Never in all my years as a gamer have I ever thought I’d come across a game titled Bugs Vs. Tanks. What would a small insect and a large piece of armor have against each other? Moreover how would they go about combat. These questions were answered by Level-5 in this action title.
Created by Keiji Inafune, creator of the Mega Man series, Bugs vs. Tanks! is a new take on the survival action genre.
You take the role of a German Panzer Lieutenant who recently joined the unit. After going on a routine training mission you encounter gigantic ants who want your tank for lunch. When you return to your main camp you discuss how the bugs have gotten to be as large as your panzer, when you realize that the bugs haven’t grown, you’ve shrunk. Now normal ants are the threat and even drops of rain can prove deadly.
I guess this is kind of a fun way to let players take the role of Nazis without upsetting anyone too much. And you have access to some of the best tanks in World War II, which are all rendered pretty well. And if a few bugs get squished along the way, so much the better.
Each mission starts out pretty much the same. Normally the arrogant commander barks orders for you to do this or go do that and sends you on your way. The missions are to go gather food, find the enemy queen or something of the sort. You then get to use your tank, which later on you can outfit with different weapons and color schemes. Some of the colors were pretty insane too, not the type of thing you would normally find in the German Army.
Level-5 introduces an interesting control layout for this title. On the right side of the 3DS console, the letter buttons that are arranged in the shape of a diamond, and these are actually used to good effect here. The way Bugs Vs. Tanks works is that you rotate your weapons and it’s as simple as pressing the left button to rotate left. I love simple fool-proof, sorry fool-resistant, controls. When Starship Troopers sized bugs are trying to chomp you down, that moment of confusion could be the end of you unless the controls are this easy to master.
The graphics were a little rough. I mean on some 3DS games I’ve reviewed I’ve seen far worse, then again, I have seen much better. Pixilation wasn’t the issue as far as the main problem. Mostly everything was just bland in terms of level design, colors and your tank. The first seven missions take place in the same environment so you have quite a few missions in redundant scenery.
The music and sound effects are actually great. Every time the tank’s cannon fired you hear the bang and it sounds really good. The ants make a kind of comical, yet fitting sound when they approach you. Music does tend to fall to the background pretty well, there are sometimes where it’s almost not there at all.
Despite the flaws, this title has some high fun factor and does get really difficult. I’d place this game on a list of 3DS games to get. It may not be a well-known title, but Level-5 publishes solid games, and this one will keep you entertained for hours. I give Bugs Vs. Tanks an above average 3.5 Gin Gems. As of the time of this review, you can find it for less than $10, which is more than worth the expenditure to take aim and blast the heck out of some bugs.