N-Philes :: News :: Army Men: Air Combat

Viewing Entry

Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions

Posted by Kenny.

Continuing the long chain of 3D0's Army Men franchise, Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions is the first to appear for Nintendo's next-generation console. You play the role of Captain William Blade, a hotshot green army pilot who's famous for whipping tan tail. Featuring a complete campaign, an initial four different helicopters with six different co-pilots, and a full array of multiplayer modes to choose from, Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions looks to be the complete package. Be wary though, since this package may explode on you at any minute, as it has for the developers of this game. Weak execution prevents this title from becoming anything beyond mediocre, and it fails to break the Army Men series out of the slump it's been under ever since its conception.

Gameplay

You take control of William Blade and his Alpha Wolf Squadron as they man a number of different airborne machines to stop the constant threat of the plastic tan army. The idea is simple enough, just shoot down enemy forces with your array of weaponry, and complete objectives given to you by your head officer, Colonel Grimm. Conflicts get hotter with the inclusion of Baron Von Beige, notorious tan flying ace whose skills are ranked at the top along with Blade's. Of course, this really should be no contest, since Blade flies immensely powerful Apache 'copters, while the Baron controls a skimpy and way out of date, World War I Fokker Triplane. Despite their large number of forces, the tan army is in need of a serious technological overhaul. Who knows, maybe someday they'll discover gunpowder. But until then, this game is way too easy.

To be honest, Army Men: Air Combat could have been a really enjoyable game. The concept isn't too shabby, and with the GCN's capabilities, fighting in outdoor and indoor terrains, like the backyard or the kitchen, could have been implemented really well. However, this mental notion was thrown completely out the window once I discovered the numerous queer development choices the creators made. For one, the game plays in a semi-top-down view that restricts any dog fighting whatsoever. Secondly, the game takes place in only one environment, outside. Thirdly, the game is such an overall rushed job that no aspect of this potential hit has survived untainted. That said, there leaves little left that can be properly salvaged from Army Men: Air Combat.

If you spend enough time with this title, the controls eventually become manageable. It's certainly a major frustration that the birds-eye view only allows you to see several feet in front of you, but compromise is a way of life, and you can still beat the game quite easily despite this visual restriction. The gameplay is definitely aimed towards a younger audience, due to the basic mechanics and laughable game intelligence. You're given two options in Air Combat aside from moving and strafing. You have the ability to shoot primary and secondary weapons, or drop down your winch. The winch is a grappling hook that extends from the bottom of your helicopter that has a number of different purposes. Pick up upgrades from the floor, pick up items to drop on your enemies, or obtain special objective items and transport them to specific areas. The winch also expands the game's depth by bringing in drag resistance physics, as well as a bit of strategy to solve simple problems. If you're in heavy enemy territory, dropping an enormous garden spade in the area can clear it up fairly quickly. Or if you'd like, lure outdoor bugs to the enemy with bait that's retrieved from the ground. It's a nice touch of strategy, but since it's so easy to do and 100% more effective than your measly weapons, you can beat the entire game using that technique alone. An easily foreseen problem that just adds to the game's childish impression.

If you don't like playing dirty, you're always given the opportunity of kicking tan butt using your helicopters weapons. With a primary shot that apparently does no damage, and two secondary weapon systems, you have a complete list of ways to cause major havoc. You'll definitely rely on the secondary weapons most often, since they can pack a punch, and with only your primary machine guns, enemy fighters can take quite a beating. The secondary weapons you begin with depends on two things, what helicopter you're using and which co-pilot you choose prior to starting the mission. The developers failed to strike a balance between co-pilots though, since some of them are useful while others are clearly not. For example, the last co-pilot you obtain and supposedly the best one, is absolutely useless. His laser weapon is only good for one thing, heating up cold food. The green paratroopers, on the other hand, automatically focus on numerous targets and they efficiently demolish the area.

The poor balance that pervades this title is the main reason why all the head-to-head competitions that have been included are no fun at all. Featuring Bug Hunt, Aerial Assault, Flag-Nab-It, and Food Fight, each and every one of these multiplayer modes have critical flaws in them. Take Flag-Nab-It for instance, which is just a quirky name for Capture the Flag. Since your helicopter moves at the same speed as your opponent, you have approximately 5 seconds to destroy him once he captures your flag, because that's about how long it takes for him to come in and get out. Once he's ahead of you, your flag is as good as gone since your ground forces refuse to do anything beyond run in circles. Three minutes after playing this mode with a friend, and ‘Capture the Flag' quickly turned into ‘Race to the Finish'. We didn't bother shooting each other, it took too much time. Instead, it was a race to see who could capture the other person's flag first. Because if you get the flag first, you've pretty much won that game. The only saving grace that can be said about the multiplayer aspect to The Elite Missions is the addition of a cooperative campaign mode. If the single-player campaign is too hard for you, it could only mean one of two things. Either you're legally blind, or you have no hands. In any case, the two-player campaign is always an option if you're in that predicament, because the game just becomes a hell of a lot easier. Truth be told, I spent most of my time completing the campaign mode with a friend, despite having my eyes and thumbs, because the game isn't so painful that way. Actually, at certain moments I even had some fun. But then, that only happened when I got so bored that I turned renegade and blasted my friend with missiles, just to watch his reaction. Ah, good times.

Visuals

It pains me deeply to say this, but to be completely fair to loyal Nintendophiles who read this review, Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions has some of the worst graphics I've ever seen for any GameCube game on the market. Air Combat doesn't stack up against bad next-gen ports, is no comparison to Dreamcast games, and only puts up a fair fight with N64 titles. Good guys are dark green. Bad guys are tan yellow. The rest is just a smear of colors. The first level is more than decent looking, but the ride gets bumpier from there on out. Little to no texture work was done on some of the polygons littering this title, and yet oddly enough, the frame rate hardly ever keeps up. What's the deal? There's very little going on around you, and it's not nice to look at anyway. Let's hope this is the first and only offence of its kind.

Although the in-game graphics will leave your eyes sore, the cinematic FMV's are of a much higher quality. They're sharp and, surprisingly enough, motion capture is used for all the character animations. Motion capture doesn't come cheap, so I can't imagine why they'd spring for this addition when the rest of the game is clearly what needs tuning. I shouldn't be complaining about that. What does need complaining though, is the directing job of those movies. The motion capture was spot-on, but the problem was that the actors were far too exaggerated in their movements. I was fully expecting tan leader, General Plastro, to perform a couple of pirouettes for the camera. Another indication that this game is better off in the hands of your little brother, or your children, or your children's children.

Audio

The music to Army Men: Air Combat is pure generic stuff. Although I'm assuming it's supposed to be inspiring, I was in such a drag after playing the entire game that I felt more like crawling into a hole and dying rather than being inspired. The music can't save this game; nothing can save this game. But no one tries to, so no harm is done (except to me). It's got the full barrage of rattatats and booms, and when it is all tied together, you get something that's sufficient. The voice work is all right, especially since some familiar voice actors can be recognized. The volume ranges too frequently though. To hear Colonel Grimm explain the mission objectives to me, I had to crank the sound to my television set way up. When he finished, I had to tune it down because the music was too loud. I'm not sure whose fault that was though, the developers', the voice actor's, or my crappy TV's.

This game gets an N-Philes score of F.

Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions was a painful experience. I don't particularly enjoy bashing videogames, because that usually means I have to play them first. However, I couldn't avoid giving this game the sharp side of my tongue. Seeing how the Army Men series has been going on for some time now, I expected a lot more polish in all areas of this game. You're suppose to be learning from your mistakes, but this game is so full of them that I'm afraid to even imagine what the N64 version was like. It's a child's game through and through, so if you like simplicity marred with bad execution, this could be your ticket. But if you're like every other single human being on this planet, than you won't find this title enjoyable. I recommend you rent it if and only if you have some perverse attraction towards anything involving the Army Men series. Other than that, it might be best to steer clear from this game's flight path.

Posted in: Reviews