Concept Destruction Review

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Action, arcade, co-op, Combat, GrabTheGames, indie, PS4, PS4 Review, Racing, Ratalaika Games, simulation, Twin Robots, Vehicle

One of my favourite original PlayStation memories is losing many hours playing Destruction Derby, trying to win races whilst smashing up the competition in a variety of arena’s and tracks. Nothing has really come close to that kind of experience, the likes of Carmageddon may have contained the a similar destruction of opponents, but it was a very different game. Concept Destruction attempts to address the balance and bring back those nostalgic Destruction Derby memories into 2020.

Concept Destruction is about crashing and smashing into other cars with your miniature cardboard vehicle. Played from a third person perspective you start in a designated space within a themed area, when the lights turn green that’s when it’s time to go and create some mayhem until the timer runs out. That’s about it for Concept Destruction, there is no racing to speak of, it’s all about how much damage you can give, so in that sense it is similar to Destruction Derby. Everything takes place on tabletops with the background scenery being that of a car design studio.

Action, arcade, co-op, Combat, GrabTheGames, indie, PS4, PS4 Review, Racing, Ratalaika Games, simulation, Twin Robots, Vehicle

If you jump into the Concept Destruction tutorial you’ll find there isn’t much there in terms of details, just very simple instructions on driving and turning your car over. There are only two modes in Concept Destruction, one is the Championship mode which takes place over several races adding up your damage points. The other mode is Single Event which is split up into smaller modes which include a Survival mode which is just about survival and Tourism mode where you just drive round taking in the sights and sounds of the environment. Championship is quite fun, though your race could be ended quite early depending if you get hit close after starting. Single Event is somewhat lacking in modes, none of them really encourage you to go back and replay them. In the options mode there are many settings which can be changed. You can make your car very strong and your rival cars weak, you can choose how many cars there are in play etc. It’s recommended to have as many cars as you can in the Championship if you want Concept Destruction to be a bit of a challenge. If you just choose one rival car with a weak set up then each race will last about 10 seconds.

Driving in Concept Destruction is somewhat hit and miss. The turning mechanics for some of the cars is really erractic, one moment you think you’re in control driving at pace towards an opponent but the slightest touch on the steering wheel sends you hurtling into a nearby wall. Turning around in a circle can be a mess as well, although it’s quite funny watching your car doing donuts being followed by another trying to hit you repeating the same turn. The crumple effects in Concept Destruction for your cars is quite well done. If your doors get hit then they fall off, if you get hit solidly from behind then there’s a massive dent in your boot. The same is for your wheels, if you suffer damage to them your car becomes very difficult to manoeuvre. An important point is that all the cars are battery operated, so if you apply too much electricity you’ll run your battery down, if it becomes empty that’s your race run.

Action, arcade, co-op, Combat, GrabTheGames, indie, PS4, PS4 Review, Racing, Ratalaika Games, simulation, Twin Robots, Vehicle

Graphically, Concept Destruction has some nice features, the crumpled effects are really good whilst the car design background it quite cool. The cars themselves are reasonably varied but there isn’t a great deal of detail to them but then again they are only meant to be concept cars. The different arenas are quite different but generally quite bare to look at. Musically Concept Destruction goes for the punk rock route, it suits the onscreen destruction well. Cardboard cars hitting each other doesn’t make a lot of sound but a few more sound effects would have been beneficial. There are no leaderboards as such which is a shame, once you’ve gained enough Championship points to unlock all the cars you won’t have any pull to play Concept Destruction again.

Concept Destruction has a few elements that come together well like the crumple car effects and it’s always fun to smash cars into each other. However the lack of modes and depth mean Concept Destruction after half an hour loses that appeal quite quickly. With a few more modes and a more fulfilling Championship mode, Concept Destruction could have been quite the enjoyable ride, but as it is, it lacks that replayability factor which brings players back to play it over and over again.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 4 code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.

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Concept Destruction Review
  • Gameplay - 5/10
    5/10
  • Graphics - 5/10
    5/10
  • Sound - 5/10
    5/10
  • Replay Value - 5/10
    5/10
User Review
0 (0 votes)
Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)
Overall
5/10

Summary

With a few more modes and a more fulfilling Championship mode Concept Destruction could have been quite the enjoyable ride but as it is it lacks that replayability factor which brings players back to play it over and over again.


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