Quest 3 Hands-on: 'Holotanks' game brings toy tank battles into your living room
Holotanks is a mixed reality tank fighting game that turns your living room into a battlefield. I tried it with my Quest 3.
In Holotanks, you drive small toy tanks around a room of your choice, hunting for enemy tanks with your finger on the trigger at all times.
When playing Meta Quest 3, you can scan the room beforehand so that the tanks can use furniture and other physical objects for cover or ambush. This worked well in my hands-on and added to the immersion by allowing the furniture to realistically occlude the tanks.
The MR game offers various game modes, including a local multiplayer mode that allows you to play with multiple headsets in the same room, together against AI-controlled tanks, or against each other. Since I only own one headset, I was only able to try out the single player mode.
Fun and chaotic skirmishes with finicky aiming
The controls take some getting used to at first. You steer your tank with the left thumbstick and use the right thumbstick to aim the barrel on the horizontal axis. If the enemy is above or below you, you can also aim the barrel vertically. This is necessary because the game can place virtual ramps and elevations in the room.
After a few minutes, I had internalized the controls, even if I hadn't fully mastered them.
For single player, there is a 23 level campaign with different challenges and modes (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, etc.). As you destroy enemies, you can collect coins to unlock more tanks, skins, and building elements for the Sandbox mode. The latter allows you to create custom levels for local multiplayer battles.
A positive first impression
Holotanks was released in the App Lab earlier this year and already makes a good first impression. Maneuvering, dodging and shooting is a lot of fun. The only thing that really bothered me was aiming with the thumbstick, which I found too imprecise and unsatisfying.
I liked the fact that there are different types of tanks. During my hands-on, I unlocked a tank with a mortar gun that shoots in a high arc and can therefore hit enemy tanks even when you're behind objects. However, this is easier said than done and requires a lot of practice.
A full review will have to show if Holotanks can keep players engaged longer, and if it has the strategic depth to do so. And if local multiplayer matches are as fun as the trailer shows.
Holotanks can be purchased for $12 in the App Lab. The game is optimized for Quest 3, but also supports Quest 2 and Quest Pro.
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