Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers Review: Running On Fumes

Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers Review: Running On Fumes

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Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers: Roll My Ball

Announced in early March during Nintendo Direct, Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers went a little unnoticed in the Japanese giant’s stream of announcements. Although the franchise is in its third episode, it is clear that the echo of the anthropomorphic armadillo, at least in our countries, is close to the sidereal void. Therefore, this section is very timely to discover the very special universe of the license and its concept mixing action, racing and tower defense. By its difference, Vanpool's game may well surprise more than one.

Formerly, a cataclysm ravaged the planet, forcing the rare survivors to hide in town and in the surrounding villages. Over time, despite the ocher dust and the suffocating air, the population developed their businesses and adapted to this new life. In this apocalyptic world, a mix between the western and Mad Max, certain figures - like the mercenaries - emerged to defend the widow and the orphan. One of these protectors is Dillon, the armadillo. The latter, supported by his sidekick squirrel Noisette, is made of a metal frame allowing him to curl up and sink on his enemies. If this function reminds a certain hedgehog, the comparison stops there. Indeed, Dillon emits electric arcs that can power various devices and capable of destroying the vermin of the game, namely the Rokailloux. These massive creatures, which have nothing to do with Pokémon, come from space and spend their time invading the cities built by the inhabitants, their ultimate goal being to seize the cattle made up of Briochons, charming entities domestic workers. Your task, you will understand, is to make sure that they do not succeed.

MII-MOLETTE

Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers: Roll My Ball
It is in this ambient doldrums that your personalized Mii comes into play, in other words an Amiimal who will take care of all the tasks related to the defensive strategy. And for good reason, Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breaker is divided into two distinct phases. The first is to wander around town to recruit mercenaries, manage their inventory, get equipment and take stock of the strategy to adopt. The second, with Dillon, focuses on pure and hard action. Therefore, the player must first assess the situation and adapt his defenses to the different missions. Initially, this involves recruiting mercenaries. These warriors, who require a certain amount according to their level of experience, come to support you during the battles against the Rokailloux. So you have to aim right and choose the most suitable protagonist. All these mercenaries are Mii revisited in Amiimal. Also, if your console has a large list of Mii, you will be surprised to have family members, friends or even personalities (Reggie Fils-Aime, Shigeru Miyamoto, the late Satoru Iwata…) during the sequences of 'action. Obviously, the best armed (those with the plasma cannon for example) are the most expensive. Anyway, these are not too much to withstand the many waves of metamorphic monsters.

Between each fight, your Amiimal must go about his business in town. Your trips are limited to an avenue connecting the different buildings. The main hotel is the central place allowing you to access the Noisette garage or to recruit mercenaries, to shop with merchants, to obtain information via a certain Colombo, to perk up at the bar or even to go and feed the Briochons on a farm. Finally, leaving the imposing building, mini-games (virtual arcade, recycling point, batros-ball ...) are there to replenish the wallet while the stadium door gives access to ancillary races, too useful for earning some money. In Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers, finances are very important and you will soon find out.

A COMPLETELY TWO-BALL GAME!

Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers: Roll My Ball
With its action phases, Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers is likely to upset more than one. Each of the missions takes place in several sequences. Before starting combat, the player must position his units, in other words his mercenaries, on different sections of the map. If it is possible to do it automatically, it is more than advisable, especially after a certain time, to place your pawns manually. This done, it remains to reinforce the barricades of each power station (housing the Briochons which Rokailloux love). This is where good old Dillon comes in. Although mute, the bugger is very effective. By playing Dillon, the player can move freely in the decor and harvest - by sinking into barrels, cans, etc. - different resources to acquire herbriochons (increasing the population of Briochons in shelters) from turbo or even ore. This famous mineral is used as material for the barricades. Finally, and this is an action to be repeated several times during a fight, Dillon must power the power stations by making speak all his power in generators provided for this purpose. This is what allows mercenaries, stationed at power stations or towers, to continue to fire. And as we will see, the Rokailloux are particularly tough.

Once the preparations are in place, the enemies fall from the sky and attack. Of different forms, they approach more or less quickly the power stations and are in significant numbers. We must therefore ensure that we eliminate them all by scrutinizing the progress of the confrontation on the screen at the bottom of the laptop. At a glance, you have access to a map showing the movement of each unit, the range of each mercenary's fire or the positioning of each power plant. This may seem useless but we are quickly overtaken by the waves of Rokailloux, especially since the developers were very clever to lay a levelab design level based on ramps, bridges and springboards. And since Dillon is unable to jump, you might as well say that you will be going for miles! As for the fighting, it amounts to simple confrontations in sight in the third person in closed areas. We can certainly perform combos but it still comes down quite often to clubbing buttons. In this sense, the "chase" part - which takes place during the final phase of the confrontation - is more interesting because it is more dynamic and more strategic. Concretely, the camera is positioned behind Dillon and you have to rush on a road to join the group of enemies. To defeat them, you must then approach them and analyze their movements and shots to strike them on a flank. Once the victory is acquired, the scenario (far from crazy, but the dialogs are well written) advances and you can launch another mission. Obviously, the game offers its share of surprises, such as mine protection, equipment upgrades or mini-games. You can even borrow money from Colombo and then pay it back. Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers is quite amazingly rich.

ITN-FIGURE, ITN-GRAPES?

Beyond its content, Vanpool's game is also very solid visually and acoustically. Graphically, the title displays fairly large and detailed environments. We are certainly not in a very colorful world and certain textures are a bit weak but the impression of density (in interiors in particular) is well rendered. Too bad the decor is struggling to renew itself. The effects are also treated and the modeling is successful. Ok, Noisette has a bit of a stupid head but Dillon exudes class, all like the Amiimaux (an Amiimal, ammimaux). The soundtrack, for its part, is quite fun but no theme remains in mind once the game is off. It’s effective right now, dynamic at will and everything, but the melodies are not surprising.

A COMPLETELY TWO-BALL GAME!

Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers: Roll My Ball
With its action phases, Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers is likely to upset more than one. Each of the missions takes place in several sequences. Before starting combat, the player must position his units, in other words his mercenaries, on different sections of the map. If it is possible to do it automatically, it is more than advisable, especially after a certain time, to place your pawns manually. This done, it remains to reinforce the barricades of each power station (housing the Briochons which Rokailloux love). This is where good old Dillon comes in. Although mute, the bugger is very effective. By playing Dillon, the player can move freely in the decor and harvest - by sinking into barrels, cans, etc. - different resources to acquire herbriochons (increasing the population of Briochons in shelters) from turbo or even ore. This famous mineral is used as material for the barricades. Finally, and this is an action to be repeated several times during a fight, Dillon must power the power stations by making speak all his power in generators provided for this purpose. This is what allows mercenaries, stationed at power stations or towers, to continue to fire. And as we will see, the Rokailloux are particularly tough.

Once the preparations are in place, the enemies fall from the sky and attack. Of different forms, they approach more or less quickly the power stations and are in significant numbers. We must therefore ensure that we eliminate them all by scrutinizing the progress of the confrontation on the screen at the bottom of the laptop. At a glance, you have access to a map showing the movement of each unit, the range of each mercenary's fire or the positioning of each power plant. This may seem useless but we are quickly overtaken by the waves of Rokailloux, especially since the developers were very clever to lay a levelab design level based on ramps, bridges and springboards. And since Dillon is unable to jump, you might as well say that you will be going for miles! As for the fighting, it amounts to simple confrontations in sight in the third person in closed areas. We can certainly perform combos but it still comes down quite often to clubbing buttons. In this sense, the "chase" part - which takes place during the final phase of the confrontation - is more interesting because it is more dynamic and more strategic. Concretely, the camera is positioned behind Dillon and you have to rush on a road to join the group of enemies. To defeat them, you must then approach them and analyze their movements and shots to strike them on a flank. Once the victory is acquired, the scenario (far from crazy, but the dialogs are well written) advances and you can launch another mission. Obviously, the game offers its share of surprises, such as mine protection, equipment upgrades or mini-games. You can even borrow money from Colombo and then pay it back. Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers is quite amazingly rich.

ITN-FIGURE, ITN-GRAPES?

Beyond its content, Vanpool's game is also very solid visually and acoustically. Graphically, the title displays fairly large and detailed environments. We are certainly not in a very colorful world and certain textures are a bit weak but the impression of density (in interiors in particular) is well rendered. Too bad the decor is struggling to renew itself. The effects are also treated and the modeling is successful. Ok, Noisette has a bit of a stupid head but Dillon exudes class, all like the Amiimaux (an Amiimal, ammimaux). The soundtrack, for its part, is quite fun but no theme remains in mind once the game is off. It’s effective right now, dynamic at will and everything, but the melodies are not surprising.

With its unusual universe and slightly crossed concept, Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers is a good little game. Surprising in many respects, it unfortunately tends to run out of steam as hours go by. The action becomes repetitive and the lack of interest in combinations weighs quickly. Finally, and although the developers have tried to bring a little bit of renewal, we always do more or less the same thing after a certain stage.

The notes
+ Positive points
Universe and interesting characters
Recruiting mercenaries
Rather smart use of Miis
The action, race and tower defense cocktail
Very complete and good service life
Very correct realization

-Negative points
Too routine on the length
Repetitive decorations
Over-pronounced button hitting
The rough side of the adventure

Taking advantage of the legacy of the previous two episodes, Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers brings a few new features but is rough and repetitive. Despite everything, its atypical background and its concept may interest players curious to discover a different experience. Well done and very complete, the game - a little catch-all - however does not have the makings of the greatest but can enjoy the time of short sessions.

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hicham elaziz love games . apps and entertainment