There are four tank classes, Stealth, Battle, Heavy, and Demolisher: Stealth tanks are weaker with lower firepower but are hard to hit with missiles; Battle tanks are the most agile; Heavy tanks have the strongest armor and greatest firepower but are slow and clumsy; and Demolishers are perfect to attack enemy installations but are not maneuverable enough for tank warfare. Each tank contains four armor plates that absorb incoming fire and gradually wear off; and a power plant, engine, and sensor suite that can all be damaged by enemy fire. It seems a bit ironic that the developers gave so much attention to making individual parts of the tanks independently destructible while at the same time giving so little realism to the performance characteristics of the tanks themselves.

The six weapons systems at your disposal are particularly disappointing. I was especially disheartened by the intentional decision to make the auto-targeting system for the missiles dysfunctional in the most critical combat situations. The default weapon is the Rail Gun, which shoots out short-range shells that have to hit a target multiple times to destroy it. Far more effective are long-range explosive Missiles, but unlike in most games of this type they will not home in on most buildings or tanks (this omission can be really frustrating). You may also have access to Rockets speeding toward their targets, Plasma Cannons incinerating anything in their path, Laser Designators triggering special surface-to-surface missiles, and Mines exploding on impact; but none of these is particularly innovative or spectacular in terms of either its conceptualization or its effects on designated targets.

Both single-player and multiplayer missions are fully customizable with the included scenario editor. This built-in editor allows you to add, move, and delete objects (tanks and installations) on the scenario map, as well as to specify which ones are designated targets. You may also set scenario options such as whether tanks regenerate and how quickly they regenerate, whether targets, installations, and vehicles will be revealed to the enemy, and whether teleporting is allowed in multiplayer confrontations. Overall, I found this editor relatively easy to use, although it takes some practice to give a scenario the right balance of elements, and is a definite plus in extending the replay value of the game.

In the end, I must conclude that the use of floating tanks here is more of a gimmick than a means of really enhancing the play experience. From the way the vehicles handle in this game, they might as well be blimps as tanks; you never at any point have the sense that you are commanding anything like a conventional military armored vehicle. Had this offering included a swiveling tank turret, a view from inside a tank, or the ability to customize tanks, then the illusion of tank combat might have been significantly enhanced. Juxtaposing the feeling here to that of the highly realistic tank combat in Digital Image Design’s Wargasm provides a night-and-day contrast.