Review: Pocket Tanks Deluxe

Overview Pocket Tanks is an artillery game that was always meant to be played on the iPhone. The game has a long history of development for Mac and PC and the App Store version is nearly fully featured. It could really benefit from wifi multiplayer, or eventually iPhone OS 3.0's bluetooth multiplayer, but it is still a very strong contender against iShoot in the realm of artillery games. The free version is absolutely worth anyone's time to try out. Features Pocket Tanks is, and has always been, about the weapons. The free version has 35 while the deluxe version of the game has 105 weapons. At the beginning of every game you choose 10 weapons and your opponent does the same. Each weapon is different and picking the wrong ones or using them in the wrong order can mean the difference between winning and losing. Some weapons arch overhead, some burrow through the ground and a few move in a straight line through anything. There are nukes which do massive damage even if your aim isn't perfect, there are sniper rifles which only hurt if you get a direct hit and there are even weapons to bury your enemy in a pile of dirt so they can't get you. Those are just a few examples of the what is available. For years Michael P. Welch, the developer of Pocket Tanks, has released new weapons for the PC and Mac versions of the game in free 5 weapon packs and paid 15 weapon packs. I've contacted Welch and he said downloadable expansion packs are planned after iPhone OS 3.0 is released, which will allow users to make in app purchases. If you grow to love the game as I have, you'll happily sink more money into the game for more weapons. It almost becomes a necessity. You can play against the computer (with adjustable difficulty) or pass and play with a friend. I've played Pocket Tanks with my friends as far back as 2002 and, lucky enough, I still have all those same friends. I only mention this because it was extremely satisfying to fire up Pocket Tanks and begin playing the same game we played seven years ago and have it still feel exactly the same. The best thing about Pocket Tanks, and why I've come back to it again and again, is that it's the perfect blend of skill and luck. You can pick the right weapons and use them in the wrong order or use them in the right order but just not have strong enough weapons. You can pick them yourself, which requires skill and time, or let it go randomly for a quick game with more luck. Anyone can pick up Pocket Tanks, figure out how to aim and fire in a matter of seconds and have a reasonable chance of winning. Playing the game is as simple as choosing which of your weapons you want to fire, selecting the angle and the power and then hitting fire. Whoever ends with the most points wins. If you get buried all your hard earned points will disappear as you're forced to fire the remaining weapons into the dirt. I've also seen many games won with a single lucky shot. There are a nice but small set of options which let you alter things like the type of terrain you're playing on and the strength of wind in the game. More importantly, you can also turn off certain weapons so only the ones you like come up as you play. While you can also do target practice, which lets you test out all the different weapons, turning off some weapons can also help you get used to playing with a particular subset. After all, 105 weapons is a lot to handle. The Comparison The most direct competition for Pocket Tanks is iShoot, one of the most well known iPhone games. You can read our review of it here. iShoot has been all over the most downloaded lists for months while Pocket Tanks just made it into the store two weeks ago. People who don't know the history behind these games might accuse Pocket Tanks of copying iShoot when, in fact, Welch said he's been getting emails since iShoot debuted asking if he knew someone cloned his game. In fact, both games share a common ancestor in Scorched Earth, an artillery game dating back to the early '90s. iShoot and Pocket Tanks differ widely when it comes to actual gameplay. With iShoot you can play up to four people over wifi while trying to survive the longest. With Pocket Tanks it's a head-to head deathmatch where you try to get the most points. Even though you can edit and add your own weapons in iShoot the app can't touch the number of ways to decimate your enemy in Pocket Tanks Deluxe. It's not even close. The biggest missing component from Pocket Tanks is wifi multiplayer support, an option that is available with the desktop version of the game. The Breakdown The Good It's an excellent game and an excellent port. For example, you can pinch and zoom your way into the battlefield to see everything up close and, when you fire the weapon, the screen follows as the ammunition moves across the map. This nice little touch adds a level of tension as you wonder whether the weapon will nail your opponent or just barely miss. It's one of those little design things that would have been overlooked if this wasn't a really well thought out port. Pocket Tanks Deluxe, as of this writing, has one of the most impressive ratings I've seen in iTunes. It's listed at five stars with 97 people giving it that rating while a combined total of 10 people gave it one, two, three, or four stars. Pocket Tanks just broke the top 10 list for free apps and Pocket Tanks Deluxe is moving toward the top 50. The Bad While it could complicate an otherwise straightforward game, Pocket Tanks needs more advanced options. It would be nice to have preset weapon groups you can play with, like Heavy Weapons, Silly Weapons and Marksman Weapons as well as the ability to add my own selection of weapons to the mix as well. I'd love to be able to customize the likelihood that certain weapons will come up when you play. Honestly, the biggest problem with Pocket Tanks is the lack of wifi multiplayer support when it exists already in the most direct competitor, iShoot. Conclusion Pocket Tanks was always meant to be in your pocket. Now it is and you're really missing out if you don't at least try out the free version. I'm giving Pocket Tanks Deluxe four stars for the lack of wifi multiplayer support. However, I would give the free version five stars because it's simply a must try.

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