In video games, when you’re in a tank, you can often feel invincible. Shells bounce harmlessly off your armour as you hurl massive munitions across the battlefield. But when you’re on foot – or fleeing in a much flimsier vehicle – the sight of a tank turret swinging in your direction is enough to make you mash every possible evade button in a panic. Whether tanks are on your side or the enemy’s, they instantly raise the stakes. Here are some of the best missions that prove just how game-changing tanks can be.
Ramping up the Intensity
When you’re in the middle of an intricate, difficult, or high-stress mission, the last thing that you want to see is a tank out of nowhere. Well, that’s exactly how the Paleto Score heist plays out in GTA V. Heists were, by far, one of the most exciting features of the base game, and eventually heists arrived on the online version. What made them so exciting is that they follow the same tried-and-true formula that has made heists a staple in movies, shows, and even other games across genres.
It’s a classic setup: get in, grab the cash, and get out. You’ll find the same concept in entertainment far beyond action games – even in online slots. When you play classic slots at online casinos, you’ll see the hit game Break da Bank, which is all about a bank heist. You get in, spin the reels, and aim to hit the right combination to bust open the safe to play the feature. In the feature, there’s the shot at taking the big score. Of course, in GTA V, the stakes get upped even further.
In the Paleto Score, you’ve got to win a shootout in the street, hop on the getaway Dozer, and with your crewmates in the bucket, quickly dodge a bunch of tanks that emerge from the sidelines to stop your heist. In a more expected, but certainly not less unsettling play, seeing the tanks crawl into view on the classic Call of Duty: World at War mission Hard Landing is one of the most daunting moments in the series, and just as you’d finally made it to the airfield.
Feeling the Power of the Tank
By far, the most impressive advancement of tanks deployed to the battlefield in World War II was the Tiger Tank. The relentless weapon would shrug off heavy artillery and, by all accounts, usually run out of ammunition, taking down enemy tanks before going out of action. In the Battlefield V update Overture, The Last Tiger has you and your crew roll onto the field in one of these tanks.
On a very different note, Halo II’s Metropolis mission drops you into a tank on Earth, inching across a vulnerable bridge as enemy forces rain down from above. While you’re armed with a powerful cannon, the tank’s sluggish movement forces you to make every shot count. The backdrop – a burning city skyline – adds a sense of urgency and scale that heightens the pressure.
Tanks always make an impact in games. Whether they’re looming threats or unstoppable tools of destruction, their presence instantly shifts the tone. Developers used tanks in these missions not just as gameplay mechanics, but as storytelling devices.
