''Death Tank'' is a 1996 competitive multiplayer, 2D

artillery game Artillery games are two or three-player (usually turn-based) video games involving tanks (or simply cannons) trying to destroy each other. The core mechanics of the gameplay is almost always to aim at the opponent(s) following a ballistic trajec ...

developed by Ezra Dreisbach of

Lobotomy Software Lobotomy Software, Inc. was an American video game developer founded in 1993 and based in Redmond, Washington. The company ported '' Quake'' and ''Duke Nukem 3D'' to the Sega Saturn and developed the first-person shooter ''PowerSlave'' (titled ' ...

. Influenced by ''

Scorched Earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...

'', the gameplay is real-time instead of turn-based. It supports two to seven players, represented by differently-colored tanks, with a range of weapons. The terrain on which this occurs is heavily deformed during play. The original ''Death Tank'' was a hidden bonus game in the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

port of ''

PowerSlave ''Powerslave'' is the fifth studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 3 September 1984 through EMI Records in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in North America. It was re-released by Sanctuary and Columbia ...

'' (1996). An update, ''Death Tank Zwei'', was hidden in the Saturn version of ''

Duke Nukem 3D ''Duke Nukem 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by 3D Realms. It is a sequel to the platform games ''Duke Nukem'' and ''Duke Nukem II'', published by 3D Realms. ''Duke Nukem 3D'' features the adventures of the titular Duke Nuke ...

'' (1997). In a 1996 interview Lobotomy Software co-founder Brian McNeely said that Dreisbach "threw 'Death Tank''together in his spare time. We play it every day, religiously." The title screen shows the red and blue tanks because these were the colors favored by Dreisbach and Jeff Blazier, who had an ongoing rivalry in the game.

Xbox Live Arcade version

Dreisbach, working with

Snowblind Studios Snowblind Studios was an American video game developer located in Kirkland, Washington. They were founded in 1997, specializing in role-playing video games. In February 2009, Snowblind Studios was acquired by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment ...

, developed a standalone version of the game for Xbox Live Arcade. It was released on Wednesday, February 18, 2009. A version of ''Death Tank Zwei'' is included as an extra in this release, which can be unlocked by shooting down a supply plane in the main game. There are a number of minor differences between this new version and the original; it lacks the title screen (and ''Death Tank'' theme), options and player selection screens. The game has an upper limit of four players (instead of the original seven), and there are a number of changes to the names of the weapons.

Reception

''Death Tank'' appears in the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

reference book A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to f ...

1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die ''1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die'' is a video game reference book first published in October 2010. It consists of a list of video games released between 1970 and 2013, arranged chronologically by release date. Each entry in the list ...

'' edited by Tony Mott and published in October 2010 by Universe Publishing.

References

Ezra Dreisbach interview

Death Tank for Xbox Live Arcade-announcement

External links

*
'Bastards of 32-Bit' - Death Tank Zwei
1996 video games Artillery video games Sega Saturn games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Snowblind Studios games Tank simulation video games Video games developed in the United States Lobotomy Software games {{artillery-videogame-stub