Army Men

Last updated
Army Men
Developer(s) The 3DO Company (1998–2003)
Global Star Software (2003–2007)
Twistbox Games (2008) (Mobile Ops)
Volcanic Force Studio (2017)
(Army Men Strike)
Publisher(s) The 3DO Company (1998–2003)
Global Star Software (2003–2007)
Connect2Media (2008) (Mobile Ops)
Volcanic Force Studio(2017)
(Army Men Strike)
Composer(s) Jason Tai ( Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 )
Barry Blum ( Army Men 2 , Sarge's Heroes , Toys in Space , Army Men 3D )
Brian Min ( Army Men: Air Tactics )
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Game Boy Color
PlayStation
Nintendo 64
PlayStation 2
Dreamcast
Game Boy Advance
GameCube
Xbox
Wii
Nintendo DS
Mobile
OS X
First release Army Men
1998
Latest releaseArmy Men Strike
2017
Spin-offs Portal Runner

Army Men is a series of video games developed by 3DO [1] and Global Star Software. It is based on various conflicts between four kinds of plastic army men, distinguished by their color: the Green, the Tan, the Blue, and the Grey. Two other factions, the Red and the Orange, as well as a much smaller army, the Black, also contribute to the story. Two additional factions, the Galactic Army and the Alien Army, were introduced in Army Men: Toys in Space .

Contents

History

Studio 3DO era

The idea of a strategy game using plastic army men arose from the developers' desire to avoid censorship issues with the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle ratings board when publishing the game in Germany. Chris Wilson, producer of the original Army Men, explained:

The Germans are extremely uptight about realistic violence, so Command & Conquer , for instance, changed all its units into robots and changed some of the cut scenes. But we didn't want to have to do two versions, and very early on in the design process we'd been planning things out with little plastic army men, so we suddenly realized that this was what everyone always likens a game like this to anyway! [2]

Army Men used cutscenes done in the style of Movietone News clips. [2]

Global Star era

Army Men: RTS was the last Army Men game to be released by The 3DO Company before they filed for chapter eleven bankruptcy. The major franchises were auctioned off, and Army Men was purchased by Crave Entertainment. [3]

In 2004, Global Star Software published Sarge's War. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions were completed by some members of the original Sarge's War development team from 3DO. Global Star then released Army Men: Major Malfunction for the Xbox and PlayStation 2, and planned a Nintendo DS version, which was not released. Both Major Malfunction and Soldiers of Misfortune were unfavorably received by critics. [4] [5] Army Men: Mobile Ops was released for mobile phones in 2010. The series is currently owned by 2K after buying out Global Star in 2007.

Other games

A fan made Army Men III was under development by Neotl Empire, but was cancelled and resulted in an open source release of the unfinished game in April 2018. [6] In December 2017, a licensed mobile game in the series was made by Volcano Force Studios under license from 2K Play under title Army Men: Strike [7] that incorporates characters from the Sarge's Heroes subseries.

Games

TitleRelease datePlatformsGenreNotes
Army Men 1998 Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Color Real-time tactics
Army Men II 1999Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Color Real-time tactics
Army Men 3D 1999 PlayStation Third-person shooter
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 1999 Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows Third-person shooter The first installment in the Sarge's Heroes subseries.
Army Men: Toys in Space 1999Microsoft Windows Real-time tactics
Army Men: Air Attack 1999PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Microsoft Windows Third-person shooter Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color versions are re-titled Army Men: Air Combat.
Army Men: World War 2000PlayStation, Microsoft Windows Third-person shooter (PS)
Real-time tactics (WIN)
The first installment in the World War subseries. Titled Army Men: Operation Meltdown in PAL regions.
Army Men: Air Tactics 2000Microsoft Windows Real-time tactics
Army Men: World War - Land, Sea, Air 2000PlayStation Third-person shooter The second installment in the World War subseries. Titled Army Men: Land, Sea, Air in PAL regions.
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 2000Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PlayStation, PlayStation 2 Third-person shooter
Army Men: Air Attack 2 2000PlayStation, PlayStation 2, GameCube Third-person shooter Titled Army Men: Air Attack - Blade's Revenge in PAL regions. GameCube version titled as Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions
Army Men: World War - Final Front 2001PlayStation Third-person shooter The third installment in the World War subseries. Titled Army Men: Lock 'N' Load in PAL regions.
Army Men: Green Rogue 2001PlayStation 2, PlayStation Shoot 'em up Titled Army Men: Omega Soldier in PAL regions for PlayStation.
Army Men Advance 2001 Game Boy Advance Top-down shooter
Portal Runner 2001PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color Platform Spin-off of Sarge's Heroes subseries.
Army Men: World War - Team Assault 2001PlayStation Third-person shooter The fourth and last installment in the World War series. Titled Army Men: Team Assault in PAL regions.
Army Men: Operation Green 2001Game Boy Advance Isometric shooter
Army Men: RTS 2002PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, GameCube Real-time strategy A 3D real time strategy game.
Army Men: Turf Wars 2002Game Boy Advance Isometric shooter
Army Men: Sarge's War 2004Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube Third-person shooter The third and last installment in the Sarge's Heroes subseries.
Army Men: Major Malfunction 2006Xbox, PlayStation 2 Third-person shooter
Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune 2008 Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2 Third-person shooter
Army Men: Mobile Ops 2010 Mobile Isometric shooter
Army Men Strike: Toy Wars2017 Mobile Real-time strategy Volcano Force Studios.

Reception

During its later years, the Army Men series was criticized by X-Play [8] and Seanbaby of EGM , [9] for the frequency and declining quality of each new title. The Official UK PlayStation Magazine awarded six games in the series a score of 3/10 or less. [10]

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<i>Portal Runner</i> 2001 video game

Portal Runner is a platform video game developed and published by The 3DO Company for PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Color.

<i>Army Men: Sarges War</i> 2004 video game

Army Men: Sarge's War is a third-person shooter video game developed by Tactical Development and published by Global Star Software for Microsoft Windows, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It was initially developed by series creator The 3DO Company but after that company's bankruptcy was purchased and completed by Global Star Software. Sarge's War is a third installment in Sarge's Heroes subseries. The game is more mature and darker than earlier games in the series. Sarge makes no comical moves, holes are blown into soldiers, and the weapons are also made of metal.

<i>Army Men: Sarges Heroes 2</i> 2000 video game

Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by The 3DO Company for Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PlayStation and PlayStation 2. The game is a direct sequel to Army Men: Sarge's Heroes. Unlike the previous game which was more dark in tone, this game has more of a lighthearted storyline.

<i>Army Men: RTS</i> 2002 video game

Army Men: RTS is a real-time strategy video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by The 3DO Company for PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows. The GameCube version was published by Global Star Software, and developed by Coyote Developments. The game follows Sarge and his Heroes in the Green Army, as they fight the Tan Army across a variety of battlefields, over the course of 15 Campaign missions, 8 Special Operations missions and, 8 Great Battles. The Special Operations missions are absent from the PC release. The game was the final Army Men game from The 3DO Company. The Greenies hit dirt paths, linoleum floors and carpets and weave through flower beds, strewn boxes and toy train sets to collect plastic and electricity to build snipers to clear the field from afar or amass an army that overwhelms the opposition. The plot is loosely based on the movie Apocalypse Now, as the team of Green commandos must hunt down a rogue and apparently insane colonel, Colonel Blintz.

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<i>Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune</i> 2008 video game

Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune is a third-person shooter video game developed by Big Blue Bubble and published by Zoo Games for Wii, Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2, becoming a Nintendo exclusive in Europe. It is the latest home console game in the Army Men series and the only one to be released on seventh-generation platforms. It is a major departure from prior games in the series in that players assume the role of Private Timmy Reynolds who plays with toy soldiers instead of the toy soldiers themselves, shrinking down to their size to participate in a war among them. The game includes 15 levels and a variety of weapons provided by the player.

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Army Men II is a real-time tactics video game developed and published by The 3DO Company for Microsoft Windows and Game Boy Color. The game differs from the first installment in that it has battles in both the "real world" and the "plastic world". It was also the first to introduce the concept of portals between the real world and their world, a topic that was expanded upon in later games.

<i>Army Men: Major Malfunction</i> 2006 video game

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<i>Army Men: Sarges Heroes</i> 1999 video game

Army Men: Sarge's Heroes is a third-person shooter video game and the fourth entry in The 3DO Company's Army Men series (1998–2003), which are based on the green plastic figures of the same name. Its Nintendo 64 and PlayStation versions were developed and published by The 3DO Company. The port for the Dreamcast was developed by Saffire and published by Midway Home Entertainment, while another for Microsoft Windows was published by GT Interactive. Excluding the 1999 North American release for the Nintendo 64 version, the game was released in 2000.

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<i>Army Men: Air Attack</i> 1999 video game

Army Men: Air Attack is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by The 3DO Company for PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color and Microsoft Windows. The game focuses on aerial combat and features the same protagonist, Cpt. William Blade. It is one of the first Army Men games to be powered by a 3D engine where terrain and units are rendered in real-time.

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References

  1. "Army Men Review - GameSpot.com". www.gamespot.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 "NG Alphas: Army Men". Next Generation . No. 23. Imagine Media. November 1996. pp. 161–2.
  3. "Slashdot".
  4. "Army Men: Major Malfunction for Xbox Reviews - Metacritic". metacritic.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  5. "Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune for DS Reviews - Metacritic". metacritic.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  6. Army Men III Now Open-Source! on the game's IndieDB page (April 30, 2018)
  7. "Army Men Strike: Toy Wars - Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
  8. Uzuki, Heero (2012-10-07). "Video Game Feature". G4tv.com. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
  9. "EGM's Uncensored Greatest Hits". Seanbaby.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
  10. A-Z ratings, Official UK PlayStation Magazine, Future Publishing issue 108, March 2004