Army Men World War
Score: 73% ESRB: Teen Publisher: 3DO Developer: 3DO Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: I've played a few war games in my day, and if there is one thing I find very important is clean graphics, something Army Men World War didn't impress me with. My reasoning for this is because you need to decipher who and what you are shooting at, and I had problems with this throughout the game. I found myself to be shooting at trees early on, not knowing any better. Things were blocky, and I found that the graphics just weren't very clean at all. However, the sounds faired better than the graphics. Gunshots sounded better, along with the screams of death and explosions, all leading me to believe I was actually in the line of fire.
Gameplay: All right soldier, it's up to you and only you to help save the plastic world from the Tan enemy soldiers. You are a lone, green, plastic soldier, and you run around like any basic RTS game to single-handedly win the war for the good guys. Throughout your missions, it may be that you go on foot, as you dive and roll through enemy trenches and terrains. But in the cooler missions, you may get to drive around a jeep or tank, all while killing the bad guys, and becoming the hero at the same time. Army Men World War also brings together a complete arsenal of weapons, including machine guns, grenades, flamethrowers, and much, much more. And if you don't think you are ready for your mission to save the world, you can practice up at Boot camp, which allows you to learn all the moves your little guy will need to survive. There is also a two-player option on this where you take each other on in a "Plastic-on-Plastic" Capture the Flag match.
Difficulty: They say this game is for teens, but I must say that I found out the difficulty the hard way right off the start, as my boy got shot up immediately, without hesitation. There are the three levels of difficulty in Easy, Medium, and Hard, but it really comes down to strategy and placement. If you have ever played a war game before, you know you have to think at least three steps ahead before you make your next move. But once you get the hang of it, those little Tan punks won't know what hit 'em.
Game Mechanics: Army Men World War loads up quickly, and only takes up one memory card block: both good things. The most difficult thing you will find for this game is the tempo, and all the different buttons that do certain things. I found that turned me off from the game at the start. But once I regrouped, I was raring to go up against the forces of Tan. So if you are up for the challenge, get your butt out on the field and bring home the glory. Good luck, Private!
-Red Dawg, GameVortex Communications AKA Alex Redmann
NHL 2001 Madden NFL 2001