Also available on PlayStation and PlayStation 2 as Army Men: Air Attack 2 Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions continues 3DO's weird insistence on giving games different titles on different systems and, in this case, different regions. On PlayStation, this game is called Army Men: Air Attack 2. On PlayStation 2, it is also called Army Men: Air Attack 2, but only in North America; in Europe, it's called Army Men: Air Attack - Blade's Revenge. Here on Gamecube, it's called Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions. I don't know why they couldn't just pick a damn title and stick with it - at the very least, keep it consistent across regions for PS2 and just call it Air Combat 2 on Gamecube - but alas, here we are with a naming scheme that would put Nintendo's winners to shame. Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions is a direct sequel to Army Men: Air Combat. Before I play a game, I often browse other players' and critics' reviews to see what they liked and disliked so I can pay attention to that and see if I agree. One of the things I noticed when doing that here is that - unsurprisingly - IGN is an utterly worthless source of reviews because their reviewer clearly didn't even play the damn game. They talk about how this is "the Gamecube version" of Air Combat "on Nintendo 64." Uhh, no. No it's not. It's a sequel. Yeah, there are some similarities because 3DO was pumping these games out like Russia pumps out war crimes, but they're absolutely not the same game. Baron von Beige, the primary antagonist in this game, didn't even appear in Air Combat. Literally the opening cut scene introduces him. It's like calling Star Wars: The Phantom Menace an expanded remaster of Star Wars: A New Hope. It's just objectively wrong in every sense, and I'm honestly surprised even "6/10 too much water" IGN would have such an egregiously lazy reviewer on their payroll. Anyway, this is why I make a point to play through every game before I review it or at the bare minimum play a good ten or twenty hours at least - it ensures I actually know what the hell I'm talking about. Having established Green air superiority during the vents of Air Combat and Air Tactics, Tan dictator Plastro hatches a new plan to take the skies from the Green - ace pilot Baron von Beige, an obvious reference to Manfred von Richthofen, a World War I German fighter ace more commonly known as "The Red Baron" who was credited with 80 aerial kills. Baron von Beige is the only pilot who can match Captain Blade's skill in aerial dogfighting, although Beige flies a World War I style triplane. He also likely references Darth Vader from Star Wars as both are extremely skilled fighter pilots, both are shot down in the end of the movie/game, and both are (except for Vader's death scene) never seen or heard speaking without their masks. Regardless of whom he does or does not reference, Baron von Beige begins relentlessly attacking Green Army positions in an attempt to draw out Captain Blade. Blade, being a cocky Top Gun esque hot head, falls for the bait, and his entire squadron is shot down. Over the course of the game's 20 missions, you have to rescue your team (two or three times...), attack Tan factories and installations, and eventually confront Baron von Beige in a one-on-one dogfight (minus the infinitely spawning ground units that will attack you throughout the final battle). Visually, the chips fall about where you'd expect; PS1 looks the worst with Gamecube and PS2 looking pretty on par. I thought the Gamecube version looked just a hair better, but it felt like the PS2 version ran just a little smoother in some places. They're so close, though, that both of those could just be in my head. Props to the PS1 version, though; while it looks pretty rough compared to the two 6th gen versions and doesn't run as smoothly, it looks a lot better than I expected to. It seems like 3DO finally figured out how to use the PS1's hardware pretty well by this point. It still doesn't look as good as some of Sony's first party games or some of the major big budget third party games on the system, but for an Army Men game on PS1, I was impressed. Sound design is also pretty good here. Music is solid, sound effects are pretty great, and the voice acting is good...in the context of Army Men, anyway. It's still cheesy as hell, but that's part of the series's soul. The most important part - the gameplay - is also solid. I don't know if I had some settings messed up or what, but the controls felt a bit clunkier and more awkward than they should on PS2. It controlled as fine as you could expect with a D pad on PS1, and it felt amazing to play on Gamecube, but something about the controls on PS2 just felt a little off to me, and I never could quite put my finger on why. Regardless, though, even with the unexplainable awkwardness of the PS2 version's controls, it doesn't take too long to get used to. This really is a pretty smooth and comfortable aerial combat game. Army Men: Air Combat - the Elite Missions on Gamecube (or Army Men: Air Attack 2 if you're playing one of the PlayStation versions) is definitely one of the better games in the series. I'd personally put it at #4 - below Army Men II, Army Men: Sarge's Heroes, and Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2; but above Army Men: Air Combat/Air Attack. I strongly recommend playing the Gamecube version if you can - between the visuals and the controls, it's definitely the best version of the three. Failing that, go for PS2. If, somehow, you don't have a PS2, a Gamecube, or a Wii, then PS1 is still a good option. Despite being the obviously weakest of the three versions both mechanically and visually, it still plays surprisingly well and is absolutely worth playing if you don't have access to one of the two 6th gen versions. The game had some bugs I noticed towards the end, but nothing that prevent me from progressing or that I found particularly irritating. It's worth owning this game not only to have on your shelf with your other Army Men games but to play and replay occasionally; it really is a genuinely fun time. It's one of three Army Men games on Gamecube, one of seven Army Men games on PlayStation 2, and one of ten Army Men games on PlayStation. If you're collecting for any of those systems or for this series, make sure this one gets a spot on your shelf; it actually deserves one which is more than some of its compatriots can say. My Rating - B |
I'm a teacher.And I like to play video games. I like to collect video games. I like to talk about video games, and I like to write about video games. During the day, I teach high school history; during the night, I spend my spare time gaming. Then I write about it. Archives
June 2024
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