Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes 2

Brand: PlayStation

Edition: Standard

Features:

• Complete, includes disc, case, cover art, manuals and inserts.

Details: Amazon.com

3DO’s Army Men titles keep marching onto every platform in sight, including the PlayStation2. The latest is a sequel to the PlayStation’s mediocre Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes, and there’s good news from the front. This sequel is much improved, and not just in graphics, but in gameplay, too.
Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes 2 concerns a renegade blue spy named Brigette Bleu who has stolen the plans for a new biological weapon from the evil Tan army. This weapon weakens the plastic in army men bases, so this mission is of paramount importance. It’s up to Sarge and his partner Vicki to rescue the spy and stick it to the evil Tan army once again!
Played in an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective Sarge’s Heroes 2 pretends to be clever. Its levels take place in the “real world,” and use all kinds of props such as soda cans, pencils, etc., but the game is really just about blowing things up. The action is fast, furious, and pretty fun, but, to be honest, lots of shooting games have done the formula better. Though the game’s graphics are worlds better than those of the original PlayStation game, it isn’t up to the level of games like Quake III: Revolution on the PlayStation2. The game is also hampered by an extremely poor control scheme. You can get used to it, but everything is so sluggish and unresponsive, you might end up putting ol’ Sarge on permanent KP duty rather than play any longer. –Andrew S. Bub
Pros: Green plastic army men are pretty cool Much better than the first one Cons: Bad controls

Review

Despite terminally poor reviews, the Army Men franchise spawns sequels and follow-ups like they’re going out style. From a purely critical standpoint, it’s difficult to see what’s so compelling to gamers about a series of games that have typically suffered from poor programming, shoddy control, and uninspired gameplay. Perhaps critics miss the point, though – the series’ continued popularity and decent sales record proves that there are a substantial amount of gamers who appreciate the nostalgic kick Army Men tries to impart. The games are slowly getting better, too. As Army Men: Air Combat proved earlier this year, all the series needs is a bit more spit and polish to earn its stripes.
This sets an interesting stage for the series’ next installment, Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes 2 for the PS2. Developed and published by The 3DO Company and intended as a direct sequel to the events that transpired in Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes for the PlayStation, Sarge’s Heroes again puts you in the boots of Sarge and the rest of the Bravo Company commandos. Just as in Sarge’s Heroes’ first series of missions, your objective is to foil General Plastro and his Tan Army minions. General Plastro has teamed up with a partner this time, Brigitte Bleu of the Blue Army, to assist him in conquering the Green Army and their lands. It’s up to you to help Sarge, Vikki, and the Green Army combat the foreign encroachers and maintain peace in the land.
Even if you’re unfamiliar with the Army Men series, you can correctly guess that all of the games’ 18 missions take place in the confines of a realistically scaled world. This means that the levels will take you to such exotic locales as desktops, pool tables, a toy store, a graveyard, the underside of a bed, and the inside of a pinball machine. Sarge’s Heroes 2 features the ability to play as either Sarge or Vikki, who both have their own unique control and abilities. Like in the original, weapons are of primary importance for survival. Sarge’s Heroes 2 gives you more choices in this department as well, promising the basics that range from the assault rifle, shotgun, and sniper rifle to more extravagant death dealers like the flamethrower, M-60 machine gun, and grenade launcher. Army Men also gives you options beyond the barreled weapons, with minesweepers, mines, TNT, mortars, and the ability to call for help from the air cavalry being thrown into the armament melting pot.
Certainly, Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes

UPC: 790561509219

Package Dimensions: 15x190x113