Teardown is a new indie game where it’s possible to destroy almost an entire level by brandishing a flamethrower to torch a house, or simply running a car through a brick wall. Players will discover a series of levels designed to explode and crumble into a million voxels at a moment’s notice. However, Teardown is a heist game at its core, where even though it’s possible to smash apart an entire level, this might not be the best idea to progress.
In the new game from publisher/developer Tuxedo Labs, the player is a thief whose preferred methods don’t include the usual glass cutters and lock picks. Instead, their tools are a tugboat, a car, a shotgun, a flamethrower and other destructive objects. Subtlety is not on the table here; Teardown is about pure demolition.
To complete every level of the game, however, players will need to plan their demolition carefully. Players are given rather vague instructions to steal things often locked-down buildings inside of each massive level. There are no enemies, no other outside interference. Just a thief, their tools and many different possibilities. The environment is an obstacle.
Sometimes the player will be tasked with demolishing whole buildings, which is a treat, but often the objective to steal will be tied to various alarm systems. Once the alarms are tripped, players have about 60 seconds to grab what they can and get out. This is where the twist in the gameplay lies. When the timer runs out, security arrives and the level is over.
More often than not, Teardown levels also contain multiple objectives, so it is impossible to grab one item at a time and deliver it to the getaway vehicle. There are no Hitman style allowances here, where players can methodically complete one target at a time. Once the alarm trips, it’s go time.
The idea becomes not to destroy the entire level, but to use the destruction to find the quickest path to completing all objectives in the fastest manner. If it takes too long to enter a building and get to the second floor, players can blow a hole in ceiling and balance a pipe into the opening to access it immediately. If they need to get out of an area fast, they can ram a car through a building. The idea is that all of the destruction is done before anything is stolen. The level design and sandbox style gameplay allows for various pathways. This, in turn, allows the player to make their perfect heist route.
Most time in the levels is spent in thought, finding the perfect route, or trying to procure a boat, only to crash it into the nearby dock -- which destroys the boat and the dock alike. The gameplay experimentation is completely free and often hilarious when unforeseen destruction plays out. Moreover, once the planning is done and the route is precariously procured, the alarm is tripped. Then the gameplay becomes a mad-dash race to the finish, which is often simultaneously thrilling and funny.
Perhaps the getaway car that was to be used to smash through a wall goes careening off a bridge after clipping the stone wall next to it. Maybe a player falls through a hole in the floor after scaling the building using a drainpipe. Teardown's pairing of voxel-based environments and realistic physics makes for some interesting possibilities.
Teardown has been overwhelmingly praised for these gameplay concepts. In eliminating any combat or player interaction with other characters, Tuxedo Labs has succeeded in creating a game that is as fun as it is tense, and often hilarious on top of it all. Providing both a cerebral and light-hearted take on a fun genre, this game ensures players will be exploding and smashing through for days to come.