Sarge, Blow Up this Game
Written: Apr 02 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Great game concept
Cons: Bad control, sub-par gameplay, bad one player mode
|
|
|
| Jaywa's Full Review: Army Men Sarge's Heroes for Nintendo 64 |
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes is a very innovative game. When it first came out, I was impressed by the concept of the game, but I was discouraged by it's kiddish looks. The game has it's pros and cons and is alright to play, but there are definitely it's downsides.
For weeks my cousin wanted to rent this game; and for weeks it was never available to rent. Finally, we were able to get our hands on it. He really enjoyed it, but I was right in my doubts, unfortunately. I really wanted to like this game because of it's superb game concept.
Storyline
You are a plastic soldier in the Green Army. The Tan Army has recently fired upon you and attacked you, and you must stand your ground and defeat them.
I wasn't too impressed with the plot. I may have been expecting more from it. I missed crazy plot turns and twists. But hey, what can you expect from little plastic men running around?
Gameplay
The good thing about this game is the fact that it has two game modes; one is first person shooter where you have missions to accomplish while taking down the Tan Army, and the multiplayer mode with up to four players allowed simultaneously.
Each level in the mission mode is relatively tough actually. You usually have three to five mission objectives to complete. You fight your way though Tan Army soldiers, tanks, and mine fields. The one player mode didn't really strike me as all that fun. I was more interested in how it played in the multiplayer.
There are about 13 levels. Each is filled with many hidden areas with more Tan soldiers as well as additional guns and ammo to have fun with.
One major downside to this game is the control. You may only move straight ahead, where your gun is pointing. To turn around, you have to do a complete 180 degree turn. You just can't simply press back, otherwise your character simply stumbles backwards, very slowly. You may also not run forward and right or left at the same time. This makes strafing just about impossible.
The multiplayer is much better than the single player mode, but still doesn't get me very excited. You may choose from about six characters, but none have distinguishing traits over the others. You are able to pick up many different guns on the battle field to do your destruction with. My personal favorites are the flamethrower(your opponent simply melts to a pile of goo), the sniper rifle, and the bazooka. The multi player levels were too large to be very fun though. It took my cousin and I a long time to find each other to start a fight. There were many different areas to the levels, and some where tough to get too. A couple examples of the levels are a battle/training field and a bathroom. To top it off, the characters were very slow moving; having to waddle because of the plastic that attached their feet. If you think of today's real plastic soldiers, they are only able to stand up because of that large piece of plastic that acts as a base.
The replay value is decent; but only because of the multiplayer mode. After playing this mode for a while, this, too, gets old, and you get burned out playing this game. Every once in a great while will you pop this game back in with some friends.
Graphics
The graphics are ok. As in most all N64 games, all the levels and characters are drawn with the 3D technology. The animation is pretty smooth; sometimes it is a little rough though. There are also instances of pop-up and fog.
Overall
This game is just ok. The multiplayer and awesome new concept of plastic soldiers fighting save it. If you are bored, you may want to check out the game from a rental store. If you are looking for a first person shooter, then pick up Goldeneye 007. If you are looking for a great party game, then pick up Mario Party 1 or 2.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID: Jaywa
|
|
Member: Jay Padzensky
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Reviews written: 85
Trusted by: 111 members
|
|
|