Having played Positech's first game, Gratuitous Space Battles (GSB), I wasn't entirely certain what to expect with Gratuitous Tank Battles. While I enjoyed the visuals on GSB, the punishing learning curve and lack of advancement in single player turned me right off. Trying to find the most effective build for ships quickly became a chore. For this second offering from Positech, the lessons from the first game seem to have been learned nicely. Gratuituous Tank Battles serves as a worthwhile and enjoyable little tower defense game that also acts as a quick playing RTS.
The visuals in GTB are nicely detailed sprites seen from a top-down angle. The maps are detailed enough to be visually appealing but not so detailed that they interfere with the ability to interact with your units. The user interface is simple, uncluttered, and highly effective.
This is not a game that needs to be on the same level of detail as Skyrim or StarCraft II. Beyond the maps, there are all sorts of neat retro-style art pieces between levels and a chance to better appreciate the level of detail in your units through the built-in editor. Jaw-dropping graphics are not what GTB is about, and the graphics it has work just dandy.On the sound front, GTB does a workman-like job, nothing overly fancy, but nothing ear-grating either. The music does get a teensy bit repetitive, but it doesn't have to be a stirring orchestral masterpiece from Jeremy Soule to get you in the mood to throw floods of tanks and infantry against fixed defenses.
I might wish for more expressiveness from the infantry units, since they seem to grimly drop dead when shelled or roasted by flame throwers without much in the way of complaint. Come to think of it, a little more responsiveness from the armor units would have been helpful, particular in the later maps. Something, anything to let me know “I'm in trouble here, Sir!” Still, there's plenty of explosions and cannon fire to keep you from feeling completely left out.
Gameplay is definitely of the “easy to learn, difficult to master” variety. Knowing which units to bring out when, knowing the best times to try and push through a supply truck, there's probably as much science as art to it. When you're playing defense, building a suitably vicious gauntlet for the enemy to traverse is just as much of a challenge. Do you bleed them with light turrets first and risk their destruction or do you hammer them with the big guns from further away? Do you go for the light infantry to fill your trenches or call out the anti-armor commandos? Depending on the map and your opponent, the answers will always be different. And when the standard units just get too boring for you, you can always cut loose with the unit editor and try to come up with your own special engines of destruction.For those who are looking for a good little RTS/tower defense hybrid, Gratuitous Tank Battles will definitely scratch an itch. It's a game that puts its substance out there for everybody to appreciate. It's certainly worth picking up and playing around with.
Final Verdict: Buy
- Axel Cushing
