Level 5 either was a fan of Body Harvest on the N64 or they must need some weird movie nights for inspiration, one can only guess that this game was inspired by the combination of ‘Honey I Shrunk The Kids” and ‘The Guns of Navarone’. They are determined to make games that are different at the very least in story ideas and this is yet another example of this odd ball thinking in action. I’m hoping the next movie night is any movie plus ‘Being John Malkovich’ as it would be amazing regardless of what ends up coming out.
That aside, Bugs vs Tanks is set during WW2 where you play a group of German solders that are declared missing in action never to be seen again – having been shrunk to the size of an ant it is your task to fight off the bugs and figure out what’s happened to produce this shrinkage (My guess, cold weather). I will say this from the outset, this game is more inspiring in the story sense than it is gameplay but that’s not to diminish what is on hand here.
This is a top down affair, you navigate with your tank to fight off the various bugs and find supplies for your platoon based on what the missions specify. While not astounding in complexity the missions are fairly simple in idea but do the job of keeping it varied and interesting and at the very least have some great inventiveness to the concept behind them. Great thought has been put into the kind of missions that can be achieved with this bizarre setting, combine that with a basic but entertaining story to highlight the absurdity of it all and it’s adds some real character with the game.
While carrying out these tasks you will be continually fighting off the hoards of insects that roam the various vegetation inspired areas, there are occasional environmental elements added to keep it varied but these are just minor additions, one such element is rain that has to be avoided under the leaves of plants and logs. It adds charm to the title but not much more. Occasionally you will have to fight off invasions of your base as well just to keep you on your (now incredibly tiny) toes, when given the chance you get to attack their ant holes and termite logs so you get the opportunity for revenge. These do a great job of keeping it feeling fresh rather than just keeping it vanilla search and destroy throughout.
To fight off the various creatures you have your trusty tank, you will get the usual rewards of upgraded tanks as you progress and you do have a choice of what kind of ammo you choose to use (splash damage vs direct damage) and while it’s neat to have these options available they aren’t an integral part of the game. These add-on’s are acquired by either finishing missions or discovering abandoned tanks through out the levels. Regardless of what you do this title will provide you with a decent challenge without being to punishing at the same time, it good to see a title that is fairly accessible for everyone.
Now for my main bugbear (Ho ho ho pun ahoy!), while the missions are interesting the gameplay is somewhat simple involving you driving your tank around the maze like maps and aiming the turret at your various foes – the problem is that it doesn’t get much more complex than this. The turret will automatically fire for you unless you switch it to manual mode, if you get over run then you can call in assistance once per level to clear out your local area, that’s about it in-terms of gameplay aspirations – simple but functional. It is executed solidly but it can get repetitive with long play sessions. Maybe it is the lower budget of these titles that has caused Level 5 to stay away from more complexity but whatever it was it has hurt the title in terms of getting the most out of the immediate gameplay experience.
The aesthetics are another issue altogether. Much has been said about games “looking like an N64 game” over the years that is usual used as an insult for something that isn’t AAA quality, most of the time those games do look significantly better than an N64 game. Considering that in this situation however, it looks almost exactly like an N64 game. The textures are bland and blurry, the insects and tanks themselves are sufficient but then again nothing short of what we expected almost 15 years ago. The graphics are functional, but not impressive. The frame rate never slows down, bugs look like bugs and the 3D is there but overall this in not pushing the 3DS very hard.
The audio is simple, Bugs sounds – Check. Tank sounds – Check. Music – Nope. German officers with Japanese accents – check and very cool! Again, the audio is functional, the bare minimum required for a game like this, but nothing terribly exciting.
As a whole I’m torn on this title, it has a great soul to it but the overall package doesn’t make me too excited for the end product. It’s story is different but not the most captivating, it’s a blast to play but can get tiring due to repetition of the combat and yes while the audio & visuals are bland they don’t really make the end experience any less enjoyable. I would recommend you try before you buy, as it feels like a game some will love, but others will hate.
Level 5 continue their push to make innovative games and while not every one can be a stellar success of gameplay and sales – they do continue to provide something different that will keep anyone captivated for more than a few minutes and that should be commended. One just hopes that they keep doing what they do and try to provide a more solid overall package.
Maybe I should have just sold this game as a lesser version of Pikmin with Germans and guns… Damn!
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