- This article is about the overall Army Men series. For the 1998 game, see Army Men (video game).
Army Men is a series of video games produced by 3DO from 1998 until the release of Army Men: Turf Wars in 2002. After 3DO filed bankruptcy in 2003, the series was purchased by Global Star Software, which produced two Army Men games before being sold to Take-Two Interactive in 2007. From 2008 onward, various different companies have worked on the series, and has lacked any major entries.
Plot[]
The plot focused of four nations of plastic toy soldiers, with other nations making minor appearances. Early games were more serious, with the only reminder that the player's men were plastic being that when they died, they would melt or shatter. However, the series later took on a more light-hearted tone as the Army Men discovered the Real World and held battle at, for example, kitchen counters or flower gardens.
Inspiration[]
The games were inspired by commonplace toy soldiers, often known as green army men. These figures were originally produced as cheap copies of tin figures. Now, they are some of the most well known toys in the world.
Games[]
The series consists of multiple games.
| Title | Release date | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Army Men | 1998 | PC, Game Boy Color |
| Army Men II | 1999 | PC, Game Boy Color |
| Army Men 3D | 1999 | PlayStation |
| Army Men: Sarge's Heroes | 1999 | PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast |
| Army Men: Toys in Space | 1999 | PC |
| Army Men: Air Attack (Army Men: Air Combat in the Nintendo versions) |
1999 | PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color |
| Army Men: World War | 2000 | PC, PlayStation |
| Army Men: Air Tactics | 2000 | PC |
| Army Men: World War - Land, Sea, Air | 2000 | PlayStation |
| Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 | 2000 | PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color |
| Army Men: Air Attack 2 (also known as Army Men: Air Attack - Blade's Revenge and Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions) |
2000 | PlayStation, PlayStation 2, GameCube |
| Army Men: World War - Final Front (Army Men: Lock 'n' Load) |
2001 | PlayStation |
| Army Men: Green Rogue (Army Men: Omega Soldier) |
2001 | PlayStation, PlayStation 2 |
| Army Men Advance | 2001 | Game Boy Advance |
| Portal Runner | 2001 | PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color |
| Army Men: World War - Team Assault | 2001 | PlayStation |
| Army Men: Operation Green | 2001 | Game Boy Advance |
| Army Men: RTS | 2002 | PC, PlayStation 2, GameCube |
| Army Men: Turf Wars | 2002 | Game Boy Advance |
| Army Men: Sarge's War | 2004 | PC, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox |
| Army Men: Major Malfunction | 2006 | PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune | 2008 | PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS |
| Army Men: Mobile Ops | 2010 | Mobile |
| Army Men Strike | 2017 | Mobile |
Continuity[]
The Continuity of the games have often been difficult to discern. Portals are discovered by the Green nation for the first time in the original Army Men, but treated as a new discovery again in Army Men: Sarge's Heroes. As a result, it seems that there are at least two separate timelines:
- The Original Timeline - Army Men (and its remake, Army Men 3D), Army Men II, and finally Army Men: Toys in Space.
- Army Men: World War was marketed as a sequel to Army Men 3D, which would make it and its numerous sequels part of this timeline, with its World War II aesthetic putting this series' events concurrent with the first Army Men game and its remake.
- Army Men: Operation Green seems to fit in with this continuity as well, as the world and aesthetic present in it imply that it is set during the conflict seen in the original games, before the events of the first game and its remake.
- The Sarge's Heroes Timeline - Sarge's Heroes, Green Rogue, Sarge's Heroes 2, Portal Runner, Advance, The Air Combat games, Turf Wars and Army Men: RTS.
- Though Air Combat was released between Sarge's Heroes 1 and 2, General Plastro is a major villain in the story, despite being Plastered after Sarge's Heroes 1. Though he is eventually unplastered in Sarge's Heroes 2, he is soon afterwards imprisoned, where he remains by the end of Portal Runner. Both the Tan and Green armies make extensive use of Portals, which precludes the story from taking place before the original game. It's possible that the games take place sometime after the events of Portal Runner, and that Plastro has escaped prison offscreen.
- Army Men Advance seems to set itself up as a part of this timeline, but as Plastro is the main antagonist of this game, despite being plastered at the end of Sarge's Heroes, and taken captive by the Green Army at the end of Sarge's Heroes 2, it's not clear where this would fit in however.
- Turf Wars is set entirely in the real world, with a Blue Spy assisting SGT Hawk into taking down several tan superweapons and heavily tampering their production output.
- Sarge's War and Major Malfunction are dubiously canon entries into this timeline.
- Sarge's War states that entirety of Bravo Company is wiped out, however, Bullseye (who presumably joined Bravo Company after the events of Portal Runner) is not killed, or ever shown as a member of the squad in the first place. Further more, in the story of Sarge's War, SGT Hawk recounts being under the command of Major Gooding in a mission to the Real World long before "the heroes" (Bravo Company), which is impossible; Army Men: Sarge's Heroes makes it clear that the Green Nation have never been aware of the "parallel world" until learning of it when Hawk chases the Blue Spy down through a portal, by which point he's already the leader of Bravo Company.
- Major Malfunction also doesn't have any other faction outside of the Green Nation, nor does it ever address past games events despite billing itself as "Army Men: Episode XVII" in its "Star Wars" style opening crawl. The game has two separate characters named "Sarge" and "Hawk" who both heavily resemble SGT Hawk, and it's not clear which is meant to be the actual Sgt. Hawk of the previous games.
Some games, such as Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune, seem to be standalone titles that do not fit into any timeline, while others, like Army Men Strike, simply have vague enough connections to other continuities that it's impossible to tell where they're meant to fit in.