Tank Hurricane

In Brief

A Q Basic Gorillas like 2D game (originally bundled free with DOS 5.0).

The Game:

In Tank Hurricane you fight against the AI. Firing shells at the enemey tanks. They are sheltered by hills and mountains, so you have to work out the trajectory of your shells by moving the turret to the left or right. When shells hit the ground they destroy the ground. The game reminds me of the Worms franchise (Worms Blast, Worms Armageddon, Worms Clan Wars, Worms Ultimate Mayhem etc), which have a similar damage mechanic, however the Worms games have more weaponry and have a more varied game play experience.

Packages fly overhead on balloons. Try knocking these down to gain shields and health packs. Above your tank you'll see a damage indicator that tells you how healthy your tank is.

The game also includes a local multiplayer, ''player vs player'' mode using the same computer.

A and D move the tank left or right, E fires your artillery, W and E allow you to aim and space allows you to fly. You'll find the terrain too steep to move along the ground very far, so using the ability to fly helps to move around. The AI is pretty good at getting their aim right, so you need to keep on your toes.

I have a freeware 3D version of this type of artillery game called Scorched 3D; where the destructible environments are procedurally generated for each level. It's a far superior game with the ability to configuring the game for a large selection of missile types and defensive strategies as well as AI or real life enemies' it also includes a built in server program, so you can create your own server to play with others online.. It has been updated by the developer for over a decade from 2004 until recently. If you like this Tank Hurricane 2D version, you'll love the 3D one as it has far more playability as well as a massive selection of weird and wonderful weaponry to use against your opponents. The link includes a video of game play and download link. . I remember playing a DOS based game that was shipped with DOS 5 called Q Basic Gorillas, where you had to try and hit another Gorilla with a banana, with skyscrapers in between you, so you had to calculate the trajectory and try to hit the gorilla before he hit you. It had the same mechanic as today's game with the bananas exploding and destroying parts of the environment.

You can see a video of Tank Hurricane game play via Steam HERE, though today's giveaway is a free standing version and not a Steam version.