Developer: Alpha Channel
Publisher: Alpha Channel
Reviewed on: PC
Purchased.
TankHead is a curious rogue-lite that has you take control of a rusty old tank in hopes of learning something about your past. It’s an Unreal Engine showcase featuring gorgeous sci-fi art and more story depth than you may expect from a rogue-lite. The tank combat is also compelling, but it unfortunately lacks customization and weapon variety. It’s also a very short game containing only three levels which can be easily beaten in a few hours.
TankHead makes a strong first impression. You’re introduced to the main character, an odd floating pill-shaped robot with a name tag stuck to its head. As you wander around a beautifully rendered pasture that’s slowly reclaiming the rusty remains of an old civilization, a voice over the radio beckons to you. You quickly discover that you’re a consciousness that can be transplanted into various machines, and an old friend has woken you up. Your goal, with the help of your friend, is to reach a location that will shed light on your past, but your friend’s goal may not be what it seems.
In all honesty, there’s way more story in this game than I thought there would be. It’s also the most compelling part of the game. The futuristic setting is so fully realized and brought to life that I wish I could have a full-length, narrative driven game set in this world. The voice acting is also top-notch. Between each combat level you play through a flashback sequence where you pilot your pill-bot through a pre-apocalypse research facility. This fills in even more of the backstory while still leaving something to the imagination. They’re short, to the point, and show off even more of the fantastic art design and voice acting.
The actual tank driving and shooting is quite satisfying as well. Your tank feels both nimble and heavy as you roll around the battlefield. You can turn your turret separate from wheels, so you can easily do a strafing run on your enemies. In fact, this is required because if you stand still for too long, you’re dead. You should also be strategic with where you focus your fire because you’ll need to strip your fallen foes for parts. For instance, if you need a better engine then you should avoid shooting your enemy’s rear end. You can also find upgrades and equipment in containers dotted around the world.
While I was always on the lookout for better armor, the weapon and equipment selection in TankHead is lacking, so once I found my preferred load-out I stuck with it until the end of the game.
This lack of variety also shows up in the level and enemy design. The first two of the game’s three levels, while large, look very similar and feature almost identical enemies. The layout of the levels are also the same run-to-run with only some variation in enemy placement and objective locations. Rogue-lites typically have more procedurally generated content than this, so it was disappointing to see so much reused content. Large swaths of the open map are also unpopulated, requiring you to drive long distances just to get from one point to the other.
The third and final level mixes a few things up but is still short. In all, it took me only six hours to complete a full run of TankHead, with half of that spent learning the game and powering up to complete the first level. I finished the second level on my first attempt and only needed two tries to beat the final level. Once I found my loud-out and mastered the combat, the game became quite easy. The only challenge was dealing with the random enemy spawns that only serve to frustrate more than challenge.
Overall, I can’t really recommend TankHead at its current $30 asking price. While the graphics and story are compelling, they don’t make up for the overall dearth of content. This really feels like a tech showcase being sold as a full product. It would have been fine if the scope of TankHead was made clear up front and the price reflected that scope, but that’s not what we have here. It’s a shame because there is a lot of good stuff in TankHead, so if you’re still interested in checking it out then I’d recommend waiting for a sale.
