SuYoG
14th July 2007, 12:42
Army Men RTS
http://img105.mytextgraphics.com/photolava/2007/06/05/galeriagry61056491859-46pr856rr.jpg
Army Men: RTS does a good job of creating a real-time strategy game based on the classic line of plastic toys.
Quote: Army Men: RTS on the GameCube can't help feeling like a relic. Indeed, by video game
standards, its original 2002 release on the PC and PS2 is ancient history. The fact
that Global Star has seen fit to resurrect the Army Men name, which is arguably the
most notorious of 3DO's franchises leading up to its final days, makes this release
feel almost creepy...like a posthumous performance by a recently deceased actor. What
Army Men: RTS has to its advantage is that when it was released nearly three years
ago, it was actually pretty good. It feels dated, yes, but a lot of the quality still
stands up, and with strategy being a scarce commodity on the GameCube, it's hard to
argue with the game's bargain-basement price tag.
Pandemic's traditional real-time strategy game still retains some of its charm today.
Army Men: RTS follows the story of Sarge and his platoon of roughnecks as they creep
behind enemy lines to take out Colonel Blintz, an ex-Green Army officer who suffered
a disfiguring head wound during combat and has subsequently "gone Tan." The story
loosely mirrors some of the plot points in Apocalypse Now, and you'll find plenty of
references to other classic war movies throughout the game's 15 missions.
Army Men: RTS closely follows the conventions laid down by past real-time strategy
games, and though it simplifies and streamlines a lot of it, Army Men rarely strays
from old-timey RTS conventions. You'll start off each mission with a handful of
troops and, depending on the circumstances, a bulldozer. The bulldozer can be used to
build structures, such as barracks and garages that can then be used to build more
troops and vehicles, respectively. To create an effective army, you'll need to build
a resource depot to gather plastic and electricity, the core building blocks of all
your units. Plastic can be harvested from items such as Frisbees, dog bowls, and toy
robots, while electricity can be harvested from items such as batteries,
walkie-talkies, and toasters. Resource management definitely plays a big part in
successfully executing many of the missions, but not so much so that it overshadows
the actual job at hand.
The mission objectives in the game's main campaign mode break no new ground for the
genre, but Army Men: RTS hits the points it needs to. Some missions will charge you
with tasks such as overrunning a Tan Army base or simply moving your troops from
point A to point B. In one mission, you'll have to escort a village of funny-voiced
Lego men to safety while also protecting them from the Tan Army. There's really
nothing new here, but each mission is executed well enough to excuse any lack of
innovation. And if the main campaign isn't enough for you, Army Men: RTS also
includes a "great battles" mode, which puts you in one of eight large-scale
base-building missions. Furthermore, there's a special operations mode that puts you
in one of eight missions with very unique objectives. Sadly, there are no multiplayer
modes in Army Men: RTS, though when you consider the limitations inherent in a
split-screen multiplayer game, it's probably for the best.
One of the biggest hurdles for real-time strategy console games has been the
controls, but Army Men: RTS gives you a pretty good level of control over your units.
You can select all the units in a certain area by tapping the X button, or you can
select all units of a specific type by moving your cursor over a unit and holding
down the X button. You can add more units to your selected group by pressing the B
button, and previously selected groups can be selected again by pressing the Y
button. Units will generally do what you tell them to, though their pathing abilities
are somewhat questionable, and they will usually take a straight path rather than
seek out an easier alternate route. In general, the controls are relatively easy to
get the hang of, though it's strongly recommended that you go through the game's
tutorial before jumping into the main campaign, because the controls are not
necessarily that self-explanatory.
The highly conventional gameplay structure makes Army Men: RTS feel pretty dated, and
the graphics make this trait even more pronounced. The game wasn't graphically
impressive in 2002, and it just looks old now. The frame rate is extremely choppy
during in-engine cutscenes, and though explosions and other displays of special
effects can cause things to chop up a bit during gameplay, it's otherwise pretty
stable. Army Men: RTS maintains a pretty modest scope with the size of its levels, as
well as with the level of its detail, but the game still does a good job of capturing
the feel of its different environments. You can tell when you're in the kitchen, the
living room, or a planter box out in the garden with just a quick glance.
The $15 price tag definitely helps alleviate the game's otherwise antiquated feel.
Just like the game's look, the voice acting in Army Men: RTS evokes a certain
whimsical feel and does a good job of instilling each of your units with some
personality, though the limited vocabularies can become tiresome over time. Sarge
comes off as a gruff, tough-but-loving drill sergeant; Colonel Blintz has a calm,
vaguely European accent; and your medical units have droll English accents not unlike
the character Winchester from M*A*S*H. The music has a very epic, sweeping feel to
it, and its militaristic seriousness acts as a counterbalance to the game's otherwise
lighthearted presentation.
With 3DO quickly becoming a distant memory, it feels really weird to see an Army Men
game coming out in 2004. Army Men: RTS was a significant high point for the
franchise, and it retains some of its fun even today. But most GameCube owners
looking for a good strategy experience are probably better off with one of Nintendo's
strikingly original Pikmin offerings.
ScreenShots:
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2002/pc/str/armymenrts/armymenrts_screen016.jpg
Download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/6140464/Army_men_RTS.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6141110/Army_men_RTS.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6141588/Army_men_RTS.part3.rar
http://img105.mytextgraphics.com/photolava/2007/06/05/galeriagry61056491859-46pr856rr.jpg
Army Men: RTS does a good job of creating a real-time strategy game based on the classic line of plastic toys.
Quote: Army Men: RTS on the GameCube can't help feeling like a relic. Indeed, by video game
standards, its original 2002 release on the PC and PS2 is ancient history. The fact
that Global Star has seen fit to resurrect the Army Men name, which is arguably the
most notorious of 3DO's franchises leading up to its final days, makes this release
feel almost creepy...like a posthumous performance by a recently deceased actor. What
Army Men: RTS has to its advantage is that when it was released nearly three years
ago, it was actually pretty good. It feels dated, yes, but a lot of the quality still
stands up, and with strategy being a scarce commodity on the GameCube, it's hard to
argue with the game's bargain-basement price tag.
Pandemic's traditional real-time strategy game still retains some of its charm today.
Army Men: RTS follows the story of Sarge and his platoon of roughnecks as they creep
behind enemy lines to take out Colonel Blintz, an ex-Green Army officer who suffered
a disfiguring head wound during combat and has subsequently "gone Tan." The story
loosely mirrors some of the plot points in Apocalypse Now, and you'll find plenty of
references to other classic war movies throughout the game's 15 missions.
Army Men: RTS closely follows the conventions laid down by past real-time strategy
games, and though it simplifies and streamlines a lot of it, Army Men rarely strays
from old-timey RTS conventions. You'll start off each mission with a handful of
troops and, depending on the circumstances, a bulldozer. The bulldozer can be used to
build structures, such as barracks and garages that can then be used to build more
troops and vehicles, respectively. To create an effective army, you'll need to build
a resource depot to gather plastic and electricity, the core building blocks of all
your units. Plastic can be harvested from items such as Frisbees, dog bowls, and toy
robots, while electricity can be harvested from items such as batteries,
walkie-talkies, and toasters. Resource management definitely plays a big part in
successfully executing many of the missions, but not so much so that it overshadows
the actual job at hand.
The mission objectives in the game's main campaign mode break no new ground for the
genre, but Army Men: RTS hits the points it needs to. Some missions will charge you
with tasks such as overrunning a Tan Army base or simply moving your troops from
point A to point B. In one mission, you'll have to escort a village of funny-voiced
Lego men to safety while also protecting them from the Tan Army. There's really
nothing new here, but each mission is executed well enough to excuse any lack of
innovation. And if the main campaign isn't enough for you, Army Men: RTS also
includes a "great battles" mode, which puts you in one of eight large-scale
base-building missions. Furthermore, there's a special operations mode that puts you
in one of eight missions with very unique objectives. Sadly, there are no multiplayer
modes in Army Men: RTS, though when you consider the limitations inherent in a
split-screen multiplayer game, it's probably for the best.
One of the biggest hurdles for real-time strategy console games has been the
controls, but Army Men: RTS gives you a pretty good level of control over your units.
You can select all the units in a certain area by tapping the X button, or you can
select all units of a specific type by moving your cursor over a unit and holding
down the X button. You can add more units to your selected group by pressing the B
button, and previously selected groups can be selected again by pressing the Y
button. Units will generally do what you tell them to, though their pathing abilities
are somewhat questionable, and they will usually take a straight path rather than
seek out an easier alternate route. In general, the controls are relatively easy to
get the hang of, though it's strongly recommended that you go through the game's
tutorial before jumping into the main campaign, because the controls are not
necessarily that self-explanatory.
The highly conventional gameplay structure makes Army Men: RTS feel pretty dated, and
the graphics make this trait even more pronounced. The game wasn't graphically
impressive in 2002, and it just looks old now. The frame rate is extremely choppy
during in-engine cutscenes, and though explosions and other displays of special
effects can cause things to chop up a bit during gameplay, it's otherwise pretty
stable. Army Men: RTS maintains a pretty modest scope with the size of its levels, as
well as with the level of its detail, but the game still does a good job of capturing
the feel of its different environments. You can tell when you're in the kitchen, the
living room, or a planter box out in the garden with just a quick glance.
The $15 price tag definitely helps alleviate the game's otherwise antiquated feel.
Just like the game's look, the voice acting in Army Men: RTS evokes a certain
whimsical feel and does a good job of instilling each of your units with some
personality, though the limited vocabularies can become tiresome over time. Sarge
comes off as a gruff, tough-but-loving drill sergeant; Colonel Blintz has a calm,
vaguely European accent; and your medical units have droll English accents not unlike
the character Winchester from M*A*S*H. The music has a very epic, sweeping feel to
it, and its militaristic seriousness acts as a counterbalance to the game's otherwise
lighthearted presentation.
With 3DO quickly becoming a distant memory, it feels really weird to see an Army Men
game coming out in 2004. Army Men: RTS was a significant high point for the
franchise, and it retains some of its fun even today. But most GameCube owners
looking for a good strategy experience are probably better off with one of Nintendo's
strikingly original Pikmin offerings.
ScreenShots:
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2002/pc/str/armymenrts/armymenrts_screen016.jpg
Download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/6140464/Army_men_RTS.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6141110/Army_men_RTS.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6141588/Army_men_RTS.part3.rar