[Acert93]

For those with an Xbox 360 I encourage you to try the demo--it is a ton of fun. Convinced me within an hour to buy the full game (1200pts / $15). Something crazy like 26 single player missions and 42 vehicles. It also has MP (LIVE and Splitscreen). The setting is WWI-ish, gameplay is very fast and can be played either tactically in 3rd person or a combo in first person controlling units and hopping out to 3rd person (intuitively).

I have only played a couple hours but I must say I am impressed. The idea is simple:

Goal: Get your "wave" units into the enemy toy box.

Waves: The 'Y' button sends waves of troops. These waves cost $ and have a delay. You can stagger up to 3 waves at any time (e.g. tank, then planes, then cavalry). They take 30-60 or so seconds to release each wave. The nicer troops (e.g. tanks) get fewer units; each troop type has pros/cons. Tanks are armored but slow, cavalry are fast but susceptible to machine gun fire.

Defense: At your home base you get "pads" to place defensive units: Artillery, Gunner Nests, Flame Throwers, razor fencing, etc. Some pads are bigger to support big units, so you have to choose wisely what you want where--and when. You have limited cash so you need to spend it wisely.

Defensive units can be Upgraded, Repaired, Sold, or taken control of. Just highly, select 'A' and choose the option.

Gameplay: You want your waves of troops from your Toy Box to get into the enemy Toy Box. You have a choice: invest immediately in a wave of attacks or invest in defense, or a balance thereof. You have a couple seconds to setup a defense so you rush around and place some gunner nests, arty, etc. You have to think ahead though--arty is great against tanks but slow at taking out ground troops and useless up close. Ground troops are mowed down by gunner nests and sniping towers (man is it FUN to snipe, feels like Conkers Bad Fur Day!) They key is to act and re-act.

Once you have your wave que and defense setup you can get into Tank, Airplanes, Arty units, etc. Basically all your deployable defensive units you can control.

From there it is a balance of franting RTS / Action gaming: Repair and Upgrade units and manage your waves while maximizing your units by hopping in and controlling them yourself.

There are a number of options (starting money, winning conditions, rules, weapons, etc). Split screen runs smoothly.

Reviews:

TeamXbox: 8.7

IGN: 8.0

1UP: 8.0

Originally Posted by TeamXbox

Toy Soldiers marks a pretty interesting shift for a genre that has blown up in the last few years, but was previously considered a casual type of game, often played in a browser on computers. This XBLA game signals a shift into something more hardcore video gamers could get behind: an action game that requires an itchy trigger finger to complement an itchy brain. With some exciting shooter action, solid strategy gameplay and a uniquely satisfying art style for the overall presentation, Toy Soldiers is proof of what XBLA was meant to do: bring us casual games in a hardcore games package. Toy Soldiers is smart, fun and totally worth the 1200 Microsoft Points (or about $15) you’ll spend on it.

[Tap In]

tried it today for a bit and will give it a longer try after my overwhelming desire to play BC2 subsides.

Very sweet title from the demo though.... Style and quality oozes from this game and a very good looking game as well with immersive gameplay.

[makattack]

Tried the demo, and loved it -- silly enough, what got me to buy it was the "You've just unlocked a gas mask for your avatar..." pop-up.

[NavNucST3]

So much fun. I highly recommend everyone give it a go and you might be surprised at how decent it looks and animates for an XBLA title.

[rusty]

Well this looks great, I'm downloading it now - cheers for the heads up!

[Acert93]

Originally Posted by NavNucST3

So much fun. I highly recommend everyone give it a go and you might be surprised at how decent it looks and animates for an XBLA title.

Yeah, I cannot recommend this enough. It isn't "perfect" but it is perfect for 1200 points.

[RobertR1]

I had a great time with the demo but the timing of the game is off for me. I'm too busy with retail games. I'll pick it up down the road.

Btw, if any of you liked Braid, check out The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. Very good.

[Tap In]

played the demo again since the BC2 servers were down and went ahead and paid the 1200pts for it... like robert, I was gonna wait for a $10 deal later but it is too good to pass up. Perhaps the best (MOST POLISHED) arcade title to date (at least rivaling Braid, Shadow Complex and Trials HD)

I love the tower defense combined with the 3rd person action shooter

[Shifty Geezer]

8/10 on Eurogamer. Sounds like a gem.

[Acert93]

The gem is getting a major upgrade!

[Scott_Arm]

That looks awesome!

[AlStrong]

Oh wow... Think I need to check the demo sometime this weekend...

[NavNucST3]

DLC or new game? Toy Soldiers was under-appreciated; it looks great, plays great, simple but challenging.

[Acert93]

I believe it is a new game. For those who have not tried the original I suggest trying the demo. It really is good. It has a couple annoying flaws but the game is polished and the good parts are really good. We really like MP.

[Cyan]

Originally Posted by NavNucST3

DLC or new game? Toy Soldiers was under-appreciated; it looks great, plays great, simple but challenging.

Yes, and it was pretty fun as well. The last stage gave me some intense moments as I got stuck trying to fight the hordes of toys. I really enjoyed it. I still have too many XBLA games to complete, some of them great games, but this one got me hooked for a while.

I tried a MP match but I was not used to it and got quickly dispatched. It is very original for an strategy game and the gameplay mechanics work pretty well.

If the new one supports Kinect, then I'm in.

[Scott_Arm]

Toy Soldiers: Cold War is a great little game to play in co-op on Xbox Live. Hard setting isn't too difficult, but I can't imagine how difficult the next two settings are.

[AlStrong]

hm... might have to try this when I get back.

[Acert93]

I am digging it. Scott, have you done the mini-games? Try beating my score on Thread the Needle or the cut out target game

[Scott_Arm]

I have not tried those yet. Will look at it soon. Survival is fun.

[Acert93]

For Robert:

Platinum Thresholds:
Defense: Gold = 100% Toybox health remaining
Aggression: Gold = 70% of total time skipped
Profit: Gold = 70% of total money saved

So you have to get GOLD in all 3 categories to get a PLAT.

Also some tips from the official forum:

You can press B while in an AC130 Barrage to leave it and it’ll fly around and fire its weapons at enemy units. It’s not as efficient as a player-controlled one, but all 3 weapons will fire. You can hop back in it at any time by hitting Y again.
You can do the same thing with the Commando Barrage! If left to his own devices he only uses his M60, but he’ll still target things on his own. The exception is in the training level, where you’re given a commando to try out how the barrages work, you’ll be unable to leave that one.
Holding Left Trigger will speed up your tactical camera. This makes it a lot easier to move around the map. (it even works when targeting a Nuke)
Clicking the right thumbstick in the tactical camera will zoom you out to a high
overhead view.
Left Stick Click will access barbed wire placement. Barbed wire slows down enemy units.
The D Pad when using a Turret will swap to the next turret in the direction you pressed. For example if you press Up on the D-pad it’ll take you to the turret in front of you. This is called ‘hot swapping’.
You can keep your multiplier through a hot swap, so you can jump from anti-infantry weapons to anti-tank weapons. If you’re Turbocharged, the weapon you swap into will also be turbocharged! You can even earn barrages this way. This is especially good for modes like Survival and Versus where there aren’t large waves of infantry.
When your cursor is over a turret in the tactical camera, the D-Pad can substitute for all turret commands: Left is sell, Up is use, Down is repair and Right is upgrade. This shortcut can be really handy.
In Versus, distracting an opponent is key. If you don’t send offensive waves than they can focus all their attention on building howitzers and capturing platforms. Even cheap waves of ATVs can force them to go back and tend to their defences, so always have something in the queue. For maximum effect mix up waves of fast, armored, and air units, and escort the waves with carefully timed barrages or vehicle purchases. In a pinch even Commando can be a good escort, especially if the enemy is trying to use Ivan to stop your wave.
In Versus, be sure to kill the enemy infantry wave yourself (easily done with a little commando action), the multipliers will get you a lot more money.
When using wavelist rewind you can scroll through all the completed waves with the D-pad. It shows you which turrets you had, how much money, and toybox health.
To get a Platinum medal you need to complete a map in one go (no rewinds, no resuming) with 3 Gold medals (one in each category).
Makeshifts are the cheapest turrets you can buy, which makes them good for getting a gold medal in profit (they’re just thrown together from household items after all), but they have very little health, so keep an eye on them when enemy units are in the area.
Selling your turrets off at the last minute when completing a level is a great way to get some extra cash toward your profit medal ranking.

http://www.signalstudios.net/forums/...lay-factstips/

[Scott_Arm]

Barbed wire?! I'll have to check it out. It would be very handy and it isn't mentioned anywhere in the game.

[RobertR1]

Thanks Josh! I learned a lot of new things that the game never told me!

[Acert93]

http://www.xblafans.com/toy-soldiers...ide-23078.html

A detailed walk through. Anyhow, we need to work a time to get on guys. If the game was 4 player I think it would be easier. Which is odd, but I think friends are more willing to jump into a 4 player game or 8 than a 2 as it often means not hangin' with others.