A good "beer and pretzels" type game that easily engrosses the player.

Remember those green army men from your childhood? Well, they're back, and in living (green and tan) color, brought to life by the magic of computer. Army Men is a real-time, squad level game, smaller in scope than Starcraft or Dark Reign, and designed not for those who want resource management and who have the desire to meticulously build up an army, but for those who simply want to have fun.

The first portion of the game is the Boot Camp, where, as might be expected from the title, is designed to introduce the player to various nuances of the little green guys and their various weapons. The player maneuvers through this area at will, trying out all of the weapons on cutout targets to see precisely how they work.

Once you have made it through Boot Camp, it's on to the battlefield to destroy the evil Tan Army. The campaigns take place in one of three settings: Desert, Arctic, or Bayou, and each is made up of about a dozen missions. For the first few missions, you are limited to your own character, called "Sarge".

Sarge can pick up a variety of weapons to deal death and mayhem to his tan colored enemies, who blend in surprisingly well with the desert landscape. He can also pick a selection of special items, including medical kits to heal himself, and crates containing items such as airstrikes (great for killing those tan tanks) and air reconaissance. As the game progresses, the player has the opportunity to command more troops, drive tanks, and use weapons such as mortars, grenades, and flamethrowers.

Each mission has different parameters for success. Some require that the player finish within a specified time limit, while others have more specific objectives (i.e. intercepting an enemy, getting friendly troops to a point on the map, etc.).

Overall, gameplay is very simple, and it is relatively easy to learn. Army Men supports a variety of multiplayer modes, and up to four players may play via the Internet or network, and it also supports two player games over modem or serial connection.

The main defect in the game seems to be in the AI for friendly troops. They seem to be laughably easy to kill and can't seem to hit the broadside of a barn. In addition, if ordered to attack an enemy that is at a higher elevation, they will just mill around aimlessly after acknowledging the order, forcing the player (as Sarge) to go kill the offender himself. They can only be commanded as squads, not individuals, which often leads to them being hopelessly bunched up and ripe to be wiped out by a single mortar round.

Overall, this is a good "beer and pretzels" type game that easily engrosses the player. Army Men is a good investment, both for those who want to relive a bit of their childhood, and/or those who are looking for something a little less taxing than Starcraft or Rebellion.

Reviewed by Mark Reindl.