The publisher Playway, well known for publishing simulations of all kinds, offers PC players the opportunity to find and repair WWII tanks with Tank Mechanic Simulator.
The formula for success is well known since it is the same type of gameplay as Car Mechanic Simulator, another game from the publisher. There is no foolish racing car here, but an old, rusty tank that will often have to be pulled out of the mud.
The presentations
The game takes place in a hangar. You are an experienced restorer and own a museum. All the management of your work is done via a computer in the garage. With the latter, you get your contracts and order the parts needed for repairs. 90% of the game takes place indoors. The restoration process follows a very specific order. You receive, you remove the rust, sand the parts, apply an apret, then paint the parts in place. For missing or excessively damaged parts, it is often necessary to proceed with a disassembly and reassembly phase. Nothing too bad, the tools are available in the workshop, and everything is managed with the mouse.
Some contracts require going outside to get the gear out of the mud. A search phase takes place. You go to the scene with your military Jeep, equipped with a shovel and a metal detector. Once the wreckage has been located, a team will take over to bring the war remains to your establishment. It is not the phase of the game that will have me the most fun.
A page of our history
The missions are linked and the twenty vehicles represented in the game gives it a few hours of life before going around it. However, the mechanics in themselves are repetitive. Fans of the genre will find their account there. Tank Mechanic Simulator also offers a unique experience for history buffs. The tanks are from real models, and being seated inside one of them gives an atmosphere different from other simulations in the Playway editor.
Graphically, the Unity game engine brings a little touch of makeup to fairly simple 3D models and sometimes coarse textures. Tank Mechanic Simulator still has some youthful concerns like the assignment of the movement keys which remains on a Qwerty diagram on an Azerty keyboard. Nothing bad, we suspect that this type of problem will be quickly corrected. The game seems open to future DLC since the list of vehicles to restore leaves empty spaces (English tanks for example).
Finally Tank Mechanic Simulator is available on Steam at a price of 16,79 €, a price rather in line with the quality and the lifespan of the title.