Wee Tanks!
- May 16, 2023
- Studio Kit
- 6h median play time
Wee Tanks! is a charming and strategic artillery game where players control tiny tanks in whimsical environments. With various weapons, upgrades, and game modes, the objective is to destroy the opponent's base while defending your own. Up to four players can join in local multiplayer matches, making it a perfect choice for friendly competitions.
Reviews
- Nostalgic experience that faithfully recreates the joy of Wii Tanks while adding new features and content.
- Fun multiplayer aspect allows up to 16 players, making it a great party game with various modes including survival and a level editor.
- Challenging gameplay with multiple difficulty levels and engaging boss battles, providing a satisfying experience for both casual and hardcore players.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, including lag and unresponsive menus, particularly on lower-end systems.
- Misleading marketing regarding multiplayer options and lack of local multiplayer support has frustrated some players.
- The user interface is poorly optimized for gamepad use, making navigation cumbersome and detracting from the overall experience.
- gameplay41 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a nostalgic and improved evolution of the original Wii Play Tanks, featuring satisfying mechanics, over 100 levels, and new elements like tanks and bosses that enhance the experience. While the core gameplay remains faithful and enjoyable, critiques focus on the cumbersome user interface and some control issues, particularly with aiming and hitbox design. Overall, players find the gameplay fun and engaging, despite the need for UI improvements.
“Gameplay is a huge improvement and evolution of the Wii Play tanks minigame.”
“The gameplay is great just like the original, and the added features are appreciated.”
“From all new levels and mechanics to a totally fleshed out level designer, this game is truly the epitome of spin-offs.”
“We like the actual gameplay and are fans since the Wii Play version, but your menus are horrendous and do not work well with the controller.”
“The system I tried on was Steam Deck, and a prominent issue seems to be scrolling through things, like the audio, gameplay options, and selecting mark as read.”
“A small thing is in gameplay, where you have to completely swing your analog stick to the side to aim for the tank rather than be able to make minor adjustments.”
- story32 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is minimal, with users noting that it primarily features a linear campaign consisting of 100 missions, alongside a survival mode reminiscent of Call of Duty Zombies. While the campaign offers unique maps and challenges, the overall narrative is lacking, and many players feel misled by promotional materials regarding multiplayer features and mission creation. Despite these shortcomings, the custom mission editor and survival mode provide engaging gameplay experiences.
“It could be just the story mode and it would be fantastic, but it has scenarios, custom maps, and the survival mode; it's great fun.”
“To start off, we have the classic campaign which is 100 missions in length, with each mission being a unique map (for the most part) and featuring more tanks on higher difficulties.”
“Then after the campaign is survival mode which, while not as expansive, is a cool take on the Call of Duty zombies mode with more maps unlockable from beating missions in the campaign.”
“☐ no story”
“In contrast to the linear story of the campaign mode, there's survival mode with endless waves of enemies which kind of reminds me of Call of Duty zombies but with tanks, of course.”
“Missions in the campaign on higher difficulties seem random with what missions are easy/hard.”
- music23 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its fun and engaging design, closely resembling the original while incorporating unique elements that match different enemy types. Reviewers highlight the final boss music as particularly outstanding and appreciate the homage to the original soundtrack, despite some wishing for its inclusion. Overall, the soundtrack is described as cute, well-researched, and a significant enhancement to the gaming experience.
“The music design is much like the original, with instruments and tunes that go with each of the different enemy types!”
“The final boss music is the best song you will ever hear in your life.”
“The only thing missing is the original music, but the current one shares the changing patterns that the song from the first game had, and I think it's a worthy homage.”
“Even the simple yet complex soundtrack is akin to the original.”
“Maybe some music changes.”
- graphics22 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their colorful and appealing art style, effectively capturing the essence of the original while adding a personal touch. However, many players report significant lag and performance issues, particularly on lower-spec machines, often requiring them to reduce settings to achieve smoother gameplay. Despite these technical challenges, the visuals are considered a strong point of the game, enhancing the overall experience.
“It manages to tap into the feeling of that game so well while implementing stunning graphics, a huge addition of game content and online play.”
“I like the graphics, which are both based on the original and have something personal to them.”
“+ nice, fancy graphics”
“I do stand by the part in my original review about the game being laggy and buggy though: I had to lower the graphics to the lowest possible setting for the game to run smoothly at 60fps, and the first time I launched the game the settings menu was unreadable because all the options were blank (this did fix the second time I launched it).”
“- very laggy on low-spec machines, even though Wii Play on Dolphin runs fine (2020 Athlon Silver w/ integrated graphics)”
“While I understand it's pretty selfish of me to ask a what seems to be a small studio to put hours upon hours getting it to run at one trillion fps, it didn't feel fun to play with it lagging paired with me already turning all the graphics to the lowest possible settings.”
- stability18 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is reported to be quite buggy, with issues such as persistent loading overlays, lag, and graphical glitches that require restarting the game to resolve. While many users acknowledge these problems, they attribute them to the game's early access status and express optimism that the developers will address the stability issues in future updates. Overall, players recommend waiting for the full release before making definitive judgments about the game's stability.
“My third and final issue: it's kinda buggy, like, not 'Skyrim funny look at that', more like 'the level is playing but the loading overlay is still there so I can't see what's playing and it doesn't solve itself by getting killed or quitting to menu; I had to exit and re-enter the game' type bugs.”
“I do stand by the part in my original review about the game being laggy and buggy though: I had to lower the graphics to the lowest possible setting for the game to run smoothly at 60fps, and the first time I launched the game, the settings menu was unreadable because all the options were blank (this did fix the second time I launched it).”
“But in March 2022, it's still quite buggy.”
- optimization12 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting significant lag, bugs, and the need to lower graphics settings to achieve smooth performance. While some attribute the issues to Unity's limitations rather than the game itself, many find it unpolished and unfinished, leading to input lag and frame drops during intense moments. Overall, the game struggles to run smoothly even on low-spec PCs, despite showing potential.
“The game runs out-of-the-box on Linux with great performance.”
“The performance starts great, but there are frame drops when explosions happen or when a lot of enemies are on screen (understandable).”
“Game looks promising though it's obviously unpolished and unfinished, performance issues and input lag being the major flaw so far. I'd much rather have the standard easy - normal - hard nomenclature for difficulty settings, as I'm finding 'adult' mode kinda cheap and not beginner-friendly at all, especially when paired with input lag.”
“However, it's optimized poorly because of Unity and will not run smoothly even on the lowest settings on a low-spec PC, whereas Wii Play on the Dolphin emulator can play at native 480p resolution, 60fps, without drops.”
“There is a small performance issue, but people seem to think it's Unity and not the game itself; the game really isn't demanding.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as quirky and fun, particularly in cooperative play, but it is overshadowed by significant bugs and performance issues. Players appreciate the humorous naming of difficulty settings, though some prefer traditional nomenclature for clarity. Overall, while the game has potential for humor, its unpolished state detracts from the experience.
“Fun tank game, even more funny if you play it coop.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be quite demanding, with some suggesting it can feel excessive and time-consuming. While some acknowledge that it can be a bit grindy at times, others emphasize that it may require a significant investment of time to progress.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“A bit grindy sometimes.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game offers exceptional replayability primarily due to its level editor, which allows for an infinite variety of layouts and enemy types, making each custom campaign unique. However, some users suggest waiting for the game to exit early access for a more polished experience.
“The level editor gives the game unlimited replay value as there are an infinite number of layouts and enemy types you could encounter, allowing each custom campaign to feel truly special.”
“Otherwise, wait for it to get out of early access once it'll become more playable.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, highlighting its fun and wholesome nature, which contributes to an overall positive experience.