The Mouse + Keyboard or Pad combination is actually quite smooth if not initially confusing to your average joe quaker. The problem comes when you actually try to play the game; you have about as much a chance of hitting one of your foes with a rocket as you do trying to avoid the taxman. In the end it just becomes a battle of who can scare the other with the biggest explosions the most. Not exactly engrossing stuff, strangely shocking none the less.

One step backwards

It's difficult to judge as to whether the AI on your opponents has more 'I' than 'A' or not, mainly because you spend most of your precious time actually trying to hit something. Further observation proves that there's something going on inside their 'Matrix' like minds. They circle strafe around you, move backwards/forwards as if to anticipate your fire and will generally do whatever it takes to kill you.

Death in the field only means you come right back to life moments later, but we did find it clever the way your tank sustains realistic damage as the onslaught prevails. Hulls dent, cannons bend and eventually you end up looking a bit like a clapped out toaster rather than the beefy killing machine you should be.

The environments you get to battle in, be it on or off-line, don't change and often feel totally bland - without any real feeling of life. The occasional pool of water is all that breaks the ice amongst the greys and greens of the flat hill landscapes that stretch as far as the eye can see. Indeed this doesn't help gameplay; such a lack of originality makes this quite a repetitive title.

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