0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Army Men Air Attack

     

Army Men Air Attack also known as Army Men Air Combat on the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color is a third person air combat shooter, similar to the previously released Army Men Air Tactics but fully in 3D the game also features the same main character Cpt William Blade. As with all Army Men games on the Playstation it was developed and published by The 3DO Company.

The games was released in North America and Europe for the Playstation, releasing in November of 1999 in North America and the following March in Europe, the Nintendo 64 released was in the middle of 2000 this was exclusive to North America while the Game Boy Color release occurred in November of 2000 in both Europe and North America. The game also received a Windows release for Europe in June of 2001

The Green and Tan armies are once again at for this time in the air, leading the valiant defence of the green territory as Cpt William Blade use four different types of chopper to rain down plastic melting hell upon the Tan Army, using either the Huey, Chinook, Super Stallion or the Apache.

Using these four aircraft the player must navigate around the treacherous environments such as the Backyard, the picnic area and nearby beaches. Using either air to air combat or air to ground combat against a variety of enemies from Battleships to insects. Protection missions as well are key to defeating the Tan army, with the player having to protect tanks, trucks, other helicopters, a train as well as more wired items like a teddy bear and UFO.

The game has a total of 16 missions to complete with the three helicopters the Chinook, Super Stallion and Apache unlocked as you progress you can also unlock an addition three co-pilots, Woodstock, Rawhide and Hardcore the final unlockable co-pilot is Sarge Hawk. The game also features a two player mode with players able to either play a cooperative two player mode or go head to head against each other in the competitive two player mode.

One again the Green and Tan armies are at war, after the Tan army encroaches upon Green territory only one man can stop the advance of the evil Tan’s, Captain William Blade and his ragtag crew of pilots using one of four different aircraft to rain down plastic carnage upon the Tan army as well as an aggressive insect army as well.

With the exception of one review they are all pretty well grouped together between a high of 80 and a low of 70, as usual though we will start with the best which is an 80 from French publication Jeuxvideo.com who had the following to say. the gameplay is a real treat and the vast field of action to accomplish brings a lot of diversity.

German Publication Video Games who scored the game at a 78 had plenty of praise for it with the following. Whether alone or against a friend - Army Men Air Attack is fun thanks to the unusual ideas. The ability to draw humorous ideas from the proportions was well used and provides an entertaining gaming experience. Since the degree of difficulty noticeably increases from half of the game, even more experienced players are busy for a while. And the option of solving tasks in different ways additionally tempts you to try it again.

Absolute Playstation were the next highest scored review with a 77, with the review much preferring the ground combat of the original game, they concluded that stealth is what all action games are about these days and was critical of the fly straight into danger approach of Air Attack, someone should remind him that he is not playing a stealth game.

GameSpot rated Army Men Air Attack at a respectable 75/100 they were critical of the milking of the Army Men series by 3DO and the lacklustre recent Playstation entries in the series, however they had fun with this helicopter based shooter.

PSX Extreme and GamePro bother scored the game a 70 out of 100, Extreme were critical of the lack of variety on offer to keep the average game interested they recommended only a rental. GamePro concluded their review with if you have Ever wanted to take Army Men and fly them around, gunning down your enemies in super-powerful choppers? Too bad, because 3DO already has a game like that, and it's ready for you.

Now on to the lowest review the game received which was a 42/100 from The Video Game Critic with the game reminding the review of a whimsical version of Desert Strike, but a repetitive version of it. They did praise the two player split screen mode however over all they concluded that there was nothing wrong with Air Attack but nothing special either.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude who will give you $2 if you are looking to trade in your copy of Army Men Air Attack, if on the other hand you are looking to buy a copy of the game you will be looking at a $7 outlay for a copy form Gamedude.

Retrogames.co.uk currently do not have this game listed on any platform so we quickly move on to eStarland.com who have two copies currently available. Both are incomplete copies of the game the first a copy with no case is priced at $3.60, while the second copy comes with a disc only and is priced at $2.48. eStarland also offer a trade in and are willing to pay $1.50 for a copy of Army Men Air Attack.

Finally on to Amazon.com where we find a plentiful supply of the game available, starting with the cheapest the first page can be written off as these copies are either disc only or have no information about the quality of the copy. So moving on and we find on the second page a very good condition copy of the game a complete one as well for $6.48 once shipping has been added in.

A very good condition copy can be picked up for between $6.50 and $8 but you will have to filter through the incomplete copies to find the few good ones. It may be worth paying a doller or two more for a like new copy which is currently priced up at $8.99. With a couple more Amazon fulfilled copies priced up at $9.90 and $10.99.

If on the other hand you are looking for a new copy of the game prices start at a few cents over $20 once shipping costs have been added in, with prices for a new copy of the game reaching a high of $39.95, this copy is fulfilled by Amazon so comes with free shipping.

Written by

P J Gibbon