Tanarus is an excellent,
squad-based online
multiplayer tank game. The purpose of the game is to progress in rank. You progress in rank by acquiring score which is done by killing your oponents and/or capturing their flag and refueling stations.
Short history
Tanarus was created by
Verant in 1996.
It then entered a
beta period for about 9 months. The game was first introduced with four tank types:
Lighting,
Devastator,
Chameleon and
Vanguard. Few months into the beta Verant introduced
Magrider.
In 1997 the game went commercial. Throughout this period $9.99 was charged for a month of game play. A "
shareware" version was also introduced: the players were limited to one tank configuration (
preset) and the shareware arenas.
Somewhere along the way Verant was bought by
Sony and added to their online commercial service "
The Station".
In late 2000 Sony decided to make the game completely open: it is now
free.
Tank types
I'm not going to go into heavy detail here - just general sort of information. You can find more at www.tanarus.com
As mentioned before there are five tank types. The major difference between tanks are
their
armor and
criticals (basically your life), their forward and reverse speed; the maximum angle of the
turret travel (both
vertically and
horizontaly) and the amount of equipment the tank can handle.
- Vanguard is the most versatile; a balance between speed, agility, armor and weapons. It has Mark IV Laser built in. Usually a backbone of a good team.
- Lightening is the fastest tank in the game. Comes with price though - it is very lightly armored and only has five equipment slots. As a bonus though, it carries a built in Rocket Launcher.
- Chameleon is arguably one of the coolest tanks. It's slow, it's small but it has a cloaking device and stealth built in - with no battery drain. Basically it's an invisible lurker. A knife-in-the-back sortof tank. Good team will have at least one of these to strike at the unexpecting prey. Often used for mining and sniping. Did I mention that is has a lancer built in?
- Devastator. The name gives it away. Devs are huge-ass tanks. Slow beyong belief and very limited in their turret travel they more then make up in other qualities. Such as armor and armament. They have twice the armor of Chameleons or Lightnings, in addition to having two times the equipment bays. Carry a nanorepairand a cannon prebuilt.
- Magrider was introduced a bit late after the start of the beta period. What distiguishes it from the other tanks is the fact that it levitates a few inches of the ground, which allows for strafing. It's not terribly great in terms of armor or firepower. It carries a dampner and and Mark II laser which makes is ideal for high altitude sniping. Not used very often lately though.
Equipment
As mentioned, tanks have equipment bays. Some more (like Devastator), some less. You can use a variety of equipment to enhance your game play and ruin your oponents.
Weapons
- Lasers - few different types, Mark I - Mark IV. Cause different amount of damage if coupled with Phase Multiplier.
- Canon - few different types of shells. Look below for more description.
- Lancer - an energy weapon which on discharge takes of 50 units (criticals or shields).
- Missiles - few different types. Look below for more info.
Cannon shells
- Frag shells are "general purpose" shells. Don't do too much damage.
- Heat shells are the same as frags, however they "weigh" over two times more then frags, and do twice the damage.
- Armor piercing shells as can be expected completely ignore the shields on the tank. Not very pleasant.
Missiles
- Guided missile is the most fun. Can be used while you're base sitting, or for precise strikes over great distances. Your tank is defenseless while you guide the missile.
- Phoenix missile same damage as the guided missile, this missile flies along a straight line.
- Deactivator missile does nothing if the tank is shielded. When not it immobilizes tank for a short while.
- Flash missile blinds your oponent for a short time. The effect is shorter if the tank is shielded.
- Battery drain missile draisn the battery of your oponent. Once again the effect is minimized if the enemy is shielded.
- Force missile applies large amount of force to the tank. If the tanks dies as the result of the missile (falls far enough) the kill is attributed to the person who sho the missile.
Mines
There are several types of mines:
- Proximity mines detonate when an enemy tank is within it's detection radius. They know friend from foe and will not explode if your teamies ride over them.
- Detonation mines will explode when you trigger. Can cause damange to teamies as well as yourself. Looks like a white blip on the radar.
- Deactivator mines don't cause any amount of damage. They simply drain your energy, so you're left helpless to be destroyed by the oponent.
- Mine sweeper is obviously not a mine. When triggered mine sweeper triggers all the proxy and deac mines within a certain radius, destroying them.
Other
There are loads of other usefull equipment:
Over all this game is exellent in my opinion. As this is a team-based game, your experience will vary wildly depending on the composition and the goals of your team. Enjoy.
Official site for Tanarus is www.tanarus.com