Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Auto Destruct delivers a refreshing take on vehicular combat by moving away from the typical arena face-offs found in titles like Destruction Derby and Twisted Metal. Instead of battling multiple opponents in a closed ring, you progress through 25 mission-based levels, each with its own objective. From high-speed search-and-destroy runs through abandoned industrial zones to nerve-wracking escort duties on winding desert highways, the variety keeps you on your toes and prevents the combat from growing stale.

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Your primary tool is a fully armed, customizable vehicle outfitted with rockets, machine guns, and deployable mines. As you earn credits from mission completions, you unlock performance upgrades such as enhanced armor plating, turbo boosts, and targeting enhancements. The balance between speed, firepower, and defense encourages you to tailor your ride to your playstyle—turning you into either a nimble hit-and-run specialist or a heavily armored juggernaut capable of withstanding sustained fire.

Controls are tight and responsive, making steering through tight corners while maintaining accurate fire surprisingly intuitive. Enemy AI varies from reckless cult followers who charge head-long into ambushes to more strategic units that flank your vehicle and lay traps. While some missions do see a steep difficulty spike—particularly defense scenarios where you must hold your ground against waves of attackers—these challenges feel earned and rarely dip into frustration if you spend some time upgrading your car.

Graphics

Visually, Auto Destruct strikes a solid balance between gritty realism and over-the-top explosion effects. Each environment, whether it’s an urban wasteland bathed in neon or a dusty outback stretch, feels distinct and lived-in. The attention to detail in rusted metal girders, weathered cargo containers, and crumbling roadblocks helps immerse you in a dystopian world where survival often depends on how well your ride is outfitted.

Vehicle models show off customization choices clearly: swap out your hood, add reinforced bumpers, or slap on a new paint job, and you’ll see the changes reflected in real time. Explosions trigger satisfying particle effects and shake the screen just enough to convey the power of your weapons without veering into excessive camera rumble. Dynamic lighting and dust trails as you race across open terrain further enhance the sensory feedback.

Performance is stable on modern hardware, hovering around a smooth 60 frames per second with minimal load times between missions. Occasionally, you may notice a pop-in of distant scenery or enemies in open-world transit sections, but these moments are fleeting and don’t detract significantly from the overall visual polish. For fans of vehicular mayhem, the spectacle of fiery collisions and shattered glass is sure to impress.

Story

Auto Destruct’s narrative centers on a personal vendetta turned global crusade. After your family is brutally murdered by a shadowy cult, you’re recruited by an underground resistance determined to eradicate the threat. This emotional hook provides genuine motivation for the game’s carnage, giving each mission weight beyond mere destruction.

Story progression unfolds through a mix of in-engine cutscenes and briefing sequences that effectively blend voice-acted dialogue with animated storyboard panels. While some lines skirt the edge of melodrama, the performances are generally solid, lending credibility to characters who might otherwise feel like stock heroes and villains. You’ll meet fellow drivers, resistance leaders, and cult lieutenants, each contributing to a growing sense of conspiracy and betrayal.

The pacing of the narrative mirrors the gameplay structure: after every few missions, you peel back another layer of the cult’s operations, uncovering secret bases, coded transmissions, and unexpected allies. Although the overarching plot dips into familiar tropes—shadowy conspiracies, last-minute betrayals, and epic showdowns—it remains compelling enough to push you toward the next mission and see how the conflict resolves.

Overall Experience

Combining tight vehicle combat, varied mission design, and a story that gives purpose to the carnage, Auto Destruct stands out in the crowded car-combat genre. By eschewing arena battles in favor of structured objectives, it keeps the action feeling fresh and encourages strategic planning rather than mindless collisions. Each mission feels like a new puzzle to solve with steel and fire.

There are occasional hiccups—difficulty spikes in defense missions, minor graphical pop-ins, or brief moments of repetitive enemy tactics—but these are outweighed by the thrill of customizing your vehicle and mowing down cult strongholds. The upgrade system offers meaningful progression, and the sprawling mission types ensure you rarely find yourself running the same scenario twice.

For players who crave explosive vehicular action wrapped in a mission-driven package, Auto Destruct is a must-try. It’s ideal for fans of aggressive racing combat and those who prefer a bit of narrative backbone to their destruction. Strap in, push the pedal to the metal, and prepare for a high-octane ride that delivers both spectacle and substance.

Retro Replay Score

7.1/10