Platform: PC/Mac

Developer: Kukouri Mobile Entertainment

Publisher: Iceberg Interactive

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

Tiny Troopers is a really fun blend of action and light strategic elements reminiscent of the classic PC game Cannon Fodder with a tiny bit of Taito’s ancient arcade game, Front Line for good measure. Ported from the mobile version by developer Kukouri Mobile Entertainment, TT is a great little budget game that packs in 30 increasingly challenging missions, a nice selection of unlockable gear and upgrades and even a small set of Achievements for gamers who feel the urge to milk every penny of the ten dollars the game costs. Some may gripe about the lack of an actual story, no online play, some occasionally wonky pathfinding and a handful of other things. But overall, you’re absolutely getting your money’s worth here in a game with a decent amount of mission and map variety.

The game is split into three sections: a brief Tutorial to show you the ropes, a Campaign mode, where each of the 30 missions plays out in order and a Mission mode, where you can replay any Campaign map you’ve unlocked in any order you wish. The big difference between Campaign and Mission modes is any soldiers used during the campaign (save for purchased Specialists) will gain stripes after a map is completed if they survive. This adds a tiny RPG element to the game as troops who gain stripes also gain boosted stats that will help out greatly as the game progresses. However, your newly beefed up buddies aren’t invincible, and it’s a pain when you lose a soldier whether from your own mistakes or because he ran the long way around an obstacle into enemy fire or a mine you may have missed. This forces you to play carefully throughout (especially on the hardest difficulty setting), but the game does a really good job of fooling you into thinking it’s going to be a total cakewalk in the first couple of maps.

While the gameplay is straightforward (you’re killing anything that’s trying to kill your team), as noted, it’s in the mission types and locations where the game shines. You’ll be taking out enemy buildings, escorting journalists through a war zone, trying to survive against waves of enemies for a set time period, eliminating enemy generals and so forth and so on.  As there’s no real narrative linking missions, at times the game feels a bit too random as some maps would have benefited from a bit of back story. Even better, it would have been great for maps set in the three different chapters to have three separate stories told just to give players more of a connection to the little patriotic dudes they’re controlling. Granted, TT started life as a casual device game, so adding lengthy (or any) cut scenes and emotional plot points would have taken up too much time on a bus or train ride. On the other hand, that extra layer of polish for the computer version would have been more than welcome.

As missions get increasingly harder, you can even the odds considerably by collecting plenty of Command Points (CP) and spending them on stat boosts before missions such as rapid fire, longer shot range, extra damage or better armor. During missions, you can have certain supplies dropped in by parachute, call in an airstrike or one-time healing when things get tough. The nice thing about this extra help is it’s optional, allowing those who want a much harder game to play as they desire. That said, don’t come complaining to me when your squad gets wiped out by snipers, explosives, shots from pillboxes and tanks you weren’t prepared for. War is hell, indeed… but most of these missions can be completed in a few minutes on the easiest difficulty setting (which is a good thing if you want a quick fix).

Held over from the original touch screen version, movement is simple to a fault. A right mouse key click on a spot moves there, left-clicking shoots. CTRL + left click uses your selected special weapon (if you have them). While this setup works perfectly, if you’re used to holding down that mouse button to keep moving, strafing, using cover or setting up pathfinding routes, you may be disappointed at the streamlining. Nowhere is this truer than in night missions or the larger maps where there’s a lot going on and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by enemy troops. Then again, that’s where a bit of strategy comes handy as the simple run & gunning in the early missions evolves into players needing to keep an eye open for attacks from all sides when they least expect them.

Fortunately, scattered around most maps are dog tags, intel packets and medals, all of which add CP when acquired. Some maps also hide “MWDs” that will gain you huge CP when located and disarmed, and yes, they’re usually well-guarded. Medals collected can be traded for permanent stat upgrades for all your men that really help out as things get harder. You can also call in Specialists such as Medics, Machine Gunners or even a kick-ass Delta Force commando type. All of the Specialists require you being past certain missions in the game and a great deal of CP, a nice touch that keeps players from abusing some of the more powerful characters. You can replay cleared maps as much as you wish in Mission mode to collect CP galore without worrying about losing any soldiers permanently.

No doubt there will be that one set of gamers who buy this, spend a few hours grinding away at the first few missions and earning too much CP that makes most of the missions all too easy. But hey, that’s their prerogative and yes, just another way to play the game. At least Kukouri did the right thing and kept the PC version free from extra monetizing. You’re not simply “buying in” with the download (or disc version if you live in Europe) and then dropping real dollars from the beginning (or in-game) to unlock everything for a totally, ridiculously easy set of wins (something I despise about those mobile and social games that rely on this sort of non-player laziness to rake in money hand over fist on a regular basis).

You’ll most likely lose a few men during some of the more challenging missions, but you can “cheat” by aborting a mission you’re doing badly on and retry it using the knowledge you gained about the layout. You can also buy a map of the level that shows all the enemy positions, collectibles and any targets that need taking out, but this doesn’t guarantee a victory. The map only shows initial enemy positions and doesn’t update as you clear out pockets of resistance. This can lead to a bit of confusion if you rely solely on buying a map at the start of a stage and hope to nab an easy win each time. Still, in night missions where darkness is used excellently to enemy advantage, it helps to gauge where you need to head first, especially in some of the bigger maps.

Speaking of maps, a zoom function would have helped quite a lot, as scaling the camera out a bit would have made scouring off-map sections less annoying. Additionally, expanding the field of view adds some extra tactical assistance as the camera is locked down tight and can’t be rotated, making some levels a tiny bit frustrating when your troops disappear when navigating around immovable objects. The main issue with the simplified movement is you can’t always rely on the AI to guide your guys safely around some areas near map edges or spots where a lot of stuff is clustered.  You’ll soon learn about the need to clear out enemies in these areas first, then go searching for goodies as sometimes your men will split up and take damage from units they’ve alerted you didn’t plan on going near until later on.

The game also introduces civilians or animals into some maps, so you’ll need to be very cautious around them. Shooting anyone that’s not a threat will cost you CP, something I liked in a game focused on so much destruction. Granted, the game doesn’t hit you over the head for your complete morality failure should you decide to go all genocidal on the innocents, but there’s an idea a sequel could explore, I say. Oh yeah, those journalist you protect? They have better AI than your troops for the most part, but it would have been nice to have them at least run and hide when they’re being shot at. Hell, I know every games journalist I associate with would be under a damn jeep or running for the airport (“Get to the choppa!!!”) if they were put into this game as an AI character.

Presentation-wise, you get no frills menus, minimal music (a good thing, as listening for enemy fire and such is a major part of succeeding throughout the game), plenty of funny (albeit overused) one-liners and some really nice stylized visuals that won’t tax your PC or laptop one bit. There are some buildings that blow up nicely and mines that can take out enemies as well as your team if you’re too close when they detonate and yes, it’s cool the way you’re choppered into most maps. However, even more destructible objects would have been extremely welcome. This is particularly true where wooden fences or other objects that SHOULD be whittled down under fire block your shots. Sure, they block enemy bullets as well, but on maps where you have dynamite or grenade-tossing foes or worse, those armed with rockets or sniper rifles, being able to clear a fire path would have been REALLY helpful. Again, if a sequel gets made, the emphasis should be on adding stuff like this, plus vehicle missions, as it would have been awesome to have tanks, choppers or other rides to hop into or start a map with.

While the lack of co-op or online multiplayer modes might make some gamers want to avoid it, I’m not one of those gamers who goes into fits if a game doesn’t have any “social” play modes. Given the design of the game’s maps, they’d need to be much larger and the camera completely redone in order to accommodate any sort of MP gameplay. Then again, I love that TT is focused on how you, the player can tackle the tougher missions sole by using what resources you’ve chosen and earned, not just by calling in  help from your best real-life buddy who’s a shooter king when the going gets fierce.  Yeah, I said it – in a case such as this, the single player experience does indeed rule the roost.

Overall, the best thing I can say about this version pf Tiny Troopers is it’s a must-buy even if you’re not a fan of action games (with a bit of strategy) thanks to its accessible controls, nearly non-stop chaos and simple, but always fun gameplay.  It’s a great inexpensive game for the masses with a ton of replay value that absolutely deserves a sequel filled with even more improvements. What’s here is simple but brilliant stuff, but I can imagine a new, even bigger and better game packed even more to the gills with a whole lot more just in terms of the single player side of things. Hopefully, Kukouri will see some “major “success with this one, and get the “general” idea that things can be even more stellar with a game that rises quickly through the ranks as a superior officer across multiple platforms. And yes, I’d also love to see Vita and 3DS versions of TT down the road (although chances of that might be slim, I’d bet). OK, my puns are supremely weak (as always, but hey, everyone needs a hobby, right?)- just go buy this game so you can stop reading them.