A step in the right direction... though not exactly a huge one

Hamlet Sturman

Dave Terry

Lead your small force of Green soldiers to victory, in this game inspired by the hit animation film Toy Story.

Jim Tso

Army Men II

After the first Army Men, which felt somewhat rushed, this came out, with new features and changes compensating for many of the shortcomings of the first. However, it did come out relatively soon after the first... and in some ways, this feels rushed, as well. Like so many other series where the first game was difficult to the point that the average gamer complained, this sequel was made considerably easier(and less strategic, as well). There are still challenges, but the game now hints strongly towards the solution they want you to find(instead of, you know, perhaps making the game more open, to let the player decide how he&apos;ll go about completing the set objectives). Yet again, what we have here is not strategy... it&apos;s an action game with tactical elements. The plot is fair, and there&apos;s certainly more of it than in the first(not that that&apos;s saying much). It picks up right where the first left off, and takes you through both the Army Men world and our world. Having finished the game minutes before writing this, I can also say that it most certainly has a more satisfying ending. The sound is much better, and the voice acting is still good(and now features a bigger range of emotion). The level design is quite good, and much more detailed and pleasing to the eye than the far-too-simple nature of the levels of the first game. Many things of the first are tweaked; The game screen feels bigger, to allow for more action in view. In the first, you were often shot at before you could see the other soldiers; that happens seldom, if ever, here. The strategic map(which the game now actually suggests that you consult) is much more detailed(in the first, it seemed like a crude drawing, which, while it fit with the style, was dull to look at), and now offers several hints, as well as making your goal a tad clearer than it was in the first. The objectives are diverse and entertaining to achieve, if a few of them are of odd difficulty(it goes back and forth between being easy and hard, some times). The graphics are improved a little, and everything is made lighter... the first game was so dark that it was almost hard on the eyes, while this time around, it&apos;s very naturalistic, which is definitely fitting. The soldiers still feel and act like plastic... if somewhat less so, since it now takes more fire to burn your average soldier than before. Most of your enemies are the same, though zombies(!) are now added. I found this to be quite peculiar, for this sort of game, but I can&apos;t deny that their physical appearance is amusing and completely in line with the visual style and overall tone of the games. The AI is improved a bit, though it could still use a hand... soldiers still don&apos;t keep their flame-thrower from spraying hot, firey death upon their allies, (computer-controlled)vehicles get stuck and you will, more often than not, find bazooka-men firing into a wall that you stand behind, often until the point where they blow themselves up. The squad-system is improved, though there aren&apos;t really any new commands to issue your men. It&apos;s made simpler to use and more efficient, and you can now select members for your squad by dragging a square around them, similar to RTS games. The single-player also gives you more soldiers than the first game. Sarge can now also be controlled almost entirely with the mouse. You can control where he should go by clicking there, though the aforementioned AI will occasionally send him walking into a wall and other obstacles, so the keyboard is still preferable. The scrolling is made looser... too loose, for my tastes. The single-player portion is still relatively short... 12 actual levels, and most of which have between two or three missions(there is now a save feature, but early on, I hardly used it as the missions tend to be quite short). The multi-player has been vastly improved upon; six different modes(all fun to play), and a total of ten maps(all very well-done). You can also now buy things, prior to initiating play(appropriately, with &quot;plastic&quot;, which you can also determine how much each separate player gets before the game), including soldiers with one of the main weapons, vehicles(including the new boat, which is hardly in the single-player, though it is a blast to use), AA guns(to prevent your enemies from using air support over your base) and even bunkers with an armed man inside. The weapons are much more plentiful in the first(and all the ones from the first are still there), and you can carry more at a time(a feature that ties in with making it easier, and has is both good and bad)... a total of six at a time, with the rifle being one of them(which can now be upgraded to increasingly more powerful and fast, throughout the levels, instead of simply once). The new ones include aerosol, a magnifying glass and M80s, for the more cruel players(who may very well have treated their own toy soldiers that way, as children), interesting ones such as a sniper rifle, and even useful items, including a wrench to fix vehicles and buildings and an enemy disguise. You can now also pick up more ammo from boxes of the same type of ammunition(again, to make it easier, and which is both good and bad). The method of moving your cross-hairs are improved, though with a catch; you aren&apos;t informed if your gun can fire as far as you&apos;re aiming, and Sarge won&apos;t move closer, but fire too short a distance if you shoot, making the programming of that feature less impressive than even the earliest of RTS games(which started about half a decade before this was released). Overall, I prefer the first game, though I&apos;ll admit this is better. I recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first and anyone intrigued by the concept. 7/10

After the first Army Men, which felt somewhat rushed, this came out, with new features and changes compensating for many of the shortcomings of the first. However, it did come out relatively soon after the first... and in some ways, this feels rushed, as well. Like so many other series where the first game was difficult to the point that the average gamer complained, this sequel was made considerably easier(and less strategic, as well). There are still challenges, but the game now hints strongly towards the solution they want you to find(instead of, you know, perhaps making the game more open, to let the player decide how he'll go about completing the set objectives). Yet again, what we have here is not strategy... it's an action game with tactical elements. The plot is fair, and there's certainly more of it than in the first(not that that's saying much). It picks up right where the first left off, and takes you through both the Army Men world and our world. Having finished the game minutes before writing this, I can also say that it most certainly has a more satisfying ending. The sound is much better, and the voice acting is still good(and now features a bigger range of emotion). The level design is quite good, and much more detailed and pleasing to the eye than the far-too-simple nature of the levels of the first game. Many things of the first are tweaked; The game screen feels bigger, to allow for more action in view. In the first, you were often shot at before you could see the other soldiers; that happens seldom, if ever, here. The strategic map(which the game now actually suggests that you consult) is much more detailed(in the first, it seemed like a crude drawing, which, while it fit with the style, was dull to look at), and now offers several hints, as well as making your goal a tad clearer than it was in the first. The objectives are diverse and entertaining to achieve, if a few of them are of odd difficulty(it goes back and forth between being easy and hard, some times). The graphics are improved a little, and everything is made lighter... the first game was so dark that it was almost hard on the eyes, while this time around, it's very naturalistic, which is definitely fitting. The soldiers still feel and act like plastic... if somewhat less so, since it now takes more fire to burn your average soldier than before. Most of your enemies are the same, though zombies(!) are now added. I found this to be quite peculiar, for this sort of game, but I can't deny that their physical appearance is amusing and completely in line with the visual style and overall tone of the games. The AI is improved a bit, though it could still use a hand... soldiers still don't keep their flame-thrower from spraying hot, firey death upon their allies, (computer-controlled)vehicles get stuck and you will, more often than not, find bazooka-men firing into a wall that you stand behind, often until the point where they blow themselves up. The squad-system is improved, though there aren't really any new commands to issue your men. It's made simpler to use and more efficient, and you can now select members for your squad by dragging a square around them, similar to RTS games. The single-player also gives you more soldiers than the first game. Sarge can now also be controlled almost entirely with the mouse. You can control where he should go by clicking there, though the aforementioned AI will occasionally send him walking into a wall and other obstacles, so the keyboard is still preferable. The scrolling is made looser... too loose, for my tastes. The single-player portion is still relatively short... 12 actual levels, and most of which have between two or three missions(there is now a save feature, but early on, I hardly used it as the missions tend to be quite short). The multi-player has been vastly improved upon; six different modes(all fun to play), and a total of ten maps(all very well-done). You can also now buy things, prior to initiating play(appropriately, with "plastic", which you can also determine how much each separate player gets before the game), including soldiers with one of the main weapons, vehicles(including the new boat, which is hardly in the single-player, though it is a blast to use), AA guns(to prevent your enemies from using air support over your base) and even bunkers with an armed man inside. The weapons are much more plentiful in the first(and all the ones from the first are still there), and you can carry more at a time(a feature that ties in with making it easier, and has is both good and bad)... a total of six at a time, with the rifle being one of them(which can now be upgraded to increasingly more powerful and fast, throughout the levels, instead of simply once). The new ones include aerosol, a magnifying glass and M80s, for the more cruel players(who may very well have treated their own toy soldiers that way, as children), interesting ones such as a sniper rifle, and even useful items, including a wrench to fix vehicles and buildings and an enemy disguise. You can now also pick up more ammo from boxes of the same type of ammunition(again, to make it easier, and which is both good and bad). The method of moving your cross-hairs are improved, though with a catch; you aren't informed if your gun can fire as far as you're aiming, and Sarge won't move closer, but fire too short a distance if you shoot, making the programming of that feature less impressive than even the earliest of RTS games(which started about half a decade before this was released). Overall, I prefer the first game, though I'll admit this is better. I recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first and anyone intrigued by the concept. 7/10

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