Game Review: Toy Soldiers: Cold War

The Charleston Gazette

Microsoft

Microsoft Xbox 360

$15 (download only)

ESRB rating: Teen

Review rating: 4.0 stars

Like most boys growing up in the '80s, a fascination with war compelled me to play with plastic army toys for hours on end. Thirty years have passed, and my interest has evolved into more complex combat scenarios that take place online. Now, Signal Studios has blended the two to create the action-packed tower defense game, "Toy Soldiers: Cold War."

If it isn't obvious from the title, this game takes place in the 1980s and focuses on suppressing the spread of Communism. Even though players control toys instead of people, they still have to hop around the planet to defend key areas like Paris and Mount Rushmore. What I really like is the fact that oversized items like coffee cups and boom boxes constantly remind players that their combatants are miniscule.

Game play consists of placing one of seven different units, ranging from mortars to machine-guns, in predetermined areas to defend the home base from being overrun. In addition, each unit can be upgraded twice to make it more effective. For example, the anti- vehicle unit changes from shooting dumb-fire projectiles to letting the player physically guide each rocket.

Thankfully, players aren't relegated to simply watching their defenses do their jobs for them. Just like the original 'Toy Soldiers,' it's possible to enter any friendly unit on the battlefield and control it just like an action game. This means that players can hop into an artillery or AA gun and blow the hell out of the enemy! Controlling units makes them much more effective and makes the game play more exciting.

It's just too bad that there's so much emphasis on physically controlling units, because it forces players to constantly jump between them just to complete a level. This is because of weak friendly A.I. that pales in comparison to the huge number of enemies that players encounter. At several points throughout the game, I found that some units would simply stop shooting at the enemy or wouldn't shoot at the closest threat, which quickly became frustrating.

Another fun alternative to watching the battle play out by itself is taking control of awesome military vehicles like helicopters, tanks and even jet fighters equipped with napalm bombs! Each vehicle sports infinite ammo but relies on battery power to operate. As a result, players must extend their vehicle's battery life by finding power-ups or returning to the vehicle's spawn point if they want to keep using these vehicles.

New to the series are "barrages," which are random power-ups awarded to players who achieve high kill combos. Only one can be held in reserve at a time, because they're so devastating that multiple barrages can easily win every battle. Bombing runs litter the battlefield with carpet-bombing, while the Nuke takes out everything in a large area, but my favorite one is the Commando.

When activated, this humorous barrage lets players control a shirtless commando who looks just like John Rambo - complete with red bandana and overly ripped muscles. He wields an assault rifle in one hand and a bazooka in the other and shouts insults at the enemy! Not only is he incredibly effective, but he also reminds me of the ridiculous nature of '80s action movies.

Because there are only 11 maps in the single-player campaign, it's possible to beat the game in one lengthy sitting. A few mini- games add much-needed content, but they're over far too quickly. Thank goodness there's online co-op play and adversarial multiplayer matches to entice players to stay in the cold war a bit longer.

----

----

More games news

Game reviews

Copyright 2012 by The Charleston Gazette