Small Soldiers: Squad Commander

Reviews / previews

Review: Small Soldiers: Squad Commander

Hot on the heels of the lackluster film, Major Chip Hazard and the gang from DreamWorks' Small Soldiers: Squad Commander have arrived to wage war on the PC. Like 3DO's Army Men, Small Soldiers is a real-time, mission-based, tactical combat game where players control a small group of "toys" (in this case, action figures) to wage a very real and deadly war. Small Soldiers has gone beyond Army Men, placing these engagements in a battleground that resembles a once-peaceful neighborhood, including backyards, bedrooms, basements, and local shops.

You lead either the Commando Elite or the Gorgonites into a 20-mission battle for control of the neighborhood. While the movie presents the Commando Elite as villains with aggressive xenophobic attitudes, they actually seem to be more fun and challenging to play than their opponents. In the film, the passive and fairly peaceful Gorgonites became content with a "hide and lose" strategy. As the in-game enemy, they're a quick and tactical, worthy rival. But they seem all too like their movie counterparts when you're forced to rely on them as your soldiers.

The gameplay is similar to Army Men's. It's got an overhead view of the action, except players can command more than one character. Along the way, units can pick up extra goodies like firecrackers, Tinker Toys, and other gadgets that cause further damage and general mayhem. As the game progresses, players gain access to more characters and can command greater numbers of them. Since the characters are action figures, it's possible to have an entire team made up of Chip, but a mix of units is recommended (combined arms, anyone?) since some units can fire at range, while others inflict greater damage but require direct contact.

The individual missions demand that you solve relatively easy puzzles while engaging in a near-constant melee with opponents. Avoid traps like table saws and lawnmowers while successfully destroying enemy computers, flooding basements, and rescuing team members from the clutches of the vile foe. Damage can be repaired by obtaining new batteries (something that would never fix any real-world action figure), while power-ups can be obtained to improve the unit's offensive capabilities.

The graphics and cut-scenes are more reminiscent of the film Toy Story (albeit a poor-man's version) than of Small Soldiers. While the individual units very closely resemble their big-screen personas, the game's setting doesn't have a particularly compelling or realistic look. You'll feel more like you're watching a bad Saturday-morning cartoon than action figures locked in a fight to the death.

The limited amount of dialogue from the characters-including Tommy Lee Jones' voice for Major Chip Hazard-grates on your nerves after a while. Then again, the overly repeated one-liners make it that much more fun to turn these figures into a pile of scrap plastic!

Overall, Small Soldiers should keep the younger crowd happy for hours, but the lack of mission diversity and multiplay will turn off more seasoned vets. While Army Men appealed to anyone who grew up with toy soldiers, Small Soldiers is too current and cutesy to strike a cord with diehard gamers.-- Peter Suciu / GamePro