The Army Men series was created by 3DO and it was known for its unique cast of characters and universe, where plastic men wage war against one another. Sarge is portrayed as the main protagonist in the series who leads his faction of Green Army to defeat the evil Tan Army lead by Plastro.
Army Men Series
Sarge's Heroes Series
Air Attack Series
World War Series
Others
Criticism
The first few Army Men games were well received by critics but as time went on, the series began to decline in quality. While the cutscenes and voice over stayed consistent and original, the biggest downfall was the gameplay and graphics, which hardly changed over the years. The newer games (mostly for the consoles) seemed to recycle the same game engine and graphics from previous titles with very little improvements. This made them looked outdated in newer consoles.
It is speculated that the reason behind the downfall is because of its rushed development. Between 1999 and 2002, over 19 titles were released every few months, meaning that they were being developed concurrently and released around the same time. This lead us to believe that 3DO were trying so hard to publish as many games as possible that they put little time and effort in each title.
Other criticisms include punishing difficulty and confusing timeline between each game. Army Men RTS was the last Army Men game to be released by 3DO before they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The major franchises were auctioned off, and Army Men was purchased by Global Star Software (Now 2K Play).
With some original members joining Global Star, they released Sarge's War and Major Malfunction but even with a fresh start, these games were criticized for being poor in every aspect. In 2008, Big Blue Bubble and ZOO Digital Publishing released Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune, which looked nothing like the original series because of its child-like characters and settings.
Number of Releases by Year
1998: 1
1999: 7
2000: 3
2001: 5
2002: 4
2003: 1
2004: 1
2006: 1
2008: 1
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