Army Men Advance (Game Boy Advance)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.0 stars Mediocre
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 4.4 (2.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Shane Satterfield
• Reviewed on: 06/11/2001
• Updated on: 05/17/2006
• Released on: 06/10/2001
• Originally published on GameSpot: Army Men Advance (Game Boy Advance) Review

Army Men games were a moderate success when they were first introduced in 1999. After countless installments of the Sarge's Heroes franchise and just as many Air Attack releases, one of 3DO's few lucrative properties is running out of steam. This hasn't deterred the company from developing a new third-person Army Men game for the launch of the Game Boy Advance--the aptly titled Army Men Advance. While the series hasn't been overly impressive in 3D, it was hoped that the GBA's simplistic hardware would allow the company to inject some life into the property with a solid 2D installment.

Army Men Advance follows the same story that the Sarge's Heroes series has been beating into the dirt for three years now. Once again, the vile General Plastro and his army of tan figurines have decided to take over the world and it's up to Sarge and crack reporter Vikki G. to thwart the conquest. Throughout the game you'll be required to rescue team members, infiltrate tan bases, escape from a jail, investigate an extra terrestrial presence, and retrieve communications equipment. You can choose to play as either Sarge or Vikki, but the quests for each are identical and once a character has been chosen it's impossible to switch to the other unless you want to start again from the first mission.

The controls are simple yet unrefined. The A button allows you to fire your selected weapon, the B button tosses grenades, and the directional pad controls movement. Holding the right shoulder button keeps your weapon facing in one direction while you strafe in any direction and switching weapons is accomplished with the left shoulder button. This simplistic control scheme works well for the majority of the missions but in the tighter areas where there are many enemies its inadequacies become apparent. It takes far too long to get turned in the right direction and fire--resulting in constantly running away from enemies in hopes that you'll have time to turn around and shoot. In the areas where you have a small path to traverse, avoiding enemies is nearly impossible. This is made more infuriating due to the lack of a continue option--some of the missions can take some time to complete and if you die you must start again from the beginning. Another point of annoyance is that your character often gets stuck on objects and refuses to move.

There are five weapons that you discover and use throughout the course of the game including an M-16, an M-60, a flamethrower, a bazooka, and grenades. The M-16 is the default weapon and it never runs out of ammunition. Using the higher-powered weapons isn't a necessity but they can make certain portions of the levels much easier. Beyond the third-person shooting that players have grown accustomed to with the Army Men franchise, there are several points in the game where you attempt to pilot gunboats and tanks through a gauntlet of enemies and hazards. There are even sections where you must cross rivers using floating logs a la Frogger. Once you rescue fellow soldiers you can take control of them and their special weapons. Considering how dull and predictable the average level can be, any sort of gameplay variety is a welcomed addition. The lack of any sort of multiplayer modes is also disappointing. While a head-to-head mode may be asking a bit much from a third-party launch game, even a cooperative mode would have increased the replay value considerably.

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