Concept Destruction
Developed by Thinice Games
Published by Ratalaika Games
Released for Xbox One (5/20/2020)
Also on PC/PS4/PS5
Concept Destruction comes to us from Thinice Games, a one-man development studio out of Barcelona, Spain. Published by Ratalaika Games, the game features cardboard cars squaring off in arenas, destruction derby-style. It's an interesting concept and retails for a reasonable $4.99, so without wasting any more of our precious, limited time, let's get right into the review...
Concept Destruction features some rather simple graphics, but the textures are sharp and everything is easy to distinguish. The concept of racing around in cardboard cars is unique and the
cars look the part, right down to the corrugated edges. There's an
impressive damage system where the cardboard will react to where they
are smashed.
For this review, the game was played on an Xbox One X and the frame-rate dipped frequently when you played with maximum amount of opponents. While the game is still totally playable, this was worth pointing out and you might want to hesitate if you're playing this on anything less than an Xbox One X, since performance may become an issue on the lower end systems. This game is optimized for the new Series consoles, so I'm quite certain the game runs silky smooth on those systems (if I had one I'd be happy to test, but like most of you I've still been unable to find one as of May 2021!). The sound design is what you'd expect, with the sound of motors and cars bashing into each other being the main things you'll hear while playing. The music consists of some generic heavy metal that does a good job of fitting the destruction theme. The menus in the game are easy to navigate, rounding out an overall solid presentation here.
In addition to championship mode, there's also the option to play a single event. Single events can be played in 3 different modes: normal, survival and tourism. Normal plays just like a single round of championship, survival and tourism mode. Tourism mode allows you to casually drive around the levels for as long as you want. There will still be AI controlled cars in tourism mode, though they are passive and won't come charging at you like in the other modes. While the 8 arenas and various cars to choose from help provide a bit of variety, when it comes down to it with Concept Destruction you've basically seen all that the game has to offer after you've played your first round. What you see is what you get, there are no new mechanics or rules introduced later in the game. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if you enjoy destruction derby-style games, but just be aware that there's not a lot of variety when it comes down to the gameplay.
Another feature in Concept Destruction that helps add some replay value are the impressive amount of gameplay options you can toggle. Basically all aspects of the game can be modified in the options menu, allowing you to customize things like how much battery your car consumes, the number of enemy cars and the duration of the events. This allows you to tweak the game's difficulty to your liking, where you can make it as hard or easy as you wish. For maximum carnage, make sure that the car count is turned up all the way. This is limited to 14 cars on the Xbox One platforms, but there was a patch released to optimize the game for the Series S/X that allows up to 49 cars simultaneously! In addition to more cars on screen at once, the game runs at a much more steady frame-rate than the previous generation of consoles could handle. In closing, Concept Destruction is an enjoyable destruction derby game despite the short length and basic gameplay. Derby fans should be able to get their $4.99 worth out of this one. In standard tradition with other Ratalaika Games releases, this one features a list of easy achievements that can be obtained within an hour or so of gameplay.
Final Verdict: Concept Destruction pits miniature cars made from cardboard into a destruction derby. It's an original concept and while it's basic both in graphics and gameplay, it provides at least a good few hours of fun while it lasts, especially if you're into derby smash 'em up games.
Purchase Links:
Related Links:
Ratalaika Games - Xbox Overview
Ratalaika Games - Xbox Overview
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