TGS 2006: Tank Beat Preview
Tank Beat was an odd little game for the Nintendo DS here on the show floor at TGS. At first glance, it was the ugliest damned thing we ever saw -- blocky tank models driving through blocky cities, mowing down cardboard cut-out trees and firing lines of missiles at other blocky tanks. Catching the developer's name on the kiosk, however, gave us courage to give it a chance -- the game is developed by Milestone, makers of Chaos Field on GameCube and Radigy on Dreamcast (perhaps the very last official Dreamcast game to ever be released, by the by, so thanks to them for that.) Playing it, we found the gameplay actually enjoyable, and even the graphics came through with a certain all-basic style when seen running so smoothly on the DS Lite screen instead of show monitors.
Imagine the gameplay of Tank Beat as a realtime strategy game where you only play as one unit, and you get it. Play is entirely stylus-based, where you draw tracks on the below game map to control your tank up above. Stroking on the map will give the tank a path to follow, so that's your basic control. Holding down a point outside of your stroke will turn the camera on the 3D game field towards where you want to look. Finally, tapping on an enemy blip will let you shoot at opponent tanks. A little adjusting, and players will quickly be navigating their tank all around the battlefield, using just simple strokes to charge at enemies or to send their tank retreating while returning fire in the opposite direction.
Your beat in Tank Beat won't just be to attack at all times -- in fact, the TGS demo we played only contained a protection mission. Here, opponents rolled over the hills outside of the small set of buildings the radar you are protecting is located in, and you must decide the best course of action for taking them out without being blown up or having your goal blown up. We expect a variety of missions like this in the full game. Players have a full range of tanks to choose for playing, from tiny scrappers to missile carriers to giant Panzers. Multiplayer will be a big feature for the game as well, as not only does it support 2-player wireless play, it also fully utilized the Nintendo WiFi Connection platform for online play.
Tank Beat is scheduled for release here in Japan at the end of November. Release outside of Japan is not scheduled and seems unlikely, so check with import dealers if this game's unique draw is for you.
Via IGN
