"War is hell",but fortunately,it is fun once again thanks to "Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops",brought to us by the good folks at Wired Productions."War is hell",but fortunately,it is fun once again thanks to "Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops",brought to us by the good folks at Wired Productions. Joint Ops is a combination of Tiny Troopers and its awesome sequel Tiny Troopers 2: Special Ops, previously released on mobile devices. Joint Ops was released on October 28th for PS Vita, the same day I was thrilled to receive a copy to review.
Story: They choose to go the straight-forward route with the story but what they did,they did well,my guess is they assumed (correctly) that for games such as this,people don't pay much attention to the story,they just want get to the action. You are the ring leader of a small ragtag group of child-sized soldiers tasked with the duty of stopping a rouge nation from acquiring nuclear capability. To do so you must invade enemy turf , and do what troopers do best!
Gameplay: Coming from a medium such as mobile/cellphones, it should come as no suprise this is an arcade-style, twin-stick shooter, but the way the controls were ever so slightly tweaked for the Vita adaptation was done masterfully. If you were familiar with this series previous mobile entries then you should have no trouble picking this up on Vita. Left stick moves your guys around, right stick shoots, square to duck from explosions (the animation for which we find hilarious!)
You can't make a arcade game anymore simple,yet any more enjoyable. You may be reminded of why you enjoyed the SOCOM Fireteam Bravo series so much back in the PSP days. This game is equally as much fun to play. The teamwork mechanics don't require as much micro-managing, because your guys just follow your lead and do everything you do. Fallen comrades can be revived,upgraded with better camo,more powerful weapons, and given special abilities such as increased speed,using in-game currency which you earn through your progress on the field.
Big weapons such as air strikes and bazookas are activated by using a drag-and-release control over the desired target.
The default camera view is "top-down", but you can zoom in for detail by "un-pinching" the screen and zoom-in by pinching.
Graphics: The games graphical quality is solid. Everything is detailed,you can clearly tell the trees,grass,and sand apart. Your fellow soldiers are seemingly generated at random, giving you different names, looks and facial expressions each time, (only their height stays the same,which is funny). The comic book/storyboard style cutscenes are solid,reminds me of an animated cartoon movie a kid or young adult might enjoy,as well as us grown-ups.
Sound: There isn't much talking during gameplay,but the voice work during cutscenes is well acted. Shots and explosions all sound accurate,and are well timed. The *BOOM* really gives you the satisfaction after taking out a mine field,or a small enemy tower fortification.
Flamethrowers, tanks,etc. all sound how they should sound.
Overall: Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops is a fun bite-sized arcade adventure which will provide you with hours of gameplay,as well as replay value, and if the normal campaigns are not enough be sure to check out the "zombie" missions which is a survival mode where you face off against wave,after wave of the dead!
So don't wait around,grab your gun...or your wallet (whichever is closer)-and get a copy of Tiny Troopers : Joint Ops from the PSN Store now!
Good: Great action & graphics, fun controls, easy story to get into.
Bad: These guys don't meet regulation height for military service (haha)
Find more information about Wired Productions HERE… Expand