War Stories. We’ve all heard a few. How some great heroic ancestor fought their way though waves of countless foes for the good of the nation. Well it’s clear to see those stories as inspiration for a true Xbox Live Arcade gem, Toy Soldiers.

Toy Soldiers takes place in the bedroom of a young boy, who seems to have quite a liking for his World War 1 play sets! You play though famous battles of the “ Great War” from the point of view of your average 7-year-old. Meaning the odd giant robot, or spaceship, may make its way onto the battlefield. All your unites are actually toys that have come to life. Quite like Toy Story, but with much more violence.  The objective of each level is quite simple. Protect your Armies HQ (or Toy box) from the waves of oncoming enemy forces. You do this by sending waves of your own troops toward the enemy, building cannons, AA guns, and machine-gun posts. These can be upgraded, and the game even lets you control them third-person style, adding to the awesome-level of Toy Soldiers as a whole.

In addition, you can fly bomber aircraft and drive monster tanks to crush all those that oppose you on the battlefield.

It’s easy to think of Toy Soldiers as a Total War spin-off, with added tanks and planes you can control. And you’d be thinking right, but that’s in no way a bad thing.  For 1200 Microsoft points, you’ll easily get your moneys worth from the package.

And now comes the story, which honestly, doesn’t exist. Before every level, you’re given an objective, and a short paragraph informing you of what’s going on.  Toy Soldiers takes pride in its young boy mind set, and, lets be honest, most young lads only care for explosions and “sh*t blowing up” so a solid plot isn’t very important.  It had next to no effect on my enjoyment of the game, however, so it’s not something to worry much about.

Sound effects fit in well to every warzone, that satisfying “Ka-Bloom!” you hear every time you fire off one of your “Big Bertha” cannons hits the spot every time.

The soundtrack consists of (somewhat catchy) 1920’s recordings, adding to the atmosphere greatly.

Toy Soldiers isn’t very ambitious, but for-fills everything it wants to be. The result is a fun distraction that will kill many hours, and offer you a different experience from everything else on the Xbox 360.

Once you’ve finished off the campaign (Its around 6 hours, but as some of the later boss battles are real hard, it could last much longer) more game modes are unlocked, including a whole new “campaign +” mode, which allows for many more hours of World War 1 shenanigans.

As for multiplayer options, Toy Soldiers online will give you 1 vs. 1 battles which, though nothing special, is an enjoyable little experience. Throw in a few challenge levels to spice things up, and you’ll be running into days worth of gameplay. For just over £10, its safe to say you’ll get your moneys worth.

Now its time for the few downfalls of Toy Soldiers, that, though not many, may just put you off it all together.  First things first, if you’re a massive RTS fan, then you might be disappointed. Toy Solders has very little of the depth you’ve come to expect from Total War-esque titles. Smarts isn’t something that has much effect on the outcome of a battle, so your well paced battle stratages will be pretty much worthless on the fields of World War 1. I felt a small hit of Gears of War throughout the campaign, which should sum up how much more action focused Toy Soldiers is.

Secondly, the scale of the battles is way smaller than the 80,000 men on one screen of Total war. This is understandable- you have to remember it’s running on the humble Xbox 360, not a maxed out gaming PC, meaning it has its limits.

If you’re willing to overlook these flaws, or even if you’re completely new to the RTS genre, Toy Soldiers is a unique and detailed battle-zone worthy or your hard earned bucks.

The DLC is worth a look too. One pack adds Aliens and Giant evil robots to the table. Its sequel, Toy Soldiers: Cold war also has plenty to offer, but has a steeper learning curve. It’s much better to kick-off with the original, and what some may call, the best in the series.

Toy Soldiers is available exclusively on Xbox live arcade and retails for 1200 Microsoft points. What are you waiting for?

                                                                                  9.0/10

   

Next week we’ll be continuing our Hidden Gems XBLA special with a neat review of Shadow Complex, a thrilling title courtesy of Epic Games.

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