SMASHING STUFF

Tearing down TEARDOWN's voxelated worlds never gets old

- Nat Clayton

It would be so, so easy to write off Teardown as just a tech demo. A simple framework of maps, tools, and missions built to show off developer Dennis Gustaffson’s incredible voxel destruction technology. But over its 18-month stretch in Early Access, Teardown has proven itself not only a stunning display of technical prowess, but also a bloody good little heist-’em-up, and the most creative sandbox platform since Garry’s Mod.

Teardown is, first and foremost, all about that destruction. It’s a game of wooden shacks, concrete walls, metal catwalks, and plaster corridors – all of which respond appropriately to being wailed on with a sledgehammer. Despite its blocky appearance, Teardown’s worlds break in wonderfully convincing ways. Metal pipes bend when supports are removed, while plaster walls chip away to expose sturdier brickwork, kicking up dust as they crumble.

Teardown’s genius, however, is in how it brings method to this madness. The game’s campaign tasks you with a series of destructive heists to pull off with a limited set of tools. You have unlimited hammer swings, sure, but that won’t get you through brick walls – and while you’ll slowly unlock an array of blowtorches, shotguns, bombs, and rocket launchers, their uses are limited.

Early missions see you using these tools to carve a route through an empty map, speedrunning that course to collect valuables before the alarm timer hits zero. It’s a very simple kind of mission, but wonderfully satisfying in how it forces you to consider your carnage.