Tank Universal is a game that is as indie as you can get. Developed by a one man team, namely Phil Jones, it immerses the gamer in a Tron-esque environment where you commandeer a tank and duke it out with your foes in virtual environments that are imaginative and sometimes bizarre. The premise certainly sounds promising, and I was rubbing my hands in glee at the opportunity to review this game. However, this game ultimately falls short of indie greatness due to a few flaws, but is still a fun experience overall and highly recommendable especially to those who've watched or played Tron before.

Initially anticipating a no holds barred tank combat game, I was surprised to find that there was actually a rather elaborate back story woven into the game. It starts off with George, a bald middle-aged man with more than a few worries on his mind, putting on a virtual reality headset for a bit of entertainment. What ensue are his adventures in the virtual world, where he ends up being part of the Resistance fighting against the mighty Gorgons. With a lot of focus on the storyline, you actually spend a fair bit of time not in a tank, but running around on foot as the storyline pans out (mostly in the beginning stages).

Overall, the plot feels very credible and well fleshed out, but it can also be detrimental to the fun factor in such an action game. At times, it certainly feels like there is too much 'talking' and too little 'action', especially since quite a number of levels have you embarking on a solo mission. Many of these are low on the action dose, usually involving traveling from point A to point B to advance the storyline, made even more mind numbing due to the slow speed of your character both while driving a tank and on foot. This game will undoubtedly have benefited greatly from more large scale battles or skirmishes, or perhaps more defense missions that have you hold out against waves of enemies. In short, more fireworks!

In fact, the actual tank combat itself is very enjoyable and extremely well-designed, so it does not make any sense to stifle your strongest aspect in favor of injecting a stronger plot sense into the game. Tank combat is also very easy to pick up. You maneuver your tank with the WASD keys, fire with your left mouse button or charge shots by holding it down before releasing. There are a total of 9 tank upgrades (turbo, rockets, shield rechargers etc) that you can unlock by earning upgrade points, and once you have a specific upgrade, you have to keep it charged by destroying enemy tanks and collecting the shards that drop. The overall design is extremely elegant and leaves you free to focus on annihilating the enemy and not on remembering ridiculous key bindings or combo shots. The pacing of larger scale battles also feel spot on. One minor gripe here is that the 9 upgrades are bound to the F1 to F9 keys and cannot be remapped, making the triggering of some of these power-ups a little cumbersome.

Graphics:
The graphics of Tank Universal mimic the visual style of Tron, with the distinctive feel of a virtual, computer world. Even though the overall design looks simple, there are actually a lot of details in the level designs and environments, creating an immersive environment.

Sounds:
Battle effects and explosions are realistically rendered, and when coupled with the sound effects give a believable feel when you are hit or when you score a hit. Background music is not too noteworthy, but does fit into the overall theme quite well.

Gameplay:
Large scale, frenetic tank battles are memorable occasions, and there is a good variety of enemy units that require different strategies to take down. Some of the missions are also very well-designed, and I particularly liked level 7 where you had to vie with enemy tanks to take control of several switches. These switches spawn tanks for whoever has control so it makes for a great back-and-forth battle.

Concept:
I liked the well thought out plot that goes with the various missions, but the downside is that at times this game feels like it's trying too hard to be an RPG. There are a few missions that involve simply driving the tank around the map, and these create a rollercoaster emotional ride for the gamer as he goes from the euphoria of a previous epic tank battle to the yawnfest of driving the tank from point A to B to C. And as I've already mentioned these tanks move slooowww, thus prolonging the agony. Take for instance level 9, which has you driving your tank past a chasm with a few spanning bridges, dodging a 'data-train' that passes through the middle, deactivating a few force fields and finally making your way out. It feels too much like a puzzle level, which maybe it was meant to be, but it is a little out of place in a game like this where the large scale tank combat is stellar.

Value:
For $9.99, there are 21 missions in total including the closing scene in the single-player campaign, and you can replay individual missions that you have accomplished. The replayability is fairly high for the more memorable missions. There is no multiplayer mode at the moment, and there is only one skirmish mode where you attempt to score as many hits as possible in 20 minutes as a solo player.

Overall:
I thoroughly enjoyed the tank combat aspect of this game, but the over-emphasis on a role-playing experience slightly sours the overall entertaining experience. I still wholeheartedly recommend that you give this game a try, the addictiveness and adrenaline of the tank battles more than makes up for the intermittent lulls in action.