I spent many years playing make-believe with my friends when I was younger. We would assign identities and roles to our toys and would engage in all sorts of toy battles. But as life goes, we stopped playing these games somewhere along the way as we tried to figure out where we fit in during our teen years - ah, nostalgia. Luckily for me and many other people who were not done with these make-believe sessions, Army Men stepped in with a whole universe of its own that allowed us to continue engaging in all sorts of battles. And today, I am reviewing one of the best titles in this series, known as Army Men RTS.
The story revolves around the Tan Army, which is conducting military and fascist operations in the Army Men Universe. Their goal is to take over the Plastic World using any means available to them. The most notorious characters in that army are General Plastro, Lord Malice, and Colonel Blintz. But your beef is primarily with Blintz, as he was once part of your own army (Green Army) before he turned his back on you and joined the Tan. Worse still, he melted the soldiers who refused to follow him before taking over a home and making it his fortress, which he uses to attack the Green Army. And they have already started invading the territory from all sides, which means that once they have dominated the Green Army, they have won!
Your role as a player is to step in as Sarge, the commander of the Green Army, and stop Blintz from achieving his evil plans. So, you are not just trying to keep the peace but also settle a score with the person who betrayed you! When I learned how personal the goal was in this game, I could not help but feel more invested in the outcome. I mean, how dare this colonel melt his own people!
As Sarge, you are your army's only hope, as you are charged with tons of responsibilities, as follows:
It is up to you to collect all sorts of materials from the house to make a base. And you need to be very creative when finding resources, such as toys, freesbies, batteries, and appliances. Here's the best part - you use dump tracks to gather these things. Also, the more you build your base, the more units you can produce, which helps you grow your army.
The Tan Army is vicious and will stop at nothing to beat you. You need to be proactive by training your soldiers how to counter attacks. You also need to lead them through the battlefields, and these are often in places where you can easily get attacked, like backyards and kitchens.
You get all sorts of missions during the game. Sometimes, you need to sabotage the Tan and at others, you need to rescue people from the Tan. I particularly enjoy rescue ops as they require so much strategizing, and it's always fun to outsmart the Tan.
With all these going on, playing this game feels like you have the fate of the world in your hands.
I am known for always chasing challenges, and this game is not different. In fact, I chose it because I knew I would be facing one challenge after another, including the following:
For toy soldiers, the Tan Army is quite overpowering. Their soldiers throw everything they can at you, including fire ants! You can't afford to turn your back on them. But I have found that the secret to advancing in this game is to be just as vicious - if they come at you with bombers, repay the favor.
As a toy, your ability to navigate a house is quite limited. You have to deal with obstacles like stairs and sinks. So, you have to plan well to make it past these hurdles before you get caught up in the fights.
You would think that managing toy soldiers would be a walk in the park, but that is not the case. I have found myself going back to help troops who have gotten stuck or lost their way. So, you can't just assume that your soldiers know what to do and where to go.
On top of these things, most of the missions have countdowns or require you to make decisions on the spot. It feels very mentally challenging, but again, that's what makes this game so addictive and fun!
This game is perfect for anyone who wants to try a real-time strategy game that is challenging enough to grab your attention yet still casual enough that you don't have to manage too many moving parts. Also, if you are as nostalgic as I am about toy battles, you will love its classic yet basic visuals.