In a nutshell:

A tank-based shoot ‘em up that looks nothing like the real thing, but sounds just as deafening.

What’s it good for?

Pretending you’re a camouflaged cog in a well-oiled war machine… and damaging every eardrum within listening range.

Judgement time…

Racing around in a tank and blowing stuff up? Every gamers dream. But not if you install Tank Ace 1944. It’s more war wounded than war hero.

The first warning signs rear their head within seconds of the game springing into life, with the most obnoxious ‘welcome’ sound we’ve ever heard. It’s incredibly loud, and when we first fired it up we thought war really had broken out.

Still, after persevering (and disabling the game’s hideous sound effects) we found even more disappointment inside.

Tasked with destroying enemy vehicles, playing this game is neither fun nor engaging, thanks mostly to the title’s poor control keys. Bad design means constant switching between ‘driving’ and ‘aiming’ modes. No mean feat when challenged by enemies to seem able to do both at once.

What’s more, without any crosshairs and a limited supply of ammunition, it’s tricky to survive longer than a couple of minutes.

Even worse, should you attempt to clear a level, you’ll need to contend with Tank Ace’s woefully inaccurate physics engine. Bizarrely, while aiming with the tank’s turret takes an age, driving can result in a 360 degree turn in seconds. Again, that’s something your AI opponents seem to master from the offset.

In all it’s a poor effort, and one that’s best avoided. Tank Ace’s only saving grace is its free demo. At least you’ll be able to try it for yourself, but remember: find somewhere private before loading it, and avoid aural embarrassment.