Destruction AllStars
Nice Body With Nothing Under the Hood
Image Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Disclaimer: This review was conducted before the release of Season 1.
It’s not that Destruction AllStars lacks creativity. The problem is that the creative prowess of the developers is flexed in areas that do not keep players engaged. This effort was instead put towards phenomenal character and vehicle design, but not towards the actual gameplay. Gameplay that is overstated by flashy destruction arenas and the guise of an energetic sports setting. Though the initial pitch of an engaging competitive vehicular combat game feels like an illusion at this point, there is potential for the developers to turn this car around before it careens into a flashy neon pole.
Image Credit: PlaystationLifeStyle.net
Destruction AllStars certainly pulls from the Overwatch playbook by creating a diverse roster of characters that have their own unique abilities and power ups. Unlike Overwatch though, these characters never truly feel unique enough because the majority of your matches are not spent in their special vehicle. When a player starts a multiplayer match they are on foot in front of generic vehicles that they must race to get inside before their competitors. Players can eject from their vehicles at any time to parkour on foot across the arena to collect shards or a new vehicle, but the best moments are spent in the drivers seat.
Once inside a vehicle, you can begin your destruction journey in a generic truck or car that lacks any special abilities. It’s only after the player causes enough destruction or collects enough shards that they can unlock their unique vehicle. These special vehicles range in abilities from invisibility cloaking to front facing saw blades. It’s in these moments, with your special vehicle active, that the diversity of the roster is actually felt. But these moments are fleeting as once your car is damaged enough you will have to exit it and start your race on foot again to a generic truck.
Image Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Compounding the lack of gameplay diversity is the generic neon laced steel arenas that you find yourself battling in. Destruction AllStars takes you to exciting locales all over the world, like Las Vegas and Tokyo, but you wouldn’t know it. Beyond the title bumper before the match, there is nothing identifying where you are. Now I’m not asking for the developers to fill the stands with Showgirls or that the Blue Man Group needs to be the musical performance for the level to signal where you are at, but I wouldn’t object to it. I’m simply asking for maps that don’t all just look like Deadmau5 fell into a cement mixer that was then poured over a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 skate park. Map diversity with varying biomes, like desert and snow, would go a long way to make the player feel like they are actually experiencing new locations and that this global competitive event is actually taking place around the world
Using the perfect segue of the Blue Man Group and Deadmau5, we need to talk about music in this game. There is no music in this game. Beyond the generic thumpy music in the menu screen, there is nothing to be found in a match. As you enter a bombastic arena filled with thousands of fans and are poised to battle players from around the world you are met with silence. Yes, there are sound effects for the crashes and your vehicle does go "vroom". Maybe even an occasional announcer will be heard, but for the most part you are met with the jarring feeling of an empty and desolate arena. They could have at least put the thumpy menu music in the background, but chose otherwise.
Image Credit: ScreenRant
What the developers instead chose was to allow for everyone’s controller mic to be turned on at the beginning of every round. This of course resulted in the most coordinated teamwork in any competitive game I have ever experienced. Or that’s what the developers thought might happen. What actually transpired was a reminder why I never speak to randoms in competitive games. Each match was either filled with someone blaring their own personal taste in music, usually Soulja Boy, through their mic or someone reminding me the breadth of racial slurs that exist. Although this design decision has been updated out of the game, it’s a perfect example of some of the puzzling choices the developers made.
Another reason the mic can remain off is that the actual competitive multiplayer modes require very little teamwork. There aren’t group objectives that need to be verbalized over the course of a match. Even when you are playing with a friend, you have a difficult time visually identifying them from other players due to the fast nature of the game. For a competitive game, the lack of coordination amongst team members is extremely disappointing. Games like Rocket League and Overwatch thrive due to player collaboration. The best game mode in my opinion is one that you can’t actually play with friends, Gridfall. Gridfall is a free for all mode where the floor is slowly falling out beneath players. The last car standing wins and its by far the most enjoyable game mode.
Image Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment
In the traditional destruction derby mode, accelerating around the perimeter of a map to then use my turbo to reach a speed that absolutely wrecks my opponent is a feeling few games can achieve. The actual driving and destruction are satisfying, but there aren’t enough incentives to keep me coming back to it. The cosmetics earned in the game are simple pallet swaps and the leveling system is extremely stingy with experience. The progression system and cosmetic variety can be easily fixed and since the core driving of this game is solid, I have hope that Destruction AllStars can be turned around if focus is provided in the right areas.
One of the most baffling decisions was that Destruction AllStars was originally billed as a PS5 launch title priced at $70!At best, in its current state, the best chance Destruction AllStars has is as a free to play game built around a season pass revenue model. The bones of a great game are present, but it will take a dedicated team to creatively revitalize the player base with diverse maps and unique game modes to turn this car around and get it on the right track. Busch League Gaming gives Destruction AllStars five generic pick-up trucks out of ten.
