Army Men: Air Attack 2

"Not as good as the original, but still great"

Opening Remarks: If there was ever an Army Men game that warranted a sequel, it was Air Attack. Even the people who hate most of the games in the series agreed Air Attack is the best of the bunch, and they were right. Air Attack 2 brings along plenty of improvements, but some of the changes aren't so welcome.

Gameplay: I'm not going to bother describing the gameplay here. If you want that, check out my review of the first game. A lot of things were expanded in this sequel, such as the storyline, which was almost nonexistent in the first game. Now we have cut-scenes in between levels to further the plot. The winch use has also been improved, as you're now able to swing an item you've picked up and use it as a weapon by throwing it. One thing that's changed for the worse is the weapon selection. In the original game, you could carry all the weapons you wanted and select between them during battle. In AA2, however, you can only choose one of these to use before each mission. You could argue that this requires the player to use more strategy, but I'd say it takes away the fun in being able to use the right weapon for the right purpose. Also, mission design on the whole has worsened. The best part of the original game was the innovative mission design, and here, things are much more run of the mill. It's still incredibly fun, just not so much as its predecessor.

Graphics: Sharper and more detailed than the previous game, though nothing you'd call a huge improvement. During gameplay a small window will open up from time to time showing an FMV movie clip of a character speaking to you. As stated above, cut-scenes have been added in between levels, all of which look nice.

Sound/Music: The music has been improved over the first Air Attack, though not by a huge stretch. You'll still forget all the tunes the second you turn the game off. As with the first game, the sound effects are superb. Explosions rock the speakers and all of the weapons sound authentic. There's plenty of speech in the game, but it can definitely seem cheesy during the cut-scenes.

Play Control/Game Design: Controlling your copter is still a breeze, and the analog control is especially nice. You still can't change your copter's height, but I suppose that would allow you to get away from certain enemies just a little too easily. Aiming is simple and if you screw up, you never feel like it's the game's fault.

Improve: Better mission design, ability to carry more than one weapon.

Recommended if you like: Air Attack

Final Words: This is still a great game, but I really can't recommend it over the original game. The sequel brings a ton of improvements, but it took away the most vital part of what made the first game so special, the terrific mission design. Pick this up if you find it, but if the original Air Attack is sitting next to it, grab that instead.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/21/04