SAND LAND Review

Airs of Mad Max spring to mind when peering at Sand Land‘s swathes of arid desert, wafting with the stench of nefarious factions of thugs and weary friendly settlements that don’t take kindly to a group of newcomers, especially one of those newcomers is a fiery devil boy named after hell’s notorious demon Beelzebub. The cross between anime and the post-apocalypse is intriguing, but does Sand Land make you want to sunbathe in the hot stuff, or will it make you sunburnt and dehydrated?  

Sand Land takes place in the intense heat of the desert, so it would seem apropos that your central quest to locate a Legendary Spring to replenish the land with good ol’ H2O right? Beelzebub and his charge aren’t only after the majestic drink, but they’re trying to repel a dastardly army and conquer its king. 

The straightforwardness of Sand Land‘s plot belies a more intricate underbelly thanks to the relationship that exists between human and demon. For instance, some citizens will react timidly to the presence of Beelzebub because he’s a miniaturized Satan, and although he possesses great demonic powers, he still behaves like a pouty little 10 year-old brat with his arrogant retorts and the general attitude of a spoilt little boy. Whereas his entourage tend to handle matters with rationality, Beelzebub is impatient and exaggerative by comparison. Still, this devil child can kick some kiester when the time calls for it, which is all that matters. 

The vast desert expanse of Sand Land is rife with bands of bandits, malicious monsters and mechanical menaces like mechs and tanks, usually grouped together in marble-sized pockets strewn throughout these barren lands. Dainty civilizations prove to be the remaining vestiges of a land deprived of water, and some of them are skeptical of outsiders thanks to the glut of thieves and bandits causing trouble for them. Sand Land might be a dust bowl, but its little civilizations are welcome respites from the dangerous outskirts, though design-wise there’s a little to be desired. 

You can’t expect a large expanse of sand and rocks to be pretty on the eye, and although seeing gushes of wind sweeping across will remind you you’re playing on a current-gen system, the giant desert rolled out before you is peppered with pop-in and populated minimally with groups of dragon, pterodactyl-looking menaces and mechs. You may find the odd NPC who needs saving from attacks by these savages, and you might find a friendly holed up in a safe haven who may offer you a quest, but the wilds are otherwise barren and sometimes difficult to navigate.

Activity in the settlement is sparse as well, meaning you’re usually gearing up at local merchants and gathering up resources you need to design a battle bot for instance. However, there is a feeling of disconnect between you and the places you visit. Beelzebub maybe a devil spawn, but c’mon he’s not going to hurt the innocent he’ll just pout and be a momentary discomfort at worst.

The problem Sand Land stumbles into is it can become too routine for its own good, especially when you’ve obtained the badass tank that can explode critters and cronies with the efficiency of firing a cannonball at a wedding cake. Without a doubt, the tank is the reason Sand Land stands out beyond anything else because it’s a pleasure to wreck about in.

Roving about on the battlefield with a gas-guzzling tank is empowering, as there’s a decent sense of weight and heft to their movement and weaponry. Concussive bursts of canon fire feel visceral and the turret fire will make enemies dance around defensively but helplessly if they’re on their own two feet. You’ll meet your match with bigger bots and mechs, but as long as you aren’t careless, you’ll lay waste to them and pick up their scrappy left-behinds afterwards. 

With such a focus on hectic action and open-world navigation, it’s vital for games of Sand Land‘s ilk to be as easy and accessible as possible. This comes across delightfully with the game’s intuitiveness when it comes to menu navigation. A quick-select menu grants you access to your inventory items and vehicles, which is standard fare for these types of games, but you can zip to what you need quickly by using the Xbox triggers and bumpers that throw up radial menus to find what you want at a moment’s notice, whether it’s healing items or the vehicle you want to summon. Oddly, Beelzebub keeps his tanks in a ball that he throws to unleash them like they were Pokémon. 

Likewise, there’s an easy-going flow to Sand Land whether it’s the swift and furious hand-to-hand scraps or how the structure of Sand Land‘s missions prioritize a streamlined and accessible approach, it’s easy to find your groove in Sand Land without needing to learn complex combos or a complicated range of skills.

There are a bunch of upgrades and abilities for Beelzebub and his teammates to utilize. Beelzebub’s offensive repertoire can ensure bouts of fisticuffs with his foes are advantageous, allowing you to bamboozle your enemies with longer combos, boost your powerful flurries, and reinforces your defensive capabilities.

Rao, Thief and Ann each possess their own skill trees that serve their own bespoke abilities, which you can switch between in the upgrades menu at your leisure and assign level-up skill points whenever you obtain them. 

For instance, Rao is great at diverting the attention of the swarm of enemies away from Beelzebub, using his tank to create loud and explosive situations to give his Satanic teammate support when needed. 

Thief hasn’t got a proper name, his skill is his identity, and he’s quite the filcher of treasure, but his old-man wisdom comes in handy because a miniature devil child could seriously use some smarts. However, for all his knowledge and experience Thief can only steal things. Yes Thief is his name, but his purpose isn’t particularly interesting when the other members of the group have access to skills that prove more useful on the battlefield.

Rounding out the crew is Ann, and she might seem like should be as much trouble as Beelzebub due to her age, but she’s useful because she can fix equipment and she helps to build Beelzebub’s ensemble of vehicles. Her strong will and desire for justice is admirable, and a worthy ally.  Her upgrades are geared towards replenishing vehicle health and fuel saving, so if you value the wellbeing of your motors, her range of abilities are well-worth developing.

Mission variety has some decent dexterity, with stealth missions like scuttling through a military base making sure guards don’t spot you as they rove the grounds in a procedural loop. There is some irksome platforming as you  may find yourself jumping between trailers, but the simplicity and ease of these make them a synch most of the time. 

 Some assignments require you to bombard hidden bases and wipe out imposing bosses, which aren’t too much of a fuss if you keep a heavy assault going, and you switch between spitting turret bullets and pulverizing cannon shells when the time calls for it-usually when your canon needs a recharge, you’ll be able to respond efficiently with stammering bullet sprays.

While there’s a lot of easy and straightforward missions and objectives in Sand Land with a nice dab of variety, there’s this continuing sense that it’s still looking for a drink of substance. For all its efforts it can feel relatively run-of-the mill. Sure it’s saved by how awesome tank battles can be, and the buttery accessibility it prides itself with, but it can often lose itself in a routine that it can’t break out of, which can be forgiven of course, but it’ll likely grow tiring far before you reach the end. 

Conclusion

If you’re thirsty for a cool anime open-world adventure based on a new TV show, Sand Land is a really cool offering. Beelzebub and his crew are a diverse set of personalities, the tank battles are pleasing, and the plethora of upgrade abilities and accessibility features means Sand Land is worth digging into. These Sand Lands can be too empty, the sense of open-world repetition seeps in all too soon, and navigating that open-world can be troublesome, but Sand Land is otherwise an unexpected oasis in the desert that’s worth necking back and savouring while it lasts.