Final Front has a mix of playing 'in the trenches' and controlling vehicles. Missions are broken into segments where you may be running on the ground, picking up weapons and taking out The Tan, and suddenly switch off to driving a tank, motorcycle or submarine. For anyone coming into the world of
Army Men for the first time, there's no real continuity issue that makes you wonder where the story came from. This is plain warfare and battlefield action, so the biggest learning curve comes in mastering the controls and learning strategies for various combat situations. Luckily, a training section is available for everything from basic vehicle control to infantry movement and tactics. Vehicles include a tank, motorcycle, assault raft, cargo truck and submarine. The variety of vehicles and on-foot battles makes
Final Front way more fun than any game that only had one side or the other. Everyone may find they gravitate toward a certain vehicle, but learning to use the hardware is fairly simple no matter what you're driving. As you'd expect, the tank is dog slow, but packs a punch. Staying consistent with the control scheme of infantrymen, switching weapons and even some basic movement controls persist in vehicles. Very smart design choice. Playing as the lowly soldier is still a blast, and going through the battlefield missions isn't always just terrain. Very early on, you wage war from the rooftops, clearing out tanks with the mortar while dodging gunfire from Tans above and below. Pickups are available both on foot and in vehicles, in the form of weapons and health. With only about 5 stages,
Final Front may not seem incredibly long, but there are quite a few levels in each stage. Plus, the replay value of going back through to try and clear levels with different strategies is always a factor here because of the open-ended gameplay.
Multiplayer has a large part in Final Front, if that's your thing. Four modes make up the offering, and they're a blast. Again, there's a certain suspension of disbelief at the low-quality graphics, but push beyond it and enjoy the good stuff Final Front has to offer. Playing on any one of four maps, you can choose to play cooperatively with a friend or try the Grudge Match for direct competition. More creative modes are Capture The Flag and Steal The Bacon. The really cool thing about Capture The Flag is that while the object is simple, Final Front gives you a level editor for this mode that lets you place men on the field to defend or attack the flag before you begin play. Steal The Bacon has you going for the bacon against a friend and trying to hold onto it for a set period of time. So, even if the campaign action doesn't float your boat, at least rent this one to check out the multiplayer.
