Lucid Games’ Destruction AllStars may seem simple on the surface with its destruction derby-style combat but there’s a lot going on. Though jumping into a few games will be enough to learn the ropes, let’s go over a few tips and tricks that can help you improve. First, it’s important to learn the controls and basics of the game. After the tutorials, head into a match with AI bots to familiarize yourself with the gameplay.
Each character has their own unique ability and Hero Vehicle. While we’d normally say to pick the one that fits your play-style best, some characters are clearly way better than others. Jian can use proximity mines on foot, which deal damage to both vehicles and other characters, and his vehicle Morningstar can sprout spikes to dish out pain and act as a strong defense. Hana, on the other hand, gains the ability to one hit kill characters on foot while her vehicle Sabre can create a blade that instantly kills cars upon ramming them.
Otherwise, every character has the same basic set of movement abilities. They can evade, wall-run, jump and melee. Upon using their Breaker ability on-foot, they can double-jump which is especially useful if a car is out of reach. Vehicles have two functions – side-swiping and slamming. Each has their own cooldown so you need to use them wisely (though ramming an opponent normally will still give points). Make use of the Circle button since it can act a handbrake when held down or for drifting when tapped.
Vehicles are divided into three categories – balanced vehicles that are fast and have decent health; agile vehicles that maneuver very well and are faster; and tanky cars that can have more health but are less maneuverable and fast. Of course, you won’t be sticking to a single vehicle while racing. One way or another, it’ll be wrecked and you’ll need to find another.
Most important is exiting a vehicle before it’s completely destroyed since your character will at last survive. Hitting X will eject you, which is good staying away from rival cars. While on foot, focus on evading other players and finding another vehicle quickly. You’ll want to collect Shards in the meantime since these go towards charging your Hero Vehicle and Breaker ability.
While dodging cars, you can also take them over (or wreck them). Check here for tips on taking over enemy vehicles. When selecting a new vehicle to commandeer, pay attention to what your opponents are driving. If there’s a mix of balanced and agile cars, consider getting a tankier vehicle for extra survivability. Also keep an eye out on the Double Points powerup since this will give an edge in your overall score.
It’s also worth noting that friendly fire is on by default. Be careful not to hurt your allies and avoid ramming into them whenever possible.
There are four modes to play in Destruction AllStars. Mayhem is a free for all that awards points based on wreckage, KOs, dodging, Takeovers and whatnot. Gridfall is also free for all but in an arena where the floor is constantly disappearing. With limited respawns, the player who survives last wins (but you can take out others for more respawns).
Carnado is where you’ll need to think more about objective play. You harvest gears by dealing damage and wrecking vehicles. Once collected, you drive to the center where a big tornado is in place. Drop the gear there to score points for your team. You can either gather some gears and drop them off, bit by bit, or attempt to bank up to 80. But if you lose those gears, you risk giving an advantage to the enemy team. Try to find a middle ground, perhaps depositing 20 to 25 gears at a time and remain consistent.
Stockpile involves gathering gears and depositing them to control three banks. It’s essentially like Hardpoint in Call of Duty, except the match ends when all three banks are captured. The team with the most banks also wins if the timer runs out. Interestingly enough, you need to wreck vehicles to get the gears and then leave your vehicle to acquire them. Quick transitions between vehicles and knowing how to evade others – while also taking over their cars – is paramount in this mode.
Destruction AllStars is currently free on PlayStation Plus for PS5. Check out our review for it here.
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