Steam Next Fest: Nuke Zone is a beautiful riff on Battlezone Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Steam Next Fest: Nuke Zone is a beautiful riff on Battlezone Tron and on. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Published on 16 Jun 2021 Years ago there was a lovely rumour going around about Battlezone, the vector-based tank-'em-up that brought a fragile futuristic beauty to arcades everywhere. The rumour was pretty simple: see that volcano in the distance? You can go inside it. And then drive around and stuff. Honest. Nuke Zone Publisher: Blue Wizard Digital Developer: Blue Wizard Digital Platform: Played on PC Availability: Demo out now on Steam, game out TBC on PC Not honest, obviously. But the Battlezone rumour made total sense because this straight-ahead world of digital tanks and digital warfare was so bewitching in its sparseness, so fiercely writable. You saw the volcano and you wanted to believe you could get inside it. And then drive around! And stuff! Don't say and stuff. Anyway, Nuke Zone is here as part of Steam's Next Fest demo event. It's a tank game by Blue Wizard Digital, a company that has plenty of lovely Popcap DNA in it. And it's taking the vector disco aesthetic of Battlezone and the idea of digital tanks that rip into other digital tanks. And maybe it will bring a certain rumour back to life - in a new way. The demo feels lovely. You wander out into cyberspace with a laser on one mouse button and an EMP burst on the other. Enemies attack, both hovering around you and in turret form. It's all about strafing and then attacking, attacking and then managing weapon cooldowns. Enemies explode into lovely collectable doodads, and there's a simple pleasure to the game's environments. Palm trees! Tunnels! Mountains! You want to move ahead to see what's awaiting you. The full game promises levelling up and tweaking loadouts and mods and all of that stuff. But the demo has pleasures of its own. After a few minutes I emerged from a tunnel onto a wide plane with a magical emerald vector city rising in the distance. Man, I want to get to that city more than I ever wanted to get into that volcano. Will I be able to? Only time, and Nuke Zone, will tell. Give this one a spin. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 28 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 3 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store