Army Men World War
Score: 80% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: 3DO Developer: 3DO Media: CD/1 Players: Unknown Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: Sound is as important as anything is when you are at war. They say that you never hear the bullet that kills you. Well, in the world of gaming, you want to and will hear it. Gunfire and explosions are fairly prominent in Army Men World War. Hearing your allies talking over the radio sounds very good also ... along with the screaming of death as you blast your way through the Tan. The graphics of Army Men World War are exactly what you'd expect from a Real Time Simulation (RTS) game. The standard overhead 2.5D view looks good, but don't expect a souped-up high-resolution screen, as you would be disappointed. In the world of gaming, RTS games would have a ranking of Private for graphics, and General for gameplay. Just for the record, I did experience a few glitches, but overall World War will be the war to end all wars (at least until the sequel).
Gameplay: In typical RTS fashion, Army Men World War puts you into the body of the Commander, and it's up to you to lead the Green Army to victory. Get ready for a lot of pointing and clicking with your mouse, as well as using your keyboard for advanced moves, like crouching and rolling around. The action ranges from a stroll in the park to an all out battle with armies full of tanks, jeeps, grenades, and more. Sometimes the control gets a bit tough and your little green men run around like headless chickens. So, to be more precise, controlling only a few men at a time will allow you better overall control. In fact, you will learn to split your forces and attack from multiple angles. This is a great way to avoid a massacre! Send out a few 'front men' to take the initial attack and leave a few men in the wings for backup. I personally like the cut scenes when you die, as the little green men get blown up into tiny little pieces. (Do you remember the days of strapping firecrackers to your army men? he he he) Army Men World War boasts 15 missions as well as 15 multi-player maps, ranging from the beach to the city. Fans of the RTS genre will surely love this one too.
Difficulty: I first want to say that I'm one of those people that can usually pick up on game right away. However, the RTS genre may be my limit. It seems that I tend to get a serious can of whoopass launched at me even in the Medium difficulty. There are a lot of things to keep in mind while playing Army Men World War, and if you're not fast enough, your shiny green innards will be quickly splattered across the ground. I think there is a good range of difficulty for medium to expert players, but newcomers to the genre may have to reanalyze their strategy.
Game Mechanics: In what seems to sometimes be a fast-paced game, you will have to quickly learn how to control your men (don't forget the med kits!) using the mouse and keyboard. Strategy is a must! Putting all of your men in the same area may sometimes work wonders, whereas other times invites a miniature massacre. Experiment with attack positions, and don't forget to save often. There's nothing more upsetting than to get 3/4 of the way through the map and walk into a Tan Army tank trap! A word of warning, though. I experienced some glitches where I would destroy something, but onscreen it appeared to be fully functional, therefore I sat wasting my ammo. Also, I was stuck at a point where the game would crash and ship me back to Windows in a body bag every time I cleared the certain level. This crash may have been solved by my restarting the game (or my PC), but check 3DO's website for any updates and patches for Army Men World War.
-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele
Minimum System Requirements: Pentium 90 (P133) running Windows 95/98; 250MB Hard Drive space; 16MB RAM (32MB); 4x CD-ROM; 1MB SVGA DirectX 7.0a compatible Video Card (2MB); DirectX 7.0a compatible Sound Card; Keyboard & Mouse; Internet Connection for Mutiplayer   Test System: Pentium II 400MHz CPU; Windows 98 (upgrade version); 128MB 100MHz SDRAM; Quantum's Raven 16MB 3D-Accellerator AGP Video Card; Ensoniq AudioPCI sound card; DirectX 7.0a; using Hewlett Packard CD-Writer Plus 9100 (reads 32x, writes 8x, rewrites 4x) as main CD-ROM; 1 gameport; 2 USB ports; Saitek's P2000 Tilt Pad (*USB*/gameport connection); 500kbs Cable Modem
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