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Teardown

Teardown

We've put Tuxedo Labs physics-based destruction heisting game to the test.

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After a lengthy stint as an Early Access game, Tuxedo Labs has just launched the 1.0 update for its voxel-destructible sandbox heisting game Teardown. Now out as a full product, I've spent a little while playing around with the game, testing out its physics systems, and causing all kinds of mayhem as I undertake a variety of contracts, all to see how it stacks up. Without foreshadowing too much, I'm pretty impressed.

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The idea behind Teardown is to complete heists. This could be stealing a car or some valuable documents, or more quirky things like reducing a building to rubble, or throwing a safe into the ocean. This variety is important to the game, because while Teardown is described as a heisting title, the true excellence of it comes in its physics engine and the destructible sandbox it operates in. And because of this, Teardown is as much a heisting experience, as it is a destruction one.

It's a weird combination in theory, as heisting often coincides with being covert and not really leaving much of a mark, all to evade being caught. Teardown throws that concept out of the window and basically tells the player to indulge in their wildest destruction dreams. Want to throw a propane canister through a window and see the damage it does to a building? Go for it. Want to drive a bulldozer through a factory? Do it. Interested to see how quickly a blowtorch can set a seafront cabin ablaze? Now you can. In the actual single player campaign, as long as you don't draw the attention of emergency services to you, i.e. by springing alarms or creating too much fire that you give yourself away, you can literally do anything you want in a level - that is assuming you complete whatever objective is put in front of you before you leave the level as well.

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If this constraint is too much for you and you really want to see if it's possible to completely reduce a level to rubble, the sandbox mode is the place to go, but I've personally found having a core objective to complete, an objective that does require planning and strategy to overcome (often a wacky strategy like some daft Hollywood heisting movie), gives the gameplay a degree of necessary purpose.

Teardown

But the point is, whichever way you like to play, the core physics engine and the incredible sandbox remains a constant. Regardless of whether you are a fan of the voxel art style, the near limitless ways you can interact with the world in Teardown keeps the gameplay feeling fresh and fun at all times. You'll never feel like you're repeating yourself, as there's always some new method of getting the job done, be it using tools (like the sledgehammer or blowtorch), vehicles (construction machinery, to sports cars, to boats), or by finding weird ways that the world can be manipulated (I'd recommend checking out the water physics and how they can be incredibly destructive when left unchecked).

It's a very impressive experience and one that can be served up as a great example of what a physics-based game engine can do. You'll find yourself enthralled by the silliest of things and will end up using the environment as a sort of testing grounds, where you let your imagination run wild. It's not the sort of the title that you'll come back to day after day for weeks upon end, but does it truly nail its role as a game to simply entertain? Without a doubt. And this is something that is only elevated by the modding support that allows the community to take the game by the horns and to create a whole range of new challenges and experiences for you to explore.

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As it stands today, Teardown is a very engaging title, one that is absolutely worth checking it out if you're looking for something new and unique to entertain you. But, I do firmly also believe that the best of Teardown is still to come, because this is one of those rare games that really feels like it'll be elevated to untold heights when the community puts it through the ringer.

07 Gamereactor UK
7 / 10
+
Physics engine is excellent. Very fun. Great mod support.
-
Voxel art style isn't for everyone. Sandbox and Challenge mode lack in comparison to the Campaign mode.
overall score
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REVIEW. Written by Ben Lyons

We've put Tuxedo Labs physics-based destruction heisting game to the test.



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