Lil Tanks

First off, I backed this game. For $5, I have no regrets. The controls are solid, music is great and overall it's a fun game with quite a bit of content for what it is. I'd say wait for a half off sale right now and also for the second patch to address weapon balance. Still a great game if you're a fan of schmups!

A hidden gem of not only 2017, but for Shoot 'em Up fans everywhere in my opinion! 4 out of 5 PROS: A well balanced, yet challenging shmup. Banging music. Great arcade-y and charming look. A small, yet diverse enough array of pick-ups to combine and use at your disposal that offer some imaginative use. Specials that can get you out of a sticky situation. Unlockable characters (tanks) with different playstyles. Boss Training Room (a mode I find necessary for Shmups), and difficulty mods to increase the challenge this game has to offer. Also, it has a rewarding level up system where you get permanent upgrades to your tank(s). Such as triple shot, a spread shot pattern, and depending on what tank you are using, specific artillery adhering to the characters play style. CONS (but mainly personal gripes [which may sound more like nitpicking due to the fact that is nothing seriously wrong with the game]: If, and WHEN you die the music repeats (of course), yet it feels (or more accurately: sounds) as if it is looping. It gets irritating real quick. But, hey! Don't die and no problem whatsoever lol. Some hit boxes need to be adjusted immediately, though. The biggest one, and the most glaring is the radioactive goo/slime/acid/whatever you call the green substance on the floor! You could be a decent pace away from riding onto the green goo yet still take damage as if you stepped your little tank feet onto the goop. It is a run ruiner that also is a big issue that needs to be addressed especially since this is also a side scroller where perspective and perception mean life and death! Another issue is that when there is too much of ANYTHING on the screen you just cannot see hits coming. Which, I know is the norm in shmups, BUT, when you are firing nonstop wiht lasers and flamethrowers AND the enemies have the same colors/palettes as their projectiles and/or background/level, well things just feel unfair and feel like complete ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ because you cannot bloody see! In moments like this in the game, where they are apparent, it feels like you need to use the specials you acquire just to be in the safe side of the temporary fray, to avoid unwarranted damage. And speaking of specials. They are a mixed bag, or just too situational to depend upon. You have three specials to toy around with. Which are the Flame Thrower. An attack where a huge fire-y hitbox covers the right side of the screen doing acceptable damage to all enemies inside the parameter. The second being a Tesla Lighting Shocker (of sorts). Which goes out a into a large "V" shape arc doing respectable damage to foes caught in the sight of it. Finally, the third is a Homing Missle Barrage that barrages onto enemies that it locks on too. Now, the specials are all fine and dandy, but due to the fact that they take way too long to charge, and picking up more special ammo tends to rotate to the latest pick-up means that you will hardly use them when they are needed most. The ammo for the specials are abundant, yet their situational behaviors and long cooldown kind of hold them back from being more of an aid in the mix of things. This could have been treated more fairly, if not, just been designed better off if you could rotate between ready-to-use specials manually. Giving more choice when planning a repeated run. But, regardless the specials due not make or break the core gameplay since you can defeat the game without using specials. THE MAIN ISSUE is the green goop of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hitbox detection, and the times when it seems as if you can dodge a projectile only for the games perspective and/or perception of invisible walls (edges of the screen) ♥♥♥♥ you over, and you end up getting hit regardless. Plus, the final boss is too much of a bullet sponge. Who, on its first phase relies heavily on the damn ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hazards, its size that covers the whole right side of the screen, and has random starting attack patterns that sometimes come out seemingly on the first frame when in the middle of exchanging projectile. It's second phase is alright. Still could end up being tough for you, but it is handled fine. ALL IN ALL. These "cons" are more like personal gripes and are minor fixes that can improve the game, yet as Lil' Tanks is right now, it's balanced, fair, and fun! To be honest, these minor problems can fixed by minor changes. Such as adding an extra THIRD heart (hit point) to even things out more fairly. Or, adding a separate shield for each of the two hearts. Giving more of a reward to those players who are more evasive and better reflexed. P.S. I found a potential GAME BREAKING BUG/EXPLOIT that makes the final boss, if not, the entire game so much more easier and trivial. Instead of pressing and holding down on the attack button like you normally do in shmups, you can repeatedly mash in a quick rhythm which spouts out your attacks at such a fast(er) rate that it ends up dealing what seems to be (at least) double the damage at twice, if not, thrice the normal rate of just holding down the attack button! It's super fun. And it works best with your tank fully upgraded while using the Flame Thrower as your primary fire. BUT, it works with all weapon pick ups, so you can choose how you want to use the exploit/bug. :)

[h1]Описание:[/h1] Горизонтальный скролл шутер, в котором инопланетяне напали на землю, а мы взяв крутой боевой танк отправляемся их выкуривать. Получая уровень наш танк усиливается на постоянной основе неплохими плюшками. В игре менее десятка уровней, но они сложные и их придется перепроходить раз за разом, чтобы прокачать свой танк и идти в бой с новыми силами. По мере прохождения открываются другие версии земли, где уровни идентичны оригиналу, но нам выдают новые танки с другими особыми умениями, которые также надо прокачивать. По началу очень интересно и гринд не надоедает, но когда на последний уровень понадобилось уже миллион опыта, меня это подкачало. Прокачать так несколько танков, это зря убивать свое время. Боссы интересные и каждого нужно бить особой тактикой. Есть тренировка, где можно попрактиковаться убивать боссов без прохождения уровней. В целом игра красочная, по началу интересная, но слишком уж высокие ставки на гринд были сделаны. Перепроходить один и тот-же уровень 2-3-4-5-10 раз это еще куда не шло, но тут зачастую надо это делать чаще. Как бы не хотелось, но по итогу поставлю палец вниз, т.к. я в итоге забил уже на последнего босса и так и не прошел игру. Просто достало... [h1]Оценка: 5/10[/h1] [h1]Послесловие:[/h1] Если вам понравился этот обзор добро пожаловать в группу http://steamcommunity.com/groups/uojer - тут вы сможете увидеть рекомендованные мною игры, другие обзоры, а также просто пообщаться в хорошей компании.

I liked the game, but suggest waiting until it's on ~50% discount. [h1]Full Video, in case you'd rather watch[/h1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lcd0EfZVBE [h1]About the game[/h1] Lil Tanks is a retro-styled shoot-em-up. You control a tank and his smaller assistant and try to singlehandedly repel an alien invasion. One of the innovative things about the game is the small assistant that also shoots and follows you. Its movement is comparable to movement in a snake game: the head moves, the tail follows in its track. [h1]Pros:[/h1] • Nicely drawn enemies / backgrounds, the game has its own visual style • Intense gameplay, a lot of things are going on at the same time • Difficult, challenging • Good music / solid sounds • Four different tanks that can be levelled up, eventually increasing in power. Each has special ability that can be used to your advantage • Different enemies with different movement patterns [h1]Cons:[/h1] • Only 3 different bonus weapons, not much variety bonus-wise • Level 6 deserves an extra mention: drive for >1 minute almost without enemies • Enemies do not spawn randomly, but bonuses do: especially on level 5, your fate is decided by random: if you get flamethrower bonus in the beginning on the round, you’ll probably do much better than if you get it at the end [h1]Summary[/h1] I’ve played for ~4 hours and got to level 6 (I did not complete it, but as I understand, this is the last one). I’ve beat 4 levels on hardcore mode before that, but the 5th was just too overwhelming and it felt more frustrating than rewarding. I still say the game is good, but with 6 levels I honestly did not feel like it has enough content to justify $9.99 price. I’d suggest waiting for 50% discount.

[h1]Lil Tanks Review[/h1] [b]AS A LONG TIME ENTHUSIAST OF SIDE-SCROLLERS, I WAS QUITE EAGER TO REVIEW LIL TANKS. [/b] Lil Tanks is a side-scrolling shooter where you maneuver a tank through an onslaught of extraterrestrial life. Prior to embarking on your mission, you may choose between playing solo or cooperative mode. Lil Tanks offers four vastly different game modes: Campaign, Endless, Boss Training, and Hardcore. The Campaign takes the individual through a series of levels, where your primary objective is to vanquish your foes until a boss arrives. The endless mode pits the player against a never-ending horde of enemies, while, in Boss Training mode, you may enter an engagement with any boss from the campaign without interference from lesser adversaries. And, if you're looking for a real challenge, look no further than the Hardcore mode. [b]THE LORE BEHIND THE GAME CENTERS ON AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL RACE CALLED THE CUUR, CREATURES WHO ARE EXPLORING THE GALAXY FOR A NEW HOMELAND. [/b] Unfortunately, this brings them to our solar system, and Earthlings quickly find themselves in the middle of an all-out invasion. As time passed, the chances of achieving victory over the aliens became slimmer. As a last-ditch effort to combat the menacing threat, a secret project called “Lil Tanks” was launched. You play as an unknown soldier, piloting one of these magnificent tanks in order to save humanity. Tanks come with a variety of special abilities. Each tank has a slightly different ability which varies depending on the level. For example, the first tank that you unlock has advanced weaponry; a tank you unlock further in the game has the ability to self-regenerate. To obtain experience points, players conquer hordes of enemies constantly advancing towards your tank. Occasionally, power-ups will appear from a fallen foe and grant you unimaginable [EN: unlimited] power. [b]THE GAMEPLAY IS VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD: THE SCREEN CONTINUOUSLY SCROLLS TO THE RIGHT, AND YOUR TANK IS CARRIED ALONG WITH IT. [/b] The tank may move around freely, but it has very limited accessibility. The player is tasked with eliminating all the enemies that stand in your path until, eventually, a boss appears, which you need to clear in order to succeed in your mission and save part of humanity. Throughout the game, you will be able to acquire items that improve your weapon range and firepower. Each enemy has a particular movement and weapon pattern — knowing how to avoid certain attacks will help you navigate through specific situations. After playing for a while though, the gameplay stales, without considerable variation across levels or tanks. [b]I’M TYPICALLY NOT A NOSTALGIC PERSON, BUT THIS GAME PULLS ON MY HEARTSTRINGS.[/b] Lil Tanks takes me back to the arcades of my youth where I poured quarters into the machines by the bucketload. It does a fantastic job of reanimating the classic side-scroller, and the best part is I still haven't experienced all this game has to offer. Make no mistake: Lil Tanks isn’t perfect. It does, however, bring back fond memories of my time playing the Metal Slug series and in some ways, both games are quite similar. Although there isn’t a lot of variation in the title, the features present are fairly executed and provide many hours of enjoyable diversion. And, the experience is delivered with satisfying and immersive sound effects, with lively, contrasting music (Lil Tanks doesn’t, however, offer you the option to adjust your volume levels accordingly — an option some prefer). Lil Tanks is a solid title, providing four distinct game modes, twenty unique types of enemies, four tank variants, and multiple power-ups and weapon upgrades. The gameplay is uncomplicated and offers an enjoyable experience. However, it lacks any form of customization, and it might become repetitive after a few hours. Lil Tanks succeeds as a side-scrolling shooter, but there is a scarcity of originality in the game. That said, genre enthusiasts should certainly be entertained, especially at its current price point.

Old-school style fun! Whenever I'm at the local arcade I gravitate towards classic style games like this so this is a fun throw back for me in the form of a new game - not to mention it's highly addictive. It would be great if the option to re-configure the keyboard keys differently were provided in future updates but this is not a complaint so much as a suggestion for the future. They are fine as is, personal preference just wishes I was using the directional arrows instead of the alpha keys. Looking forward to seeing future updates and/or developments from these guys.

If you like classic, old-school, bullet hell like shoting games with lasers that go pew pew...then you should really buy this game! It's hard to put down and challenging, and who doesent like tanks?!

Awesome art, epic music. TANKS! What's not to like? Make sure to play some local co-op it's a blast!

Petit shmup indé sans prétention. Ici vous ne jouez pas un vaisseau comme d'habitude mais plutot un Tank suréquipé (thx captain obvious...). Les graphismes sont mimis et la jouabilité correcte. On se sent devenir de plus en plus puissant avec l'équipement upgradable : au fil des niveaux vous allez acquérir de l'XP qui va vous permettre de débloquer des nouvelles armes pour être plus puissant au niveau de l'artillerie. Malheureusement vous êtes obligés d'avoir les meilleurs armes pour finir les derniers niveaux, ce qui vous oblige à grinder comme le premier MMORPG Coréen venu... Au niveau shmup en lui même il y a quelques lacunes... La hitbox de votre tank n'est pas clairement définie, il arrive parfois qu'il soit impossible d'éviter un tir ennemi, et si on rajoute à cela la leeeeeeeeeeeeenttttttttteur de votre tank, on arrive à des scénarios catastrophes rapidement alors que tout partait bien. Autre chose, les boss n'ont pas de patterns identiques à chaque partie... Pas très pratique pour apprendre à les éviter et les tuer. Mention spéciale au dernier boss qui ne m'a jamais fait le même pattern 2 fois... J'ai du retenter ma chance un grand nombre de fois, jusqu'a avoir le patterne le plus simple et finalement pouvoir le tuer. On sent donc que les dévs ont tenté de rallonger artificiellement la durée avec cette histoire d'XP et de boss imprévisibles et c'est bien dommage. Néanmoins le jeu reste agréable par petites sessions, et pourra vous occupez quelques heures en solo ou en coop.