in-game announcer guarantees that every minute of gameplay is both intense and entertaining.
Although
Tank Maniacs has no separate multiplayer option, Steam’s Remote Play Together allows for easy online play. In other words, if you happen to be too young to have experienced what it’s like for two people to play the same game on the same keyboard (see: Mortal Kombat and others), well, here’s your chance. And seeing how Steam gives every player access to the same keyboard inputs, you don’t even need to physically shove your buddy aside to intervene – all you need to do is press the corresponding button at the right time (“whoops, my hand slipped!”) to propel your friend straight into an incoming rocket.
You’ll often accuse the bots of cheating, convinced that whatever programming governs goodie drops on the battlefield favors them over you. Similarly, you’ll curse the map layout for every unfortunate death that totally wasn’t your fault. Yet in the end, none of that will matter. Not really. Seconds later, you’ll put pedal to the metal to try and flip your tank back on its wheels, followed by cries of “die, Blondie” or “screw you, Granny” as you, hungry for more action, drive back into the eye of the storm. And while all of this is happening, you’ll gradually realize something important: that a copy of Tank Maniacs should be an essential part of any gamer party worth its salt – just as much as a bag of potato chips or endless cans of energy drinks.
You can find Tank Maniacs on Steam.