Army Men: Green Rogue: Information from Answers.com Mobile

Army Men: Green Rogue

Release Date: March 20, 2001
Genre: Shooter
Style: Third-Person 3D Shooter
Similar Games: Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 (PlayStation 2), Army Men: Air Attack 2 (PlayStation 2)

Game Description

Unlike previous releases under 3DO's prolific Army Men brand, Green Rogue is a character-based game featuring action and adventure from a third-person perspective. Players take the role of the Omega Soldier, a powerful one-man army, biotechnologically enhanced with genetic coding taken from members of the Green Army's Bravo Company (and from the series' uber-hero Sarge himself).

Army Men: Green Rogue is designed to offer old-fashioned, third-person shooter gameplay in a detailed PlayStation 2 environment. As in classic arcade games like Heavy Barrel or Ikari Warriors, players guide the hero through thick forests and open meadows, filling the air ahead with a spray of bullets to eliminate continuous waves of approaching enemies. As in many contemporary PS2 games, Army Men: Green Rogue features 3D-rendered backgrounds and smooth polygonal characters. Keep and eye on the horizon and a finger on the trigger as the Omega Soldier blasts his way to victory.

~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

With all the different genres that Army Men games have made their way to, it was inevitable that 3DO would eventually run out of ideas. Enter Army Men: Green Rogue, a game that seems to be a direct descendant to those glorious games of arcade past: Ikari Warriors, Commandos, Devastators, Heavy Barrel. The list goes on and on and stretches back to the early days of video game popularity. Green Rogue tries to offer similar fast-paced action, but suffers from a host of problems. Unfortunately, most players will have a more entertaining time playing those decade-old games rather than dealing with this one.

The Omega Soldier sure looks cool, but his movements are a bit suspect, especially if one doesn't have experience with this style of control scheme. One of the analog sticks controls his general movement, while the other controls the direction of his aim, similar to Robotron or Smash T.V. The R and L buttons are best suited for the rest of the actions, which include shooting upward, just plain shooting, ducking, and using a special screen-clearing bio-weapon. The controls actually aren't that bad once you get used to them, and really do serve as a throwback to the heyday of this type of game.

It's the fighting that lacks the real charisma of yesterday, or today for that matter. The screen scrolls constantly, never letting up, even as you're passing enemies and power-ups alike. There's no way to go back once you've passed something; the game just keeps on going. And despite the massive amount of weapons that Omega Soldier is seen strapping on during the long opening intro, he can use only a single weapon at a time. A few of the weapons are great, but the rest are unwieldy. If you get stuck with a rotten weapon, you're stuck until you can find a better one -- which has a chance of passing you by amidst the action.

This isn't the only problem in Green Rogue, unfortunately. Another issue is the hit detection, which is far from precise. Often you'll get a direct hit on one of the many approaching soldiers or enemy vehicles, only to have it not register at all. And thanks to all of the enemies, projectiles, and other assorted objects on the screen, the game often slows to a crawl that would make even the most seasoned NES shooter fan grimace.

While the gameplay could use serious work, the visuals are a bright spot. The characters are all polygonal builds and are positioned over a smooth-scrolling 3D rendered background. Although everything lacks a certain amount of detail, the graphics are certainly a step up from the standard Army Men fare we've grown so accustomed to. The music is mostly the same melodramatic pap that litters other Army Men games, but it does at least fit the setting and rarely gets in the way of whatever enjoyment you can squeeze out of the title.

Army Men: Green Rogue offers up some furious action with plenty of enemies on the screen, but its numerous problems keep it from being a proper homage to the games that so obviously inspired it. As it stands, it is a sub-par action game that could have been a contender for those desiring a quick action fix -- if only some of the complications had been worked out before its release.