The start of any gaming generation gives birth to the question: “When are the console sellers going to arrive?” Consoles like the Nintendo 64 came out of the gate with greatness by its side in software form. For consoles such as the eighth generation hardware it took awhile before the greatness promised became reality. Looking to shake things up, developer Lucid Games joined forces with Sony to produce the Playstation 5’s first foray in the long-lauded car/vehicular combat genre with “Destruction Allstars”. With a promise of being different from anything else on the market, this demolition derby full of bright lights & colorful characters roars onto the PS5 for free for all Playstation Plus owners for a limited time and I looked to take advantage of that offer.
Did I Complete “Destruction Allstars”?
Like many “live service” games before it, completing “Destruction Allstars” can be a daunting, though unnecessary task mostly thanks to multiple cosmetic items available for the sixteen playable characters having no bearings on the gameplay itself. Completing online matches will give the player experience points that level up said player’s in-game profile to earn gold coins (“Allstar Coins”) that can be used to purchase said cosmetics. Unfortunately to get the full experience of “Destruction Allstars” the player will have to shell out real money to buy another type of in-game currency, purple coins (“Destruction Points”).
These purple coins are the only means for the player to unlock the “Challenge Series” offerings other than the first one which is free – meaning a completely non-online, single-player mode is locked behind a pay-wall. I was not about to spend money on some short cutscenes and a series of single-player matches when it meant nothing but gaining some exclusive color shaders. Instead I focused on enjoying the online options and trying to be the best team player possible in “Carnado”, or surviving the perils of “Gridfall” while attaining character-specific trophies like successfully targeting & obliterating three targets during a session as rockstar heartthrob Angelo Avello.
Did “Destruction Allstars” Live Up to the Hype?
“Destruction Allstars” isn’t the average car combat experience. Yes there is a lot of smashing into other cars with players being able to use the right analog stick to boost forward for slams or sideswipe nearby opponents. These slam attacks all have cool-down meters and can’t be used repeatedly in a short period of time, but the cool-down time is usually so insignificant by the time the player is lining up their next target they can slam their car into someone else for those points or Gears. Points and Gears are pretty much the basis of winning events with the effectiveness of hits or even wrecking an adversary’s vehicle being the means to attain Gears and points for a cumulative effect. What really makes “Destruction Allstars” different from its counterparts are two implementations: being able to leave a vehicle to move on-foot and “Breakers”.
Leaving a car can be both voluntary and involuntary with the latter occurring when the player’s vehicle takes too much damage. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the player manually ejecting their character for moments such as avoiding a pitfall while sacrificing their current transportation. On-foot players are prone to being knocked out by an incoming adversary, but can also evade and jump onto said car to perform either a “Takeover” or a “Wreckover” with the latter destroying the opponent’s vehicle and the prior allowing for the player to jump behind the wheel. This choice between helping oneself or hurting the enemy comes courtesy of a quick time event focusing of the “Square” and “Circle” buttons. The player whose car is being invaded can also shake off their aggressor before the QTE ends (usually by flipping the car).
Thanks to various platforms scattered around each arena, players can take advantage of the parkour system to gather shards or get closer to their next ride. These shards play into the “Breaker” system. There are two types of “Breakers”: one for when the player is on foot (“Hero Breaker”) and another when inside the character-specific “Hero Car” that can be called by the player after gaining enough hits & wrecks to fill up the bar underneath the character’s icons. Character “Breakers” are usually defensive measures to allow for the player to make it to the next vehicle. “Hero Car” “Breakers” are mostly offensive in nature, but neither on-foot or car “Breakers” are created equal.
For example – the aforementioned Angelo’s “Hero Breaker” will temporarily limit the vision & hearing of other on-foot opponents which rarely affects the opponent’s abilities, while Fuego’s will leave a trail of fire that can damage both running enemies & vehicles. The same unevenness applies to car “Breakers” such as Hana having a saw that cuts through opponents in one hit while Genesis’ “Hero Car” can move a top speed for extra damage while losing a lot of steering control (which can cause incredible damage against her own car if the player hits a wall). As expected, the player base is already focusing on the characters with the best “Breakers” & “Hero Cars”; leaving others to suffer with something like Sgt. Rescue producing gas clouds as a way to avoid being wrecked.
There are limits to both locales and game modes. Players can take part in four types of game modes online and in the offline “Arcade”: “Mayhem” (a points-based deathmatch where the player with the most points at the time limit wins); “Gridfall” (a last character standing affair where the platform the characters are battling on randomly breaks apart to leave gaping holes for falls where the character only has one life unless they can KO other opponents to earn extra lives); “Carnado” (a team-based mode where a tornado spins in the arena’s center waiting for players to drive their cars into it with the intent of depositing up to fifty gears at a time earned by slamming into & wrecking opponents; giving the team with the most deposited gears the victory); “Stockpile” (another team-based mode in capture the zone fashion with the player having to leave their vehicle to collect up to five gears at a time to deposit in one of three zones with the team that fills up two out of three or all three “banks” winning). Out of the four modes it’s almost impossible to find games of “Stockpile” when tackling the multiplayer; though every mode suffers due to connectivity quality easily meaning the difference between landing a hit or careening to defeat.
For those turned off by playing online or don’t have the best internet connection, there is single-player offerings including the aforementioned “Arcade” and “Challenge Series” modes. “Arcade” is just the multiplayer modes but against the AI with three selectable levels of difficulty. The “Challenge Series” is a mini-character story mode where the player gets a little backstory on the character chosen and is made to complete up to seven events (some solely connected to the mode like time trials) with three stipulations like simply winning a race or executing one’s “Breaker” three times. Sadly there is a gigantic hindrance in enjoying “Challenge Series”: microtransactions.
Beyond one “Challenge Series” offering featuring Ultimo Barricado, all the “Challenge Series” available can only be unlocked by spending real money – meaning players who paid full price for this game have to spend more money to enjoy something that should be unlockable by simply playing the game and earning gold coins. Another issue is the fact the player’s profile doesn’t gain experience offline or in single player, so if gamers want to earn those gold coins to potentially buy cosmetics they will have to play online. Sadly, the character cosmetics leave little grand impression other than characters sporting different colored clothes; though some of the more stylish items need those purple coins as well as gold coins to buy.
There are also some odd decisions in regards to bringing friends together to play. Beyond lacking any type of local play, friends can’t play in private matches online and in-game parties can only have up to four people grouped at a time even if modes like “Carnado” can have up to eight players on a team at a time. Technically “Allstars” is bright & luxurious similar to games such as “Fortnite” with very animated characters like something from an early 2000s Saturday morning cartoon.
As noted to get the most out of the game the player needs to spend more money and play online with the latter being inconsistent in regards to connectivity that can result in stuttering gameplay and odd bugs including one where the camera shifted & got stuck in the ground; making it impossible to control said character. Another issue comes down to the controls. While the game’s controls & handling feels great, the decision to use the right analog stick to bash characters may be used by the player unintentionally considering the right analog stick is usually in control of the camera especially in racing games.
The overall gameplay loop of “Destruction Allstars” is mostly fantastic, but the lack of modes, stages, and single player content locked behind a pay-wall. doesn’t feed a gamer’s appetite for destruction.
Should You Play “Destruction Allstars”?
There’s no doubt “Destruction Allstars” provides incredible chills, thrills & spills both offline & online; though playing online is really the only way to go if a player wants to gain cosmetics and profile EXP. There’s a lot to be desired offline with a static “Arcade” mode and the “Challenge Series” locked behind a real money pay-wall. “Destruction Allstars” is, in a lot of ways, the video game equivalent of “Gridfall” – a harrowing experience initially, but the pitfalls in regards to the player base’s longevity & not thinking about the consumer becomes more visible the more someone plays until the gamer just accepts “Allstars” for what it is like someone winning on a technicality instead of knocking an opponent & their car into the digital depths.
