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Army Men Air Tactics
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Graphics & Sound:
The graphics of 3DO's latest installment in the series, Army Men: Air Tactics, are adequate for the style of game, but nothing more. With only 256 on-screen colors being used (I'm 99.9% sure), graphics are less than a lot of gamers may be used to, but still, they are pretty smooth. But for those who have played games in the RTS (Real Time Strategy) genre, you will feel right at home with the 2.5D overhead layout of the game. In what the graphics lack, however, AM:AT definitely makes up for in sound. You will hear the explosions and gunfire, as well as the helicopter's blade rapidly rotating, all in an impressive fashion. In fact, I was almost blown away at first launch!
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Gameplay:
In Army Men: Air Tactics, you are out to complete mini-missions to destroy enemy bases, protect your moving army, and rescue your men from enemy clutches. To complete these missions, you must pilot your little green helicopter through 20+ areas in 10 unique worlds...both outdoors and indoors. You also will have to infiltrate enemy lines and drop off your infantry to help in your battle against the tan. There are also 3 styles of multiplayer action. I had a chance to play one-on-one with someone on
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Difficulty:
Army Men: Air Tactics has three levels of difficulty in single-player mode. Playing the middle difficulty is plenty hard for me, though. While it is hard enough to avoid enemy fire, the added difficulty of flying/shooting insects makes for a miniature nightmare. But fear not, for in each level, you will be able to save whenever you want. Just don't overwrite your previous save without being 100% confident that you won't die right away, or you will have to restart the level from scratch (oops, me!).
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Game Mechanics:
Using a combination of the mouse and keyboard, controlling your 'copter is a bit tricky at first, but learn quickly Greeny, or perish in a blaze of...melted plastic! While this game is highly addictive, I was at the same time frustrated with the sometimes-choppy action (especially with cut-scene movies). The problem must lie in my DVD-ROM (12x read CD), though, so you may not experience the same problems. The other thing I was disappointed with is that I was unable to use my USB gamepad. The in-game configuration menu allowed for joystick button use, but not the D-Pad itself. With that aside, I think that Army Men: Air Tactics is a solid game and fans of the series will probably want to check this title out.
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-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele |
Minimum System Requirements:
Pentium 133MHz (166MHz) running Windows 95/98, 2MB (4MB) SVGA -- DirectX 7.0-compatible Video Card, 32MB (64MB) RAM, 100MB (275MB) Hard Drive space, 4x CD-ROM, DirectX 7.0-compatible Sound Card, Keyboard & Microsoft-compatible 2-button Mouse, DirectX 7.0 |
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Test System:
Pentium II 400MHz CPU, Windows 98 (upgrade version), 128MB 100MHz SDRAM, Quantum's Raven 3D-Accellerator AGP Video Card, Ensoniq AudioPCI sound card, DirectX 7.0, using Creative Labs PC-DVD drive as main CD-ROM (reads 2x DVD; 12x CD), 1 gameport, 2 USB ports, USB Intruder gamepad (USB connection), 500Kbs Cable Modem |
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