Army Men is a real-time tactics and strategy video game. Released in 1998 for PC, it is the first initial release of the Army Men video game series. The player guides Sarge of the Green army through tests of skill, guile, and resourcefulness in a war against the Tan Republic. The game was later ported to Game Boy Color in 2000. Apart from the single player campaign, Army Men also featured multiplayer support for up to four players through an Internet, LAN, Modem, or Serial connection.
Plot
The game starts with Sarge preparing for an all-out war with the tan. In the start of the game, the player is able to select which series of maps to play: Desert, Alpine, or Bayou. In total, all three Green fronts include 28 missions.
3DO Synopsis
☀Army Men I Story Line
The time is the early 20th century. In the Plastic World, the commander of a group called Tan has sworn to conquer all territory of the Green and claim them for his own. The Tan are a Nazi-like group of megamanical tyrants bent on world domination. The Green are a group that is fighting to protect themselves from the growing Tan threat. But Tan territory covers most of Green`s borders, making it possible for Tan to invade from all sides of Green territory.
When the Tan invasion begins, the Green troops respond with weapons of the time. (grenades, rifles, mortars) However, the Green defense fails and Tan pushes further into Green territory, conquering everything in it`s path.
But a slim hope arises. A special unit, the Green sarge, comes to Green`s aid and is able to stop the advance of Tan. Now, the Green sarge faces a difficult task. He must reconquer what was once Green`s territory and put a stop to Tan once and for all.
General Plastro, dictator of the Tan Republic, has sworn to conquer the all the Free-Nations, and claim them for his own in his twisted vision of world domination, mobilizing the Republic's war machine to this end. The Tan are a Nazi-like group of megalomanical plastic tyrants bent on conquering the known plastic world - and the Green Nation is one of the only roadblocks in their way, but the Tans's territory covers most of the Greens's national borders, making it possible for the Tan to invade from all sides of Green territory.
When the Tan invasion beginst, the Green troops respond with all available weapons of the time, However, the Green defense fails and Tan pushes further into Green territory, conquering everything in its path.
But a slim hope arises. A special unit, a Green trooper, known only as Sarge, comes to the Green Nation's aid and is able to stop the advance of the Tan army, while the Nation's army is busy developing new technologies in order to stop the invasion cold. Now, Sarge faces a difficult task. He must reconquer what was rightfully the Green's and put a stop to Tan once and for all.
Desert Storyline
The Desert operations starts with a raid on a Tan Munitions Depot. After that, Sarge then has to nullify a Blue Spy before he can get his recon report back to the Tan, his note mentioning Mesa Valley and a "Key". To find out more about the Key, Sarge must get to Mesa Valley first. The only things between him and the valley is one long bridge and a lot of Tan toypower. A captured Green tank to the southwest is Sarge's ticket. After getting across the bridge, Sarge then saves a squad of Green rifleman trapped by the Tan.
After bringing the troops to a Supply Camp to the north, Sarge has to tango with enemy tanks, guard towers, and base defenses to get the Key mentioned in the spy's letter. Sarge then must call in an air-raid on something the Tan have been guarding closely. He pinpoints the location, and rendezvous with his men, hopping on a Half-track. They next have to find out what's in the Tan bank. Sarge blows open the bank, and protects the troops loading the cargo from the Tan forces. He then hops back on the Half-track and follows the rest of the Green out of the town.
Sarge then must take the loot to the exchange point, where he trades it for a secret message courtesy of the Blues. Sarge must tear through Tan forces to get there though, but him and the Blues made a succesful trade in the end. Sarge then fights off Tan forces until a helicopter arrives to whisk him and the note safely away, out of the desert.
Alpine Storyline
First, Sarge heads up north to save two of squads with an important piece of information about a second Key. After saving the troops and safely leading them back to the Medical Tent, Sarge and his soldiers go after a Tan truck that is transporting the second Key. Sarge destroys the truck, but there's no Key. Sarge must cross a minefield to kill another Blue spy and retrieve his note. The note says that the second Key is waiting at the train station, and Sarge decides to blow the bridge before it can go anywhere. Sarge retrieves the second Key. Sarge then must go and rescue an injured man. The problem is, he just blew up the only way there. Sarge finds a way there, and safely loads the injured soldier into the Half-track. Sarge then has to drive his troops back to the Medical Tents while fighting Tans all the way there. After succesfully doing so, the soldier reveals that Sarge must lead a jail break from a Tan prison. But first, he has to knock out the nearby Communications Instillation. Sarge then fights his way through the prison, saves the allied troops from a gruesome death, and leads them to the Medical Tent. Sarge and his troops then fight their way through the Tan forces to the evac point, their ride out of the Alpine.
Bayou Storyline
Sarge's first Bayou mission is to eliminate yet another Blue spy and steal his message before the Tan can get their plastic hands on it. Sarge then must infiltrate a Grey base to retrieve the third and final Key. He distracts the Tan and Grey by making them fight each other. Sarge kills a high-ranking Grey colonel and he drops a note. The Greys overestimated the Tans' presence in the area. Sarge finds out that the Greys moved the Key to one of their prisons. He must kill the guards until one surrenders and gives him the info he needs.
The Grey soldier reveals that there are mines and defense towers set up around the prison that will block Sarge's progress. Sarge succesfully grabs the last Key. Now that the Greens have all three Keys, they need the Portal in which they go in. Luckily, a retired Grey colonel will give the Greens all the info they need...if they escort him safely out of the area, away from the Tan forces. But first, he must save a squad of Green soldiers trapped in a make-shift prison. Sarge must then protect the AA Guns, which intercepts the Tan air forces, preventing them from destroying the colonel's mansion. After doing away with the Tan, the Colonel is escorted safely. Sarge then has to destroy three Tan tanks and rendezvous with the colonel. The Colonel returns to his mansion, and it's up to Sarge to drive him in an armored truck out of the area.
The Greens have prepared a safehouse for the Colonel. Sarge drives him there while dealing with any pesky Tan forces unfortunate to get in the way. The colonel speaks about a cemetery. Without much persuasion, Sarge heads to the cemetery, the final resting place of all plastic life died in the war. Sarge finds out that the Ancient Portal is underneath a statue in the cemetery. Sarge bombs the statue, and uses the Keys to enter the Portal.
After completing all the campaigns, the game ends with Sarge entering the Real World, with newspaper headlines detailing the portal and Sarge going MIA, while he will be played with by real kids in a real world... until he finds a way to escape.