Toy soldiers War Chest Review
HEad-2-Head Edition

*Note: Both reviews reflect the "Hall of Fame" edition for Xbox One*
READ IN "WEB VIEW" FOR OPTIMAL RESULTS
Green represents themes that both authors agreed on
Red highlights concepts that the authors differed on

By Edwin Velez

Toy Soldiers War Chest is the third entry in the series that pits plastic armies against each other in a game that is equal parts action and strategy. This time around Ubisoft is taking advantage of their partnership with Hasbro and throwing licensed properties into the mix like He-Man, G.I Joe, Cobra, and even Assassins Creed. In addition to those, which are unfortunately not standard and only available in the Hall of Fame Edition, there are 4 base armies which include the return of the WWI Kaiser army. After navigating through cluttered menus, players can enter campaign and tackle the some 20 levels included and follow the almost non-existent story behind it. Across these you can level up your armies and earn upgrades, but it is done in a lackluster way that made me want something better because it was such a great idea to add a dynamic like that. At its core, War Chest offers lots for players to do, and it's all backed up by the great gameplay that the series is known for.

Toy Soldiers has almost certainly invented its own genre of gameplay, and has polished the already brilliant set up in the latest entry. Players manage a map in a tower-defense like feel, but can actually pick their units and actively take control of them when support is needed in a particular area, which adds a more engaging experience than can be found in most strategy games. Each army comes with their own set of placements, with the standards ranging from anti-armor, anti-artillery, to even anti-air. There is all sorts of varied gameplay here, with options to control not only vehicles but the armies designated heroes as well. After building up a big enough combo, you can activate these heroes and run around until either your batteries or life runs out. This aspect is arguably the best use of the licensed characters since you actually get to be them and use their unique weapon/moves set. With such great gameplay fueling Toy Soldiers at its core, it’s a shame that they failed at delivering the full experience.

By Lee Marcussen

Toy Soldiers War Chest is the third title in the series of the Toy Soldiers games. Previous titles were “Toy Soldiers” which was based in the time era during the First World War, and the second one was “Toy Soldiers Cold War” this title took place during the Cold War era. Now War Chest adds a lot of the characteristics from the last two titles and adds in the fun part of being a kid playing with toys. In the previous games you could only be countries that fought during the time period they took place in. In War Chest it opens up the imagination of playing with toys, you can pick the German Kaiser, futuristic army, Dungeons and Dragons style army, or even a fairytale style army.  In the Hall of Fame addition you are able to play as Duke and Cobra from GI JOE, HE-MAN, and Ezio from Assassins Creed.

              
  

Gameplay is very nice and offers lots of different placeable turret styles. All the heroes have generally the same style of turrets, anti-infantry, anti-air, anti-armor and so on. A new feature in this game is the option to upgrade specific parts of the placements (fire power, armor, or range). Throughout the gameplay what I have noticed is that some heroes have better style turrets than the other. For example, GI Joe's anti-infantry turret is in my opinion the best one in the game when fully upgraded, but the game puts together a very nice even balance all together. When Mr Velezbian and I played the campaign through I was GI Joe and he was HE-MAN, I built anti-infantry while he built HE-MAN's anti-armor because it was better than GI Joes. The waves are timed which is nice in case you need to upgrade/ repair turrets, but you can also rush the wave to come sooner and get a better bonus. Another cool function added in is the power up bar, which you gain points to fill it up while earning different types of assault attacks. With this, you can control heroes like Kaiser or one of his armies vehicles. This is really nice when big waves come in and you need more than your turrets.

 

Visually, Toy Soldiers looks great. You can see the joints on the figures and they have that plastic appeal, as do the maps and landscapes. Parodied versions of real life objects like batteries and candy can often be seen, and the fact that 8 armies all have their own look really adds to that visual appeal. While this initially can draw players in, an obvious lack of a soundtrack kills the mood most of the time. You can go waves on end just hearing your weapons firing, and there is not much else to heighten the experience. Only when you are a hero can you specifically hear themed music. He-Mans roar of his namesake helps alleviate this, but even the simplest of jingles during the game could have made all the difference.



Toy Soldiers has always been such a great concept not only because of its creativity, but because of its accessibility as well. With armies of plastic figures battling it out in a smart but fun way, almost all audiences can find joy in the series. The addition of classic licensed properties as well as the more recent but largely popular Assassin's Creed bring even wider audiences into the mix, and generational gaps are broken down. Split screen co-op adds to the fun and is the best way to experience the game, adding a deeper and more enjoyable experience. The whole story is playable in co-op, and each player can choose their own armies to further the diversity of the battlefield.

All in all War Chest is a solid entry that sometimes loses its footing in the current generation. It’s backed up by fun competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes as well as Weekly Wars that each give players reasons to come back. With 8 armies to play through, the leveling system will entice some to play more than others, but its structure is a huge let down. I will come back from time to time, working towards the games grinding achievements, but otherwise the depth is little. In Toy Soldiers third tour, they went to war optimistic, but unprepared. Corners were cut, and the game at times feels incomplete. If you want to experience this game at its best, bring a friend, because that shines the true light on the unique and tight gameplay that the series is known for.

Personal Score: 7.5/10

Visually the game was very nice, the graphics were clean and the weapons were very well designed. I really liked the animations that go along with the turrets, like when you reload the big cannons you can see them moving the shell into place and loading it. The enemies are very well designed besides the fairy b***h character (she sends these little tiny ninja guys that are very hard to see they suck ass and I hate fighting her.) Personal rant aside, the map layouts are very nice with lots of things that bring the map to life and give it the kind of childish battle field you would put together if you played army men.  Now the audio of the game is nice in regards for the turret sound effects but the nonexistent soundtrack blows. There are points in the game where there is no fighting while you are waiting for a new  wave and it's just quiet and there should have been more music added in.

A big part of the game is collecting all of the upgrades for your turrets and your hero, the way you achieve this is through completing missions and gaining points in order to buy these upgrades. At the end of the missions you get game packs that give you upgrades, but if you already have that same upgrade you just get the coin value. This is all nice but you can use the points you earn to buy more of these packs or you can buy the upgrades specifically. In my opinion kind of kills the whole working your way up to collect everything because you can pretty much buy it all.

                

War Chest is a very very enjoyable game that is easy going and laid back. It's not a game where you’ll throw your controller if you lose. It's a game you can put down and then come back in a couple of weeks and still enjoy it. The replay value is very high, but it's also easy going so younger siblings and kids could play without much experience. Overall, I really enjoyed this game a lot, I was very excited when they introduced it and I am very pleased with the final product. I really liked the nostalgic feel it gives you from playing with green army men on the floor to now playing it on the big screen through the xbox.   I am interested if down the road if any DLC would be released because I would without a doubt pick it up.  

personal Score: 7.5/10

Final Score: 7.5/10

+Great Fun
+Multiple Armies
+Multiplayer Modes

-Lack of a soundtrack
-Pointless leveling system

Developer: Signal Studios
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: PC PlayStation 4 Xbox One
Release date: August 11, 2015