REVIEW: Toy Soldiers – XBLA

When I think of little green army men, I think of a hot day and a magnifying glass. Signal Studios and Xbox had other ideas however. Toy Soldiers is, at its core, a tower defence game with extra punch.

For those not familiar with tower defence games the goal is to defend your area from waves of attackers by building towers in strategic areas. The attackers generally are of certain types so the tricky part is building the correct towers to combat any of the waves that come your way.

Based around World War 1 you have the typical weapons of the time, tanks, cavalry, flamethrowers, and are charged with the gruelling task of protecting the toy box from the onslaught of little green army men. It has the typical features of any tower defence game. You have your ground, air and strong assaults and of course each level has the big boss.

In Toy Soldiers the attackers are the Germans and you play as the Allies. The Germans have cavalry, infantry, planes, tanks and other war related machinery. Your towers range from light machine guns to toxic flame throwers to pom-pom anti aircraft missiles.

The big difference in this game is that you can control your towers and actively take part in the defence of the toy box. Fight off tanks and aircraft as the siren sounds another wave. Quickly switch to a strategic view of the battleground and dive back to the trenches as you prepare for the next onslaught. This really sets it apart from other tower defence games as it really keeps you engaged and interacting at all times.

The game itself is addictive and bright. The wartime music and theme have a fun and light atmosphere to them and they keep the game quite innocent by having the army men break apart when they die, like plastic army men would. The graphics do leave a lot to be desired but I think it actually adds to its charm to have it hazy and aged looking.

All in all, if tower defence games are your thing this is a great game to play as it is really quite different from other games in the same genre. If however you’re into games with longevity, graphics or excitement, you’re probably best to leave this one alone.