Army Men March Back to GBA

Army Men : Operation Green is the latest in a long line of Army Men products, including several handheld releases. Ever sceptical when it comes to 3DO franchises, last week we caught up with Pocket Studios CEO and founder Steve Illes and grilled him on the topic of his company's latest release. Continuing the long-running battle between Green and Tan, this latest release features "a true isometric engine with beautiful backgrounds and models", and a "completely new and very sophisticated" AI system. "Every enemy has his own set of instructions and they're much tougher than in earlier games in the series." Indeed, Operation Green seems to have more in common with Commandos II than previous Army Man incarnations. Your Tanned enemies won't know what hit 'em, and if you fancy yourself as a plasticized Solid Snake, "it's possible to sneak up and despatch them silently." "You have seven basic weapon types including bazooka and flame-thrower. The Tan have really fortified their defences - so you'll see watchtowers and machine gun bunkers, heavy artillery, mini-thermo-nuclear devices, troops piling out of helicopters and trucks, fanatical troops that will run at you and blow bombs up. All this whilst dodging mines and barbed wire fences. The green army will drop supplies and ammunition for you - you're certainly going to need it." When asked about the emergence of decent Army Men software on the GameBoy, Illes admitted that Pocket Studios don't mind sticking to tradition "if it means getting good scores", but that he is confident of Operation Green's success. "There are lots of different mission types to keep the player interested. It's not just shooting everything in sight - the player has to rescue hostages, find secrets and deliver supplies. "The individual levels are huge and we would be very surprised if a player found everything on a level on the first few goes. There's plenty to explore and there are plenty of secrets to be found. We hope there's enough to keep the player coming back for more." Operation Green has been in development since April 2001, and was released in the US just before Christmas. It's currently scheduled for release in the UK in early 2002. Related Feature - Army Men : Operation Green screenshots