Originally announced as a PlayStation 5 launch title, Destruction AllStars failed to gather the necessary hype required in order to justify its price tag, and as a result, Sony made the decision to delay the release of the game. Rather than release at full-price, Destruction AllStars will now be released as a free PlayStation Plus game in February on PS5 similar to Bugsnax, Worms Rumble, and Maneater before it.
Less than a month from the release of Destruction AllStars, while PS Plus guarantees more players than it would have gotten as a full-priced PS5 launch game, many may not even know what the game is. Surrounded by bigger games like Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Demon's Souls, Cyberpunk 2077, and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, marketing for Destruction AllStars has been minimal and did little to explain what players would actually be doing. Like Dreams and Bugsnax, some games are difficult to explain without going hands-on, but here's everything fans need to know about Destruction AllStars ahead of its launch.
What is Destruction AllStars?
Developed by British studio Lucid Games, best known for co-developing Need for Speed Payback and porting Goat Simulator to consoles, Destruction AllStars is described as a "global sports entertainment event where stars and cars collide." Featuring online play and a fully-fledged single-player mode, players take control of one of sixteen different hero characters known as 'AllStars' and compete in matches to unlock new rewards and win the Global Destruction Federation Championship.
Destruction AllStars Heroes & Vehicles
Whether playing solo or with friends, at the beginning of a match player's will choose their hero characters and rush to claim their vehicle of choice in the arena. Destruction AllStars features sixteen unique hero characters, each with their own abilities, as well as twenty-eight different carefully crafted basic vehicles to choose from. Causing enough mayhem in a match through driving into other players or landing a well-timed 'slam' attack will let players call into their own unique set of wheels - signature hero vehicles that are unique to each AllStar and have their own set of special abilities. Only these have been revealed so far:
- Sabre (Hana’s Vehicle) – Deploy a blade along the length of the vehicle and slice opponents in half.
- The Undisputed (Ultimo’s Vehicle) – Activate an immense shield and become an unstoppable force in the arena.
- Callisto (Genesis’ Vehicle) – Ignite rocket boosters for a burst of speed, causing massive damage to your opponents.
- Mr Sparkles (Tw!nlkeR1ot’s Vehicle) – Enter Rampage as you hit harder with every Slam.
Destruction AllStars Character Abilities
As mentioned, Destruction AllStars has sixteen unique AllStar heroes and each AllStar has unique abilities that range from going invisible to being able to hijack an opponent's vehicle. While players might want to go straight for a vehicle, it's entirely plausible to go about on foot by using a combination of parkour maneuvering (jump, climb, grab and vault) and abilities. So far, a handful of these abilities have been revealed:
- Shyft – Uses cloaking technology to go invisible and take over vehicles before his opponents notice.
- Ultimo Barricado – Become invulnerable to incoming attacks, from vehicles and characters.
- Lupita – Drops trails of fire that causes burning damage to vehicle and KO characters.
- Boxtop – Spawns parcels that buff teammates and deal explosive damage enemies.
Destruction AllStars Game Modes
Ahead of the game's upcoming launch, Lucid Games Community Manager George Rule discussed some of the modes available in Destruction AllStars. At launch, Destruction AllStars will have six modes available that can be played either solo, in online multiplayer with friends, or against AI. It's worth mentioning that this is merely a glimpse of what will be available next month as Lucid Games has promised plenty of new modes and features post-launch, free to all players.
Destruction AllStars' launch game modes include Mayhem (Team Deathmatch), Carnado (the more vehicles wrecked, the poins earner), Stockpile (wreck vehicles to collect gears and store them in one of three banks), Gridfall (be the last AllStar standing as the arena slowly falls away), Training (complete the tutorial and practice with any of the 16 AllStars), and Challenge Series (a curated series of challenging events against the AI).
Destruction AllStars PS Plus Release Explained
Originally planned as a PlayStation 5 launch title, Destruction AllStars will debut on PS Plus in February, exclusively on PS5, and be available as part of the subscription service for two months. Right now, neither the game's standard edition nor deluxe edition is available for preorder on the PlayStation Store. Destruction AllStars will be free to all PS Plus subscribers throughout February and March, and then available for purchase starting April 2021 just like with Bugsnax earlier in the year.
Should You Play Destruction AllStars?
Ahead of launch, Sony struggled to sell players on why they should buy Destruction AllStars over Spider-Man: Miles Morales or Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Luckily, it managed to read the tea leaves before it was too late. Being made available for free on PS Plus for two whole months is the best outcome possible for players and for Destruction AllStars, and there's absolutely no reason not to pick it up and give the game a go, even if it's just added to the backlog for another day.
Destruction AllStars will be free on PS Plus in February 2021, exclusively for PS5.