ETC Press

Toy Soldiers
Charles Palmer

Overview

What is it about playing war that captivates children? From the tin soldiers of the mid-1800s to the green army men of our childhoods, millions of children have answered the call and let their imaginations transport them to another time and place. Whether it was Cowboys versus Native Americans or raising an army of elite commandos to rescue Bazooka Jim from behind enemy lines, we spent hours upon hours engaged in epic battles across our bedrooms, basements, and backyards. There was something magical about the activity. No matter our economical status, race, gender or physical abilities, for a time we would retreat into our own fantasy. The experience provided us with a developmental need; to be strong even when we feel weak.

As an exercise in imagination and ingenuity, we learned to see the world differently. An old cigar box became an impenetrable concrete bunker; a bit of thread and a paperclip were a grapple hook and zip line; and anything that floated became an unsinkable battleship. Until it became waterlogged and sunk, at which point it turned into an elusive submarine on a top secret mission. And through all that play we learned the craft of storytelling. We pitted hero versus villain, bent tyranny to our will, and returned conquered lands to the natives punishing interlopers in the process. We were always right, always in the nick of time, and always the reason for happy endings. Simply put - it was magnificent.

Signal Studios’ Toy Soldiers brings back some of those memories. At its heart it’s a ‘tower defense’ game. But, since the term was trademarked by COM2US in 2007, you won’t find the term “tower defense” included anywhere in the instructions or their website. In this game players are tasked with preventing waves of enemy soldiers from infiltrating your stronghold. As general and architect, your mission is to build fortifications and defensive units capable of repelling the overwhelming attacks of wave after wave of enemy combatants. But to stand apart from the crowd of tower defense style games, the developers from Signal Studios expanded their title with the addition of a few twists on the common theme.

Twist 1: theme and setting

To start with, these epic battles are reminiscent of our childhood adventures because the combatants are toy versions of WWI era soldiers. Yes, World War I, the War to End all Wars, a welcome change from the gazillion WWII titles available in every genre. In this game tiny toy replicas of soldiers, tanks, planes, and artillery from 1914-18 battle for supremacy in stunningly modeled 3d dioramas. The graphics and musical score are on par with most of the pricier console titles and the levels are rich with diverse locations, seasons, and strategic challenges. Furthermore since the combatants are toys, there are no gruesome, gory battlefield death scenes. Instead their demise is visualized by the likes of exploding gears and springs, humorous plastic death rattles, and soldiers propelled hundreds of feet into the air by explosives (there is even a ‘Highest Flying Soldier’ stat for each level completed.)

The main Campaign mode has 12 levels of 9-26 waves of German infantry, cavalry, armored vehicles, and aircraft that make their way across the battlefield to invade your toy box. Strategic placement of defenses is essential to victory. The lose-state occurs if a set number of units succeed in entering the toy box, or the player fails to defeat the Boss units found at the end of some missions.

Completing Campaign mode will unlock Campaign+ mode. Not a very original title, but this mode puts the player in the role of a German General fighting through 12 reconstructed levels for an entirely new challenge from British troops.

Lastly, since these epic conflicts take place in miniature, the theater of battle is actually a table or desk in someone’s room. Flying around the boundary will reveal desk lamps, shelves, posters, maps, radios, and even a frosted window.

Twist 2: units and their placement

In traditional tower defense games, players position static units on the field of play, in an effort to “defend” against mobile enemy units attempting to traverse the area of game play; left to right, top to bottom or mixed. There are generally a set number of enemy units who can reach the end point before the level is lost. Toy Soldiers follows this pattern of game play, but instead of free-form positioning environments like Kongregate’s Desktop Tower Defense or PopCap’s Plants vs Zombie, players can only build/place units on fortified positions. These predetermined areas are strategically placed across the playing field clustered together as they would be on a real world battle front. This allows for co-placement of units types to provide varied defensive and support for the Toy Box.

As an added challenge, in some instances these positions are occupied by enemy forces that must be destroyed before the player can acquire the site and build units capable of defending the captured position.

Twist 3: unit control

All tower defense games let the user purchase, upgrade, and sell units. The currency is usually a point system derived from the destruction of enemy units. Toy Soldiers uses money to purchase, upgrade and maintain units. Defeating entities (troops, buildings, and offensive targets) earns the user cash which is deposited into a defense fund. These funds are immediately available to construct new units, improve (upgrading to level 3) or maintain (repair all damage) the player’s defenses. With most TD games, the strategy is in the placement and resource management of units. But Signal Corps has added a first-person shooter element giving players the ability to take control of fortified and mobile units. In this game you don’t just place and oversee units, instead you can override the artificial intelligence and take over a machine gun nest to rip a Beutepanzer to shreds. Or man a Mark VI Howitzer and rain devastating destruction on your enemy units and fortifications.

The addition of a first-person “Use mode” greatly enhances the game play and is a nice counter-balance to limited unit types and placement. Personally I enjoy taking control of the sniper tower. Even though the zoom control is a bit wonky (zooming often continues after releasing the control), it is very satisfying picking off enemy units that creep past your primary defenses.

Twist 4: unit management

Beyond the general upgrade process of units, the nature of combat also requires the user to repair damaged or destroyed units. Enemy infantry use guns, grenades, and mortar shells to damage the player’s fortified positions. This along with the damage issued by armored units requires constant observation and vigilance of the battle field. Beyond routine damage management, players must also be prepared for the devastating destruction done by the six mammoth bosses.

Toy Soldiers, like other TD titles, uses waves of units which vary in the attributes of mobility (speed and flight), vulnerability (light or heavy armor, high health, and clustering), and attack strength (damage inflicted per weapon per attack). But it’s the Boss battles which set it apart. Each Boss’s appearance is preceded by its own period-inspired menacing theme music. This audio cue instantly changes the mood and atmosphere of the conflict. These end-of-level battles are spectacular as they require the player to switch from a defensive position to an all out tactical assault. The units themselves are ginormous, dwarfing everything in its path. The Tzar Tank is easily 10x the size of infantry units; making it an impressive and ominous behemoth as it lumbers across the battle field obliterating everything in its wake

Playing the Game

In Toy Soldiers, the player must defended their position and prevent 2037 enemy units from entering their stronghold; a large red structure meant to represent the player’s Toy Box. The game blends the real-time strategy of a tower defense game with the combat of a first person shooter. Both modes of play are modified to intermingled their strengths and create unique and challenging experiences. An example of this is at the core of the title’s game play. Playing in “Use” mode let’s the player be in command of a single unit. Instead of being controlled by the AI, this unit becomes an extension of the player; aiming and firing only on command. But the player must still manage the entire battlefield in third-person. Meaning, while taking control of a defiladed machine gun position may provide a short-term tactical advantage against infantry units, the player must be alert for other units sneaking through choke points or flying high over head toward their objective. With a single click the player can toggle through first person perspectives of every unit or exit back into third person mode.

Table 1: Difficulty settings

A WW1 themed loading screen starts the game displaying the status of the war’s progression to the sounds of a scratchy gramophone playing two popular period pieces from the late 19th century Goodbye, Dolly Gray and She May Have Seen Better Days, or the original compositions of The Sailor’s Life for Me or There’s a Candle Burning Bright both by veteran game composer Stan LePard39. These elements set the mood and establish the base storyline. Slides of retro-style box packaging further add to the mood and establish game play characteristics and control hints. Level load times seem long at 30 seconds, but once loaded a mission statement identifies the player’s primary goals via a brief historical statement about the battles significance. Most missions are modeled after real skirmishes and battles so names might be familiar to history buffs. But extensive knowledge of the forces, terrain, historical outcomes, and overall significance of individual battles is unnecessary to the novice player, making the game approachable for players with limited knowledge of
the war.

Primary missions range in complexity; from holding the line to timed invasions to destroying strategic targets. They also vary in time from short skirmishes to a staggering 24 minute finale which ends with a hellish end boss battle against a Rail gun behemoth. Likewise starting funds also fluctuate, providing another challenge as placement of the first few defenses often determines a level’s outcome and limits the ability to upgrade quickly. Additionally, missions also have secondary objectives which unlock in-game achievements and Xbox Live avatar swag.

The first conflict begins with a battle in the Belgium village of Langemarck40, on a miniaturized battle field between toy replicas of German and British troops. Table 2 outlines mission objectives (primary and secondary) for the first three levels.

Table 2: Sample mission objectives

Art style

Missions open with a sweeping pan of the battle field and the first thing to note is the gorgeous scenery. Tiny villages rich with details represent life in the early decades of the 20th century; snow covered trees decorate rolling countryside; dirt and cobbled roads lead to quaint wooden bridges; and neatly dug trenches lined with sandbags are all rendered in stunning detail. The first few missions are well balanced to help the player get acquainted to the controls as well as the advantages and disadvantages of various units. But I found myself zooming around the battle field inspecting the detailed surroundings and testing the limits of the destructive environment; which is extensive by the way.

This art style is rich with textures bringing everything to life including animations which are ideal for the ‘toy’ like setting. Infantry troops, advancing across the field often stop to fire off a shot or lob a grenade at your fortifications. Sometime bumbling riflemen stumble and fall over small unseen obstacles or perform an end-zone style victory dance as they achieve their goal of sneaking into your toy box. Likewise, cavalry troops, which can leap over most fortifications, will stop to rear up before charging ahead into the fray. Even the ‘Big Willie’, the rhomboid shaped tank which ushered in a new era of warfare, has a toy-like windup keys that spin constantly as is moves across the battlefield.

Unit types

Player units, ranging from chlorine gas and flamethrowers to anti-aircraft and mortar shells, offer a wide range of offensive/defensive strategies (see Table 3: Stationary Units). Placement of these units is the key to surviving advancing enemy waves. Levels have three types of fortified positions; small, medium, and large and units can only be built in these locations (build sites). Anti-infantry units can be built on any position, but the heavier anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns require the larger platforms. The medium platforms are actually two small fortifications linked side-by-side, providing even more defensive diversity.

These location restrictions provide strategic challenges for dealing with varying enemy troops. Frontline weapons like the Vickers Machine Gun are perfect against foot soldiers, but are quickly destroyed by the German A7V if you’re not careful. Upgrades and repairs are the key to keeping your defenses.

Table 3: Stationary Units

As mentioned previously, players can also enter “Use” mode on any stationary unit. This first person orientation puts you in control of the action, firing on targets of your choice strategically taking out individual combatants who make it deep inside your defenses. It is also a useful method for firing on a cluster of soldiers to rack up combo bonus points which are only awarded when the player is controlling the unit. While in Use mode your other stationary units continue to be controlled by the game’s artificial intelligence attacking random enemy troops. As great as this mode is, it does require the player to be aware of the overall battle field and mastering control of the targeting system of each unit type. Small projectile weapons (rifles and machine guns) use a familiar crosshair targeting symbol, while shell firing weapons (mortar and Howitzers) use an arc overlay for identifying the point of impact. This interface takes a little getting used to but is still quick to master. Additionally, these weapons have a “Shell Cam” view. Clicking the (the “A” button) after firing changes the point of view to just behind the fired projectile. While in this perspective, the player can tweak the shell’s trajectory guiding it to the target.

Aside from stationary units, mobile vehicles are also available on many missions providing the ability to take the fight directly to the enemy. Two types of aircraft and armored vehicles are available for both campaigns (British and German), but not all vehicles are available on every mission.

These versatile mobile vehicles deliver a ton of damage on enemy troops and installations. But while piloting a vehicle in first-person the player can not manage their other forces. There is no method for building, repairing, or selling from the driver’s seat and the point of view is locked to that of the particular vehicle being piloted. To manage other units the player must exit the vehicle and take direct action.

When exiting ground units, the player has only 10 seconds to work, as indicated by a count down timer hovering over the vehicle. After the time elapses the unit is destroyed. So use this time wisely. Exit the vehicle with (the “B” button), take whatever measures are necessary, and hop back in before the timer reaches 0. If this can be accomplished, the player can continue mowing down the enemy. If not the ground vehicle will crumble and vanish, dumping the player back into third-person mode.

When exiting from a plane, the vehicle responds as if the pilot ejected. It continues to fly out of control eventually crashing in a spectacular fireball. Both units, the tanks and planes, will re-spawn at their starting location in 30 seconds. But this can seem like an eternity if you’re strategy depends on those units.

Navigation

As the battle continues in length and intensity, navigation around the battlefield becomes increasingly important. The camera controls are very simple and intuitive, but one of the greatest tools for navigating the battle is the overhead camera view. Tap down on the right analog stick to zoom high above the combat zone. This is the best tool for following battlefield action and repairing damaged defenses. From this overhead view, and surrounded by the sounds of high winds, the player can manage resources throughout the game field and zoom-in to a specific position.

Boss Battles

Most of the game’s enjoyment comes from adventure and exploration. From level to level, new objects, tactics, and unit obstacles keep the play from becoming a stale incarnation of a typical tower defense game. But the essential components of accomplishment and achievement, needed to maintain player engagement, are derived from the end of level battles.

Boss battles appear at the end of every third level and truly take on the title of ‘epic conflicts’. These levels proceed as normal with waves storming across the battle field to the player’s Toy Box. But as the final wave of troops is destroyed a chilling stillness creeps across the battlefield, seconds later the silence is broken by an eerie tune which seems to emanate from everywhere.

The music of course is a cue for the Boss entry. Each boss is oversized and defiant on destroying nearby unit encampments before plowing into the Toy Box. Each boss is unique with its own cohort of diversionary units who focus on specific seek and destroy missions. For example the Zeppelin, which flies high above the battle field, will destroys any player controlled aircraft that attempts a frontal assault. But its modus operandi is to slowly meander toward the Toy Box protecting itself with massive air guns while deploying explosive kamikaze-style hang gliders to assail encampments; normally destroying the player’s unit with one or two direct hits. Likewise, the fast moving Ubertank, rips through the no-mans-land between the player’s forces and the enemy camp in a figure eight pattern. When facing the Toy Box it fires non-stop on the player’s forces, but as its pattern sweeps away from the allied side, a rear door opens and a squad of mini-Beutepanzers rolls out making a beeline for the Toy box.

I’m not sure it’s possible to defeat a Boss on its first appearance. Each boss requires a different strategy that can only be gleaned after seeing the beast in battle. To some players this can be very frustrating. Boss levels last 20-30 minutes and losing means the Toy Box is destroyed and the level must be restarted. But I think this setup is what makes the game enjoyable. Accomplishing tough, and sometime gruesome, challenges gives the player a greater sense of accomplishment and a desire to see what the game has in store for them next.

Additional Modes of Play

Aside from the campaigns, Toy Soldiers provides three additional modes of play. Survival mode puts the player in the hot seat as wave after wave of enemy troops and bosses rain down upon the Toy box. The goal is to survive as long as possible racking put a high score for the community leader boards. Multiplayer modes (both local and online) pits human against human. In this mode both players set up their defenses on opposite sides of the battlefield to defend waves of troops sent by the opposing player. Just as in the single player mode, each player is rewarded cash for destroying enemy units, and these funds are used to upgrade and repair defenses.

And finally there is the addition of Downloadable Content. To date, two add-ons have been created; The Kaiser’s Battle and Invasion. These DLC packages extend the playability of the title by adding new scenarios, maps, units, objectives, avatar achievements, and bosses. The Kaiser’s Battle allows players to take the role of the French Army in the ‘Spring Offensive’ against a cunning German opponent. The five new units don’t change much of the game play, but the new boss is amazing. Invasion adds more than just a few skins to the current set of units. In this title the player battles under the German flag against the British army and a menagerie of their secret weapons. Playing off of the toy box theme, the player must now defend against waves of toy fire trucks, space tanks, mounted knights, flying saucers, and fish tank helmeted space men.

Well Played

Great video games provide constant challenges as we struggle to learn, adapt, and overcome the game’s objectives and revel in its reward system. These exceptional games artfully create an engaging experience which straddles the boundary of rigorous challenges and infectious enjoyment. Too complex or lengthy and players get frustrated, leaving the game unfinished; too easy and players are bored and unfulfilled with the experience. Designers of great games harness and mold that balance seeking a sense of equilibrium; creating rich, engaging, virtual environments where players become engrossed in the setting, the strategy, and the story.

I have to admit that while analyzing Toy Soldiers, I wrestled with whether a game of this nature should be included in this academic journal. My hesitation had nothing to do with the quality of the game. Instead, it was the type of game play and the limited narrative scope presented by the title.

To date, most of the games reviewed in the Well Played series have strong cohesive over-arching storylines. The articles and case studies dive into protagonist motivation, value systems, and plot advancement; areas seminally important in the discussion of game theory, character development, and the evolution of computerize fiction. And during my first play through of Toy Soldiers, I failed to see how this incarnation of a tower defense game could add to the conversation. But after further consideration I decided to include this analysis because I found a few similarities to some of the journal’s story-heavy counterparts.

When evaluating entertainment devices (movies, games, books,…) we often look at the genre, world-based systems (i.e., environments, resources, objectives, and rewards), character place/role in the world, story arc and conflicts presented to the player. And my assessment of Toy Soldiers was no different. The first three attributes were simple, but after the second play through I was struck by the game’s lack of a strong story. Yes, there are mission objectives and in-game goal descriptions, but these are far from ideal methods of crafting a tale. They don’t even chronicle the war let alone create an engaging narrative for the player. There’s no hero taking on the establishment, no ex-mercenary with amnesia trying to clear his name, and no romantic subplot like so many games.

While playing the game and failing again and again to defeat the various level bosses, a revelation hit me; my personal struggle with the level bosses WAS the story. More specifically, it was MY story built from my specific experiences and approaches to completing each level. As architect of the battle field, my role became that of the protagonist, tackling obstacle after obstacle growing in skill (strategy) and weaponry (units and upgrades). These mounting challenges follow a pattern of ebb and flow as the player progresses to equally spaced boss battles which serve as a constant creeping threat. They present new and varied challenges beyond the terrain and unit combination of the other levels, letting the player utilize the new skills they’ve mastered. But, as I played further, I began to realize the true reason I continued to play. It wasn’t the missions or the combat scenario that kept me playing. Nor was it the “playful” dioramic setting and charming toy animations that captivated my attention. Instead, it was the sense of exploration (things like how does this combination work, or can I get a 20x combo…) an accomplishment for both me the character and me the player. This was the game play I wanted. It was what motivated me to continue the struggle, switching tactics and testing defenses.

I found myself playing through the game one more time, looking with fresh eyes at the reward system and my motivations. And there it was, unfolding like a miniseries of four three-act stories. I was also crafting my own narrative based on the varied struggles of my forces. It was a unique storyline running parallel to the war theme where I imagined unseen opponents, enemy commanders and generals, furious as I defeated their troops or laughing manically at my pitiful attempts to hold them back. And I wondered even further; was my reaction what the designer’s intented? Did they expect players to fill the storyline void by internalizing the combatant’s struggle? Or is this part of our conditioning, dating back to our childhood need to control and feel comfort?

Most psychologist agree that imaginative play is an important part of helping children build social, emotional, and cognitive skills which last through to adulthood. Is it possible that the time we spent letting our imaginations run free, building creative and imaginative muscles, also created a basis for how we rationalize and approach non-story experiences. As I continue to consider this final thought, I think back to other experiences that created an emotional imprint on who I am. Everything from movies to comic books to games we played in the street helped to develop the storytelling skills I use in everyday life. WoW, this review took a turn I never would have expected. Thank for listening, now go play Toy Soldier and have fun.

Toy Soldier has all the components of a great game. Although the game play is short (~20 hours to play completely through Campaign and Campaign+ modes); it is an exceptionally well polished departure from the typical tower defense genre. Taking control of various mobile units and fortified encampments in first and third person glory adds a unique perspective and challenge to each battle. That, combined with the animations and environments, rivals the rest of the tower defense market. Fans of this genre will delight in the presentation and exceptional challenges of this fast paced action strategy title.

Final word of warning…
    Beware the German K-Wagen!

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