Let’s hear it for the 80’s! Despite the fact that said decade unfolded quite some time ago, they still live on in games here and there, mostly through reboots. However, some games actually take their essence and make something worthwhile out of them – like Toy Soldiers: Cold War. Signal Studios’ sequel to the hit strategy/action title digs into the 80’s culture, while still maintaining all the exciting fun that made the original such a hit. Throw your Rubik’s Cube in the air with joy! Rather than choose a side in this war, you’re simply playing as the United States of America, fighting to keep those damn Russkies from crossing over your battlefield and into your toy box. See, you don’t use real soldiers, as the title indicates. You instead pick from a platoon of toy soldiers, as well as encampments and various vehicles that will help you win the war. The original concept was quite clever, and though Cold War limits your choices to just one team (in campaign mode), it doesn’t deteriorate its quality.
Here’s how Cold War works. It’s part strategy, part quick trigger finger when it comes to mowing down your enemies. You’re given a battlefield, which stretches across different areas in the game’s 11 main levels. In these areas, you have access to tools that can help turn the tide of war, including turrets, mortars, commandos, and more. As you mow down opponents and complete objectives (while keeping as many enemies out of your toy box as possible), you gain access to higher revenue, which you can then turn around to purchase upgrades and new toys, such as helicopters (very fun to play with) and tanks. What’s more, you can maintain any of these tools simply by hitting a button once they’re highlighted. Taking control of a turret is surprisingly fun, especially when you activate Elite Mode and turn the stage into an all-out shooting gallery. The commandos are pretty worthwhile, too, and the tanks and choppers provide some true firepower. But you won’t want to stay focused on a single vehicle for long. A primary part of Cold War is strategy, and you’ll need to keep an eye on your army as a whole to keep the bad guys from slipping through into your toy box. Last thing you need is an overrun of red toys.
Toy Soldiers: Cold War maintains a good balance of difficulty, though there are times things can be a bit easy, depending on what you have placed, and where. However, there are five adjustable difficulty settings, and General Mode tightens things up a bit, to the point you’ll really need to think in order to salvage your toy box. But there is one cool new ability that’s worth talking about – Barrage. Mow down enough baddies and you’ll gain access to an invincible Rambo-style soldier, killing everything in his path with an assault rifle and bazooka. He’s not officially Rambo, but he might as well be with his recognizable looks and shouted taunts. Other Barrage styles include a cool AC-130 shoot-em-up sequence, and the ability to drop a nuclear attack on anyone in the region. (We call it the Ronnie attack – guess why.) We wish there were more opportunities to drop these, but that would probably turn the tide too much in our favor. In all, the gameplay is a terrific mix of action and thinking, similar to what Trenched did for us a few weeks back. It plays differently, but it really gives you a minor idea of management while you’re going all commando on someone.
This feature XBLA review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to read more of our thoughts on Toy Soldiers: Cold War.
