Teardown lets you loose in ridiculously destructible environments with impressive physics and a sizeable arsenal, all while performing remarkably well on PS5. It takes mere seconds in the directionless sandbox mode to get the appeal; watching these detailed destruction systems do their thing is immediately captivating.
For those requiring some structure to their anarchic antics, Teardown has a surprisingly meaty 40-mission campaign that spans nine maps, featuring massive mansions and yachts near island archipelagos. The locations are great, and the cheeky heist antics are amusing, but the objective variety is lacking — especially in the first half.
There’s some sky-high potential that’s only occasionally realised in the main story. A few too many bog-standard “grab all the things” missions only provide a challenge with the annoying prevalence of 60-second, instant-fail timers. Those time limits make missions consist of more setup than payoff, grinding the pace to a halt when all you want to do is flex your capacity for creative carnage.
The campaign’s second half gets better by sprinkling in new scenarios and maps to galavant around with an arsenal of destructive tools that gets bigger and better as you progress. Weapon unlocks and upgrades provide a persistent progression that makes powering through the campaign’s low points a little less frustrating.
Even after finishing the campaign and looking past the disappointing lack of multiplayer, there’s no shortage of content in Teardown to keep feeding your nascent desire to demolish everything. Mods are here in the form of curated content packs that include new maps, challenges, and tools to toy with at no additional cost. More mods and expansions are promised to come in the future, but there’s already a glut of stuff at launch and ample opportunities to engage in destruction-fuelled catharsis.
Blowing stuff up is fun, and Teardown gets that. Its varied voxel environments combine with nuanced physics and deformation systems to make levelling buildings, eviscerating vehicles, and orchestrating massive explosions a thrill. An inconsistent campaign and lack of multiplayer don’t keep it from setting a new standard for video game destruction.
