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A frustratingly annoying game, Army Men was only able to keep me entertained for almost an hour before I lost control and had to quit. Time and again I forced myself to retry a mission that kept ending in utter failure, only to be killed yet again. The game itself is a reminder of those two-player 3/4 view war games from the past, only instead of being a guerilla warrior or some military specialist, you are the plastic army man like what most kids have played with at one point or another in their lives. Along with being an army man (a sergeant at that), you get the options as you progress in the game to control squads of fellow plastic men, drive different types of army vehicles, and call in air support to help in those difficult situations. There are also different types of weapons you can play with, including a flame thrower (it is kinda fun watching the other guy melt). The game is laid out in stages, or missions, where you get orders to do something or be somewhere, almost always involving you shooting at the other army while they shoot at you. Once you complete the mission, a new one is given to you, and so on until the game ends. These missions get progressively harder the further you get, and increasingly annoying as well. In order to use a weapon (or air support or heal yourself), you must first find the 'crates' that contain it. These crates are scattered throughout the area you go through, yet you can't just pick them all up. There are three slots in which you can carry different things-the first is for your main weapon, your gun; the second is where you can use various other types of weapons such as the flame thrower or grenades; the last is for first aid. But if you are carrying grenades in the second slot and see a crate of a bazooka you really want, you first have to drop the grenades before you can pick up the bazooka. You can't carry both. The air support feature- which allows you to have an air strike wherever you want, paratroopers to come to your aid, or a recon squad to help you out- must also be found before it can be used. You must first get the crate that holds one of the three features (they don't all come in the same box) to use it, but you have to know when to use it. For example, when using air strike, you shouldn't use it when you are in the midst of combat with a tank or two right behind you (as I found out) because you have to tell the air strike where they are to hit, and if you are not fast enough, that tank behind you just might run you over. But tanks and other vehicles are at your disposal as well; if you can find them, that is. The problem with the vehicles is maneuvering around obstacles that you can't destroy. There were times when the tank I was driving through a town got stuck between buildings and I couldn't get it out, so I had to abandon it. There is also a problem of your own men getting in your way. I've accidentally run over some of my men who ran out in front of me at inopportune moments. There have also been times when my men would run in front of me when I was shooting the enemy, and also a time when a grenade thrower on my side blew me apart. Although the game may be fun for the first few minutes of playing it, it starts to get on your nerves soon after. The voices in the game soon get old, especially when you either pick up a crate or walk over it, unable to pick it up because you already have something in you slots. The scratchy voice of the guy giving you orders (as if you were receiving them through a walkie-talkie) irritates just as much. Another fault is that when there is a big battle and a lot of soldiers are dead, it's hard to tell the dead from the living. They all seem to blend in, especially when those still alive go into the prone position (lying down)…which is what I felt like doing after forcing myself to play for that hour. |
System Requirements Required: Recommended: Cons: - Monotonous game
play Pros: - Fun if you like
mindless fighting Conclusion: - Bypass this one unless you've got money to throw away
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