Army Men: World War - not to be confused with the PS1 game that has the exact same title and the exact same box art but is a completely different game - is the fourth PC game in the series coming after Toys in Space. On PlayStation, there are four different “Army Men: World War" games making it a sub-series of sorts, and they’re considered to be a separate timeline from Army Men 1, 2, and Toys in Space. I’m not sure if World War on PC is also a different timeline or if it takes place at the same time as the first game, but honestly, it doesn’t really matter; deep storylines have never been Army Men’s cup of tea. Unlike the other games in the series, there is not “protagonist;” you play as random Green soldiers. When the soldier you’re controlling dies, you move to control another soldier under your command. As you progress through the levels of the game, you gain more soldiers under your command that follow you from level to level. You can even have soldiers enter tanks that follow you to the next level. The lack of a protagonist means that there’s not as cohesive a story, but there is a story there, and while it’s not great, it’s okay and serves nicely as a narrative backdrop for the action. The game looks nice, too, although it is worth noting that the item icons aren’t quite the same as they were in Army Men II and Toys in Space. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about the visuals online, but I was pretty happy with the way the game looked. It did feel like it was rushed a bit more than II and Toys in Space but not to the point where it’s a true detriment to the game; there’s just a noticeable drop in polish. The story may suffer for lack of a single protagonist, but the level design is fantastic. The game opens with a D-Day style beach invasion against Tan defenses. The first level starts off fairly easy, naturally, to get you acclimated to the game, but it’s an awesome opening engagement. As the game progresses, you’ll have a variety of missions like destroying Tan artillery, blowing up a Tan tank depot, shutting down Tan AA guns to allow for air strikes, etc. The game’s first 14 levels culminate in the final mission in the Tan capital where you fight your way through the city and destroy their capitol building. That last mission is TOUGH. It’s not quite as tough as Toys in Space was in its last couple of missions, but you’d better have a large and strong force to make it through the Tan defenders and manage to destroy their capitol. The sound design is...fine. It’s not as good as Toys in Space, and it’s nowhere near as good as Army Men II, but at least it’s still leagues better than the first Army Men game. The weapon sound effects are solid, and music, while forgettable, is fine and fits the setting and tone of the game. There’s a random battle mode like with the previous games, and while I didn’t find it to be quite as good as Army Men II or Army Men: Toys in Space, it was still a lot of fun and can add some lasting power for those who give this game a download. Unfortunately, there’s an issue with modern computer mouses. I don’t know if it’s the lack of trackball or modern mouses are just too sensitive and it freaks out, but the cursor will get stuck now and then or jump around. It’s manageable, but it does get really obnoxious and make controlling the game take a little bit of practice. Army Men: World War may be a step down from Toys in Space and a decent drop from Army Men II, but it’s still a competent entry in the series and a fun game that’s absolutely worth playing. The music may be forgettable and the visuals so-so, but the missions and action are a ton of fun. If you just plan to play random battles instead of the campaign, I can’t really recommend World War when Toys in Space and II do the battle mode better. If you play the game for the campaigns, though, and like the series, that’s a different story. In that case, I absolutely recommend this game. Like the other old Army Men PC games, it’s dirt cheap on Steam and GOG, so give it a download and push back the fascist Tan advance into the liberty-loving Green Nation. My Rating - C |
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
May 2024
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