Tank Arena is a relatively new Windows Phone 8 game that has you piloting a tank through various combat courses. The story line has the Dromedians, an alien invader, establishing military bases on the outer planets of our solar system. It is your mission to guide your tank to the various planets and destroy the Dromedian invaders.
Tank Arena currently has thirty training missions that are based from the Earth’s moon. Additional levels of play are under development and based on the training missions, Tank Arena makes a nice first impression.
The main menu for Tank Arena has options to:
- Access the game's settings
- View your gaming progress
- Visit the game’s Store for in-app purchases that include gold ($.99 to $2.99) that can be used in the Depot to upgrade your tank and getting rid of the ads ($.99)
- Visit the game’s military depot to upgrade your tanks
- Play the game
Additionally you will find links to a help screen, to share the game, to rate the game in the Windows Phone Store and to view the About Screen.
Tank Arena’s settings cover sound/music volumes, customizing your player name for the online leader board and choosing your tank controls. Here you have two options, Swipe and Tap or Thumbstick and Tap. Swipe and Tap has you controlling your tank by swiping at the left side of the screen to control movement and tapping the screen on the spot you want your tank canon to fire upon.
Thumbstick and Tap places a virtual joystick in the bottom corner of the screen to control your tank and to fire the canon, you tap the screen. The Thumbstick works a lot better than the swipe method and while the tap to fire method works, it is easy to have an accidental discharge. A fire button would help but then you have the issue of aiming your canon.
Game play is spread out across thirty missions, all based on the moon and all progressively more difficult. The first few levels are rather easy to get you accustomed to the gaming controls. From there the enemy positions become more numerous and aggressive.
Mission goals are displayed before the start of each mission and once met, the level ends and you can advance to the next mission. You can spend the gold you earn in the game’s depot to upgrade your tank, canon or ammunition.
All totaled, Tank Arena is a fun game with nice graphics and challenging game play. Controls will take a little time to get used to though. There is no indication when the additional levels will be added but based on the training missions Tank Arena is a combat game worth trying.
Tank Arena is a free, ad-supported game available for Windows Phone 8. You can find Tank Arena here in the Windows Phone Store.
