Destruction AllStars worth watching, but lacks longevity

PlayStation Plus members should definitely check out Destruction AllStars. You can't argue with the low price of Free, subscription fees aside, and if you're one of the lucky few who managed to pick up a PlayStation 5, it's a great excuse to play a next-gen multiplayer game with your friends for the first time.

The visuals are stunning and live up to previously released trailers, while the characters are quirky, over-the-top, and unique. The game takes full advantage of the DualSense controller's adaptive triggers and haptic feedback technology, giving it that next-gen feel.

Destruction AllStars is therefore a good testbed for the PS5’s potential, but unfortunately for this vehicle-based arena brawler it can get pretty boring… fast. Destruction AllStars ultimately feels like it’s trying to be too many games at once, without significantly excelling in any one area. It’s also missing a battle pass or some sort of underlying progression system to help people keep playing right now, even if one is on the way.

Twisted Metal’s custom car-smashing DNA is on full display in this game, albeit filtered through a more modern Rocket League aesthetic. Burnout’s famous directional manoeuvring mechanics are also grafted on for good measure, and it’s arguably here that the game finds its greatest success. It feels genuinely good to crash into other players’ cars, and older players will be reminded of Destruction Derby on the original PlayStation when the pile-ons get particularly frenetic.

It's clear that the game has some good elements, but I wish the developers had focused more on one of these inspirations rather than all of them - unfortunately, everything surrounding the game's Burnout-esque drum mechanics only serves to slow down gameplay.

Mutually assured destruction

(Image credit: Sony)

Driving is satisfying in Destruction AllStars. You’re always pulling hard on the sticks to line up a spectacular wreck, and when you fail (and be prepared to fail a lot), it’s often stressful. You spend a lot of time trying to find your bearings during matches, spinning around and feeling disoriented. But then, when you find yourself in a bad pile, the adrenaline drops within seconds as everything eerily comes to a halt.

The chaos feels surprisingly organized, too. When multiple cars get stuck with each other, they all start backing up awkwardly or leaving their engine busted for a shiny new model. And getting out of your car to walk around the map should be AllStars Destruction's ace in the hole, but I'm not convinced that adds much to the actual gameplay. Jumping and lunging at cars looks cool in the main menu's slow-motion close-up footage, but it's far from reality on-site.

Your actions aren't very smooth and suffer from long cooldowns. You also rarely engage in satisfying back-and-forth journeys with fellow drivers - you run around like a headless chicken on a busy road, speeding off into nowhere and worrying about your contribution to the board.

Grand Theft Auto

(Image credit: Sony)

"Destruction AllStars is by nature a competitive game, but it's certainly easier to enjoy if you strip that aspect away and focus on the fun."

Parkour sections are peppered about the maps, providing platforming puzzles you can complete to earn gems that allow you to build up your special ability meters. But given how easy they are to build up anyway, I don’t see the point. In multiplayer, the objectives are so hectic and demanding that I always felt like I was letting the team down if I stopped knocking out opposing drivers at any point, so it’s hard to justify escalation.

The only time being out of your car actually makes sense is in the Stockpile game mode, one of four currently in the game. Stockpile lets you pick up gears from crashed drivers on foot. This shows some of the potential in this idea, but it’s still not very compelling. The same goes for the carjacking mechanic, which is very weighted against the driver having to move a control stick to escape, which quickly takes players out of their flow. You’re better off accepting defeat and trying to escape as soon as possible when this happens, as there’s always a constant stream of new cars – oddly, it’s never a big deal.

Aside from the aforementioned Stockpile, the game features a mode called Gridfall, a half-baked vehicle spin on Fall Guys’ Hex-A-Gon minigame. There’s also Mayhem, a more stoic demolition derby deathmatch, but easily the best of the bunch is Carnado. Players must rack up points by destroying others and then destroying their own car in a giant tornado to rack up the points. It’s fun, which is a good summary of this game’s scant appeal.

Destruction AllStars is a competitive game by nature, but it’s definitely easier to enjoy if you strip that aspect away and just focus on the fun. Its lack of instant intelligence takes away from any esports potential, as it simply can’t find a meaningful balance between competition and casual silliness. Focusing on the objective doesn’t feel like a tactical and rewarding way to play, it just leaves you feeling overwhelmed by the end of the round. If you’re in the mood to play, don’t worry too much about winning – just turn off your brainpower and start destroying the place.

Too many cooks

(Image credit: Sony)

“It can survive on the basis that it’s free and it’s one of the few PlayStation 5 exclusives on the market, but it won’t really hold your attention for long, especially if you’re looking for a game with substance that can be played regularly with friends.”

There are 16 characters in Destruction AllStars, and this is a classic case of too many cooks. The character designs themselves are fantastic: there's a rectangular-headed mailman dressed in shorts, a Tony the Tiger cosplayer, and a Russian influencer in a skeleton jumpsuit.

But the wildly diverse roster means that unique abilities are so spread out that none of them feel meaningful or designed to create a sense of balance. It's trying to be a hero shooter, but I don't really feel the difference between, say, the driver who can slice cars in half and the driver who rips them apart. Likewise, a handful of heroes have area-of-effect damage abilities that could be interchangeable.

But to be fair, it’s not clear how you’re supposed to know what specific ability killed you, or how to counter it, or what team compositions might counter certain enemies in combat. These are all competitive considerations when building a “hero shooter” roster that seem to have been overlooked in Destruction AllStars in favor of accessible frenetic demolition. It might work for some, but it’s going to be hard to get players to commit to something this shallow over the long term.

It can survive because it's free and it's one of the few PlayStation 5 exclusives on the market, but it won't really hold your attention for long, especially if you're looking for a game with substance that can be played regularly with friends. Adding microtransactions certainly doesn't help sell a bright future for Destruction AllStars either, especially when tied to unlockable challenge runs that reward players with uninspired palette swap cosmetics.

To destroy

(Image credit: Sony)

A distinct lack of nuance is the most obvious problem with Destruction AllStars. When the fundamentals start to feel stale, how is a free-to-play game like this going to keep an audience engaged, when your every action feels like a flash in the pan? There’s not much incentive to stick around for tactical gameplay potential, nor any incentive to communicate with your teammates. It may be another redemption story months down the road, but right now this chaotic hero is fun for a few hours, but quickly loses its admirable introductory luster.

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