Sand Land blows up the action-RPG formula with tanks | Digital Trends

Sand Land‘s more intriguing hook is its emphasis on vehicles, which has me far more intrigued. Throughout the adventure, Beelzebub can pilot a range of devices around the world that all have their own controls and functions. I’d quickly get a sense for how that changes gameplay in an exciting opening sequence where I’m driving a jeep toward the screen as a giant sand creature chases me. It’s a practical, but very fun way to introduce driving controls in an over-the-top manner that I hope is present throughout.

After escaping that scrape, I was free to roam around a small slice of the open desert. It wasn’t long until I found a shiny new tank sitting in the dunes, so I hopped into the cockpit and took it for a spin. Naturally, that would control much differently than my jeep, but it would also gave me access to a war machine that I could use to wreak havoc on the local raptor population. With both a machine gun and bazooka that I could switch between (reloading one while using the other), I could roll up on unsuspecting enemies and take them out much quicker than I could on foot. Blasting small enemies away with enormous tank shots may sound mean, but hey, it sure is fun.

Vehicles aren’t just for combat, though, and that creates another intriguing dynamic. Once I got into my tank, I remembered that I had seen a rocky wall earlier that seemed like it could be blasted open. Sure enough, I could use my tank to open that up and walk into a hidden area full of resources and raptors. I’m not sure how deep that aspect is in the full game, but I enjoy the idea of vehicles standing in for items that can unlock parts of the world. It’s a bit of a puzzle system that could make for some good open-desert exploration.

The demo I played would only give me a small taste of what to expect, so I’m not sure what the real scope of the game is yet. Its success will likely hinge on how many vehicles are in the final game, how it can keep a desert environment feeling diverse, and whether or not the simple action-RPG combat has more depth than what I saw. There’s a fair chance that this might be a modest project that’s more for fans than anything. As someone who’s never read the manga, though, I’m already interested in taking the ride — even if just to see Toriyama’s vibrant art style so well-represented in a modern 3D game. If Sand Land can turn me into a fan of the wider series, I’d consider that a success.