War of Human Tanks

War of Human Tanks Review
By Alex Kende

This Semi turn based strategy game, made by Fruit Bat, comes to us from the hearts and minds of a dedicated, if not very biased, small team of people.
The overall theme is a standard TBS setup, build troops, win battles, unlock better troops, repeat.  The game drifts from this mold in story, art, and throwing in an action time meter for troops giving the game a very Japanese RPG feel with some troops acting much faster than others.
First Impressions:
Oh boy did that game just jump into things.  No small lead up, just a few lines stating the world is at war with two interchangeable superpowers, and the fact that you fight using little girls.
Yup, that weird Japanese fascination with turning inanimate objects into living, thinking creatures always keeps me at a loss.  Not that I am bashing that, I’m not, but this is my disclaimer.  It feels weird when something like a tank, or a gun, is given the avatar of a small girl.
Maybe it’s just me.
After that opening I’m greeted by a UI and story those of you who have played Dating Sims will find familiar.   Story progresses with a mouse click and characters are introduced with a fade in and that’s all she wrote.
After some both memorable and painful dialogue we get to the meat and potatoes of this title.
Combat:
Way to throw me a fast ball Game.  I got all kinds of fast then slow dialogue; I was completely unprepared for how fast the combat goes sometimes.
The combat map is a grid with some basic staples of strategy games mixed in, fog of war, obstructing terrain, and good ‘ol recon commands to reveal the map without sacrificing a unit.  
I don’t get that last part as much in modern RTS’s and it’s something I find lacking in many large titles.  
You get a variety of units, all of which die as easily as any other; Assault for mid range combat, Command for short range recon and support, Barrage for long range, Scout for close range and Vision, and Shock for suicide charges.
The game plays like a turn based game, but rewards quick action.  The action meter on each human tank, as they are referred to, is different for each class of tank.  An Assault tank can act two to three times before the Barrage can, and the Command and Scout tanks act quicker if upgraded
Story:
This is not a game targeted for me.  Nothing about the dialogue and characters I find grabbing my attention, and sometimes the exposition gets so long winded I find myself just clicking through it so I can get back to the combat and upgrade screen.  However my wife found the drawings and the Human tanks cute and some of the dialogue she walked in on she laughed at in a non satirical sense. 

.

I can’t think of a better way to describe the dialogue then that.

So with the idea that this game is not meant for my age group, I proceeded to numb my brain with candy and soda after a long day and sat down in front of it.  
I had a better time thinking the game wasn’t condescending and just writing for younger gamers.
One thing I give this game happily is that from what I have played there is no romance happening between the clearly stated tanks that look like people and actual people.  The game goes to great lengths to show that even though they look cute and talk funny, they are still weapons of war.
The last thing I need is to look at a M4 Sherman and question why I it brings my pulse up.

Full review at MMORPG Focus

Why wouldn’t you find that sexy?

Overall:
I don’t think of myself as a hardcore gamer but I do play games a lot and I pick up on them very quickly, so when I say I was unable to finish this game in a week, take that for what it is.  
The difficulty curve can be frustrating at times with enemy AI going from suicidal to downright pre-cognizant.
I gave this game a few hours a day, which if I bought this game would already be a good sign, and I think I’m close to the end, but it feels longer.
I find myself liking this game because I enjoy turn based strategy games and a long play time keeps me working on it.
I just don’t like the game in areas that I see only because I know how to make games myself, I ruin the flow of the game because I know why something was or wasn’t done, it’s like going to see an action movie with a physicist or someone with military experience.  They’re just going to bring up why that wouldn’t happen or why something doesn’t do that, I just want to watch the damn movie man.
Well, I do that to myself when playing games and it frustrates the hell out of me.
I’m going to keep playing this game because I want to.  And if that doesn’t express my feelings in the simplest of terms I don’t know what will. Full review at Mmorpg Focus