Destruction All Stars Review
Compared to previous generations, the PlayStation 5 launch lineup was pretty solid. It featured some quality cross-gen games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and was headlined by an exclusive, gorgeous Demon’s Souls remake. However, the PS5 launch line-up lacked truly exclusive games, with one of the planned launch exclusives, Destruction AllStars, delayed at the last minute with promises to bring it to PlayStation Plus. And it’s a good thing that happened because there would probably be a lot of disgruntled customers if they paid $70 for such a lackluster game. Destruction AllStars has been free for PS Plus subscribers for at least two months, but it’s hard to see how the game could transition to a full-priced title as originally intended. An online-focused vehicular combat game, Destruction AllStars gives players a measly four game modes to play online at launch, and only two of them can actually be played in a party with friends. At launch, the Destruction AllStars online multiplayer mode includes Mayhem, Gridfall, Carnado, and Stockpile. Mayhem is the standard game mode, where the only goal is to smash as many enemy cars as possible to accumulate points. Gridfall is about players falling into a pit, while Carnado has players collecting gears, which can be deposited into a tornado in the middle of the arena. And finally, Stockpile is similar to Carnado in that players collect gears, except they have to leave their vehicles to collect them and there are three points on the map where they must be delivered.
Carnado and Stockpile scratch the same itch, and unfortunately, those are the only two modes available to play at a party with friends. Mayhem and Gridfall are solo-only modes, and while Gridfall’s solo exclusivity is understandable, it’s strange that there isn’t a team version of Mayhem. This is a major oversight that the developers will hopefully rectify in future updates as new content is added to the game. Developer Lucid Games has fixed a nagging Destruction AllStars voice chat issue, so it’s clear that the developer will be quick to address fan concerns. But aside from quick fixes for technical problems, Lucid Games support will likely also include new content updates. Hopefully this will help with Destruction AllStars’ lack of game modes, as well as its lack of arenas. Addressing these areas will go a long way in making Destruction AllStars a more rewarding experience so that players have more to do while smashing cars into each other.
The main gameplay hook of Destruction AllStars is destroying vehicles, and to its credit, this aspect of the game is excellent. Players zip around arenas at top speed, carefully triggering thrusters that smash through opponents at just the right time to maximize damage. While the game modes may all have slightly different objectives, it all boils down to driving around and crashing cars, so it’s good that this part of the game works well and happy Destruction AllStars sets itself apart from other vehicular combat games with its roster of playable characters. Taking cues from hero shooter games like Overwatch, Destruction AllStars has 16 drivers, all with their own unique special abilities, vehicles, and unique looks. The special vehicles of Destruction AllStars can be a very fast drive, and the abilities associated with them add an additional layer of strategy to the game, as players have to determine the most suitable time to activate these. None of Destruction AllStars’ playable characters are locked behind a paywall, so players can choose who appeals to them the most. Some may wonder why a vehicular combat game would put so much effort into its characters, and the reason is because of Destruction AllStars’ gimmick of letting players control their drivers out of their vehicles. . While out of vehicles, players can complete minor platforming challenges to collect gems and can also attempt to take out enemy players’ vehicles. Running around the arena on foot might be good for a few laughs, but it doesn’t beat the fun that comes from destroying enemy cars with a character’s special vehicle.
The characters of Destruction AllStars are fun to play with, but players probably won’t be able to connect with them the way they can in similar games. Destruction AllStars has no real lore for players to dive into, and so the characters’ personalities fail to shine through in any significant capacity. The result is a bunch of cool-looking playable characters without a fleshed-out personality to help them stand out or leave any sort of lasting impression. Destruction AllStars may have used its Challenge Series missions to flesh out the characters, but from what we played, they only show superficial character interactions through some admittedly pretty cool cut-scenes. The Challenge Series itself is single-player missions that task players with completing unique objectives in exchange for cosmetic rewards, and while they’re fairly repetitive, they sometimes have some interesting twists. wanting a twist, like a mission that mimics Crazy Taxi, for example. The Destruction AllStars Challenge Series represents one of the game’s biggest missteps. Players have access to one Challenge Series for free, while they have to unlock others using microtransactions. The Challenge Series isn’t all that compelling to begin with, but locking some of the game’s only single-player content behind a paywall is an odd choice, especially when the rewards unlocked by players for completing them is not worth it.
Destruction AllStars microtransactions are primarily used to purchase Challenge Series missions, but they can also be used to unlock some of the cosmetics. Hero shooter games like Overwatch make it a point to give players unique skins that completely change the appearance of heroes, making them more interesting and fun to unlock. The Destruction AllStars skins are more like palette swaps, so it’s hard to imagine any player being tempted to buy the microtransactions or dedicate themselves to completing Challenge Series events. Destruction AllStars has several skins purchased with in-game currency, which players earn by leveling up. But with Destruction AllStars’ cosmetics being lackluster, leveling doesn’t feel good. And so the development of Destruction AllStars will not keep the players engaged in the game. After players have filled the available game modes, there is no reason to continue playing except to unlock the platinum trophy of Destruction AllStars. Right out of the gate, Destruction AllStars is shallow and struggles to give players a solid reason to stick with it for the long haul. But like other live service games, Destruction AllStars is likely to improve as developers address fan feedback and add more meaningful content to the game. The foundation is there for Destruction AllStars to eventually be great, with reliable performance, great graphics, and fun core gameplay, but it has a long way to go if it wants to reach that point. Destruction AllStars is out now, exclusively for PlayStation 5.