Army Men: Sarge's Heroes

Growing up, plastic army men were some of my favorite toys to play with when I was a kid. So, when I saw this on the shelf at Blockbuster back in the day, I just had to try it out. While I enjoyed it for the most part, there were some flaws that watered down the experience.

The story was fairly imaginative and really helped reflect that your playing little plastic soldiers: in an alternate dimension, two armies of living plastic soldiers are at war with each other: the good Green Army led by Colonel Grimm pitted against the evil Tan army led by General Plastro. Plastro has discovered portals leading to the real, from which he retrieves and weaponizes household objects and other toys to turn the tide against the Greens. Now, it's up to the Green Army's best soldier, Sergeant "Sarge" Hawk (Jim Cummings) to rescue his captured squad mates from Bravo Company and thwart Plastros plans.

The gameplay was made up of third person running and gunning. You'll wield Vietnam era weapons, like the M16 rifle, M60 machine gun, Remington 870 shotgun, M21 sniper rifle, and others. Your enemies include Tan army infantrymen, tanks, and helicopters while in the real world, you'll battle ants, spiders, and V-Bots.

The controls were manageable for the most part, but consisted of tank controls and turning was a pain in the neck. Plus, the camera was slow and cumbersome and would sometimes even circle around you during your combat, placing your enemies out of your field of vision, giving them the opportunity to pepper you with gunfire.

The enemy AI was a mixed bag. In some areas, the enemies were dim-witted cannon fodder and easy to kill with your M16 via auto aim, while in others, they were out of sight and, thanks to the clunky camera angles, were able to chip away at your health. It got especially frustrating with hidden enemies that would decimate you with lethal flamethrowers or sniper rifles.

The graphics and level design were acceptable. While the real-world levels had detailed and dynamic levels with household objects serving as obstacles and steppingstones to get around, the army men universe had more repetitive layouts, barren landscapes, and dull, limited coloring. The characters had more detailed and cartoonish designs, giving them more charm and personality than previous games.

The sound and music were the best part of all. The soundtrack had a strong patriotic theme you'd hear in war movies that helps get you hyped for battle. The sounds of combat were crisp and tense sounding, like gunfire, explosions, and vehicle engines.

While better options existed at the time, this was still a solid and enjoyable game for fans of the series, and I consider it the best entry.