Toy Soldiers: Cold War – Preview

Mar 17, 2011

Developer Signal Studios is back with a sequel to its smash XBLA game Toy Soldiers, and this time around you won’t have to be worried about mustard gas and zeppelins, rather AC-130 gunships and tactical nuclear strikes in this battle of the superpowers! Sonic and I had a chance to play Toy Soldiers: Cold War this past weekend at PAX EAST and let me tell you, it is bigger, badder and better than before!

The change from the Great War to the Cold War not only makes the game more relevant to most of today’s gamers, but it adds a whole new arsenal of weapons in the form of toys!  This later setting means that all the weapons and vehicles have been modernized and the pacing and graphics have been upgraded to the bright colors of the 80’s.  Gone are the drab and dusty earth tones found in the original, instead we see all of the colors of a rubik’s cube displayed in vibrant HD. Toy Soldiers : Cold War will allow players to take on the role of both the Americans and the Russians, and maybe even step into the combat boots of a certain headband wearing, M60 carrying, curled lip yelling, super soldier.

Superficially, Toy Soldiers: Cold War resembles any other tower defense game, but labeling it as such does it a grave injustice.  Your base is a toy box sitting at the end of a battlefield, with various paths leading from enemy barracks and garages towards it.  Along these routes are emplacements, upon which you’ll be building the weaponry that will defend your precious base.

Enemies come in waves of various and different flavors, and your job is to place weapons appropriately to halt their advance. Each enemy, be it infantry, APC, tank or aircraft, will remove points from your score if it reaches the toy box, and running out of points means losing and starting over.

What Toy Soldiers: Cold War does differently than other tower defense games, and does very well, is allow the player to take direct control – not only of the various weapon emplacements but also of the tanks, snipers, helicopters and yes even a “Rambo” type character.  Jumping into the firing seat of any of these should, if you’re competent, grant a bit of an advantage – as well provide a great deal of adolescent fun.  This hands on option is what lends the game its FPS feel.  Nothing is as fun or rewarding as taking control of a howitzer and blasting enemy RC tanks!

There are also other advantages to be had, even if you’re not too confident of your shooting skills. Drop into a machinegun and you can fire at enemy infantry well before the AI normally would, mowing them down in large groups as they emerge from barracks in closely packed formations and scoring crazy kill multipliers.  You can also control the in-flight path of rockets and shells to add pinpoint accuracy to your gun emplacements.

The fully three-dimensional maps are beautifully rendered and designed – combining the grim reality of a battlefield with the whimsical decorating sense of a child in the background and even sometimes on the battlefield.  It sounds strange, but trust me it works, you are after all toy soldiers.  The detail that Signal puts into every aspect of the game speaks volumes about their dedication not just as developers, but also as gamers and fans of the game themselves.

If you’re one of the 500,000 people who played the first Toy Soldiers on Xbox Live Arcade, you’re well aware of the addictive nature of this hybrid tower defense and FPS strategy game.  If you are not, well, get out and buy it pronto! Signal Studios is also introducing a new cooperative multiplayer mode, mini-games and more in Toy Soldiers: Cold War.  Tweaks have also been made to vehicle physics, enemy AI and the destructible environments.   Overall, this is a wonderfully detailed and polished piece of entertainment, stuffed full of delightful touches and great ideas.  Also, if you have children that want to game like mom and dad, but you are responsible enough to realize that the Call of Duty games are not appropriate for your 10 year old, then pick this up.  The action is fast and furious, but there is no blood, no swearing and no worries about having a good time.  I promise you that this will be a game for you and your child to play together and if a title can do that and make you smile, well that is a huge plus in my book.

The Toy Soldiers franchise is a lot of fun – full of freshness and subtlety. It’s certainly the best tower defense game on Live hands down, and for my money it’s up there with the best games on XBLA in general and this next chapter only improves on the original.  Slated for a summer release, Toy Soldiers: Cold War is already a must have for my gaming family.

Toy Soldiers: Cold War features:

• Fight the good fight! The Wall did not come down! Control the entire might of the Stars and Stripes to stop the invading forces of the Evil Empire! On land or in the air – drive, fly, and battle your way to victory!
• Highlights: Command the USA and USSR armies with brand new modern weapons and vehicles. Multiple Attack Barrages, Co-op or Single Player Campaign, improved Multiplayer Action, Co-op Survival Modes including Classic, Lockdown, and Hardcore, and fast-paced competitive Mini-Games!
• New Co-op Mode: Join forces with your friends and play on the couch or over Xbox LIVE in Campaign or Survival modes.
• Modern Drivable Units: Hulking battle tanks, fierce attack helicopters, explosive fighter jets, ATVs and more!
• Attack Barrages: Expanded barrage rewards, including First Person Special Forces soldiers, AC-130 gun ships, B-52 bombers, Artillery strikes and Nuke missiles.
• Intensely Addictive Mini-Games! Take a break from the main battle and compete with friends online to rack up the high score in playful mini-games. Hidden challenges in each level encourage replayability and reward player skill.
• New Secondary Turret Features: Grenade launchers, cluster bombs, scopes, missile locks, tactical vision, Overcharge Mode and more!
• Additional Unit Trees: Take down the enemy with WD-40 flame throwers, fireworks, and bug spray!
• Improved: Replayability is improved with Checkpoint Rewind; new and sophisticated driving physics; revamped dynamic destructible environments; new enemy wave behaviors and AI.