Army Men: Sarges Heroes for Dreamcast

The original Army Men game was introduced on the PC several years ago. I recall the nifty packaging that featured two real plastic soldiers bundled with it. The game was a fun little romp, but was troubled by awkward controls and silly AI. Moreover, it largely ignored a critical aspect of dealing with plastic toy soldiers?youthful imagination. All the scenarios were realistic outdoor settings, but we all know that a plastic soldier?s battlefield is limited only by the fanciful thoughts of the child holding him. Future games finally caught on, and featured more creative battlefields. Now on Dreamcast, Army Men: Sarge?s Heroes is a sort of ?best of? collection of Army Men games and scenarios that is worth a look.

You control Sarge, of course, a hero of the Green army battling against General Plastro and the evil Tans. You will run through a series of goal-oriented missions. You can save a game career on a VMU, or enter codes to access higher levels if you do not have one. You will blow the enemy away with a delightful array of weaponry. Get moving, soldier!

The environments are nicely modeled, though a bit dated in terms of graphics. You will begin your fighting outdoors. The perspective is an over-the-shoulder 3rd person, though you can switch to 1st person. The outdoor textures are a bit bland and simple, but things become much more interesting when the fun moves indooors to a world reminiscent of Toy Commander, another Dreamcast game. Inside, objects like furniture, blocks, and other toys are nicely modeled and detailed. I was also disappointed that stepping in water equals instant death. I would have really enjoyed seeing Sarge swim across the tub to complete some objectives. Come on?plastic floats!

Weapons and effects offer a great deal of fun and variety. Sarge?s arsenal includes an assault rifle, machine gun, shotgun, sniper rifle, grenade launcher, flame thrower, bazooka, and hand grenades. While I was disappointed that the flamethrower did not melt your plastic opponents, it made up a little by allowing you to recover from being ?flamed? by executing a diving roll. (Stop, drop, and roll!) Tanks blow up with a satisfying explosion after a few bazooka hits. Fire a sniper round at an enemy soldier and see shards of plastic fly away. Sound effects are adequate, but not spectacular.

Computer opponent AI still leaves something to be desired. It would be nice if enemy soldiers would take cover once in awhile, or do something other than charge or fire. Even your teammates, and especially characters you must escort and protect to complete a mission, are quite dense and oblivious to enemy fire.

Control is decent on the standard controller. The buttons fire, switch weapons, jump, and crawl/dive. Movement is accomplished with the analog thumb hat, while the digital pad controls views. The triggers are used to zoom, aim, and strafe. Overall, the scheme works well, though turning should definitely be faster, becoming a real problem when fighting in close quarters.

Multiplayer is a great deal of fun, though it is done on split-screen. The multiplayer maps are generous in size, and loaded with hiding places. Examples are a base, a sand castle, and living room. My only complaint is that once a player is fired upon, their mobility is greatly reduced, such that it is nearly impossible to return fire, leading to some very frustrating moments.

Overall, if you are familiar with Army Men games from other platforms, like the PC and PSX, there is little new material here. I would recommend renting before you buy to see if its style appeals to you. Right now, multiplayer deathmatch is very popular at my fire department where my Dreamcast resides. Even some female members, who usually have no interest in gaming, enjoy the cartoonish combat appeal and kick-butt attitude and have been known to tussle in a deathmatch now and then. If you liked Toy Commander, you should definitely give Sarge?s Heroes a shot.