If the holidays have you stressed out, tired, and in a massive need to destroy something, Teardown might just be the relaxer you need. Put together by Tuxedo Labs, Teardown is a single player game focused on, much like its namesake, destroying the environment around you in unique ways. The game recently released on PS5 and Xbox on Nov. 15, surpassing 2.5 million players across PC, PS5, and Xbox.
Don’t be fooled however, as Teardown goes beyond a simple destruction sandbox. The game offers players 40+ levels in a campaign where as the main proprietor of Löckelle Teardown Services, you are challenged to do odd jobs for a variety of characters to make ends meet. From stealing cars to hacking satellites, Teardown gives you everything you need to live out your high-intensity heist dreams.
Much of the games’ replayability comes from the imposed time challenges across a collection of maps. Generally it revolves around a number of key targets to hit on a given level, which requires players to carefully plan out their route in order to hit them all and escape in under 60 seconds. Players can also unlock new tools such as planks for temporary bridges, blowtorches to melt door locks, and good old fashioned rocket launchers to clear a path.
Image courtesy of Tuxedo Labs.
The console versions of the game boasts quite a lot of features cultivated from the game’s years of development and early access on PC. Teardown on consoles provides not only the campaign, but a sandbox mode, challenge mode, creative mode, mods, and numerous accessibility features. The Ultimate Edition of the game includes the Art Vandals and Time Campers DLC packs, with three more DLC packs on the way in 2024.
The Art Vandals and Time Campers packs offer a bit of a changeup in some of the key gameplay and their own fun campaigns, but overall the gameplay aspect remains the same. The way that the challenges are molded to suit the newer characters and surroundings is pretty entertaining. The additional modes and features offer some nice quality of life enhancements, which appears to be a benefit from the amount of time the game remained in active development on PC.
The art style is chock full of voxels, which gives it a distinct Minecraft-esque look and feel. Cranked up to performance mode however, and the game runs surprisingly smooth at 120hz. The haptic controls are a nice touch on the Playstation 5 version, with various impacts of footsteps or explosions, as well as trigger sensitivity, shown off with the Dualsense controller. Given all the destruction happening in the game, there were no noticeable dips in performance, merely a moderate stutter when quick saving during a level.
Teardown is a surprisingly addictive game with a unique spin on sandbox destruction. The campaign mode with its chuckle-worthy writing provides great guardrails for players to dive in. Once familiar with the challenges, players are given a plethora of modes and tools to continue to find fun in the game long after completing the main story. The levels and objectives of the campaign vary just enough to keep things fresh, while still maintaining a decent amount of difficulty.
Teardown is a surprisingly fun foray into sandbox destruction, with loads of replayability. It’s certainly not the first video game that allows players to pull off heists, but after driving a car into a building, blasting through walls, nabbing loot, and finally smashing through a third-story window to land perfectly in a getaway car in under 60 seconds, it offers an unparalleled sense of satisfaction.
Teardown final score: 4/5 stars
Teardown is currently available on Steam, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The standard edition costs $29.99 (USD), while the Ultimate Edition costs $49.99. The standard edition is also currently available to Playstation Plus Extra and Premium/Deluxe subscribers.
