Toy Soldiers: Cold War

"I love the smell of plastic in the morning!"

There is no mistaking the humorous references made in Toy Soldiers: Cold War to certain war films and 1980's pop culture. And they often hit the mark. On an otherwise orderly battlefield a commando with a bare upper body and red bandana, armed with a machine gun in one hand and a rocket launcher in the other, runs around and bellows out his lust to kill. Sweet stuff.

Toy Soldiers: Cold War is as the name implies the sequel to 2010's Toy Soliders, this time set during the Cold War. The two super powers at the time, the Soviet Union and the United States, are duking it out in a series of "what if" scenarios that make up the campaign. As was the case in the first game, what we've got here is a tower defense game - a genre where you typically line up defences to deal with waves of enemy troops. But there is a twist here.

The twist is that you control your units yourself. Aim, shoot and move. The "towers" - units that are fixed obviously stay were you place them. But then there are battery powered tanks and helicopters you can control freely. And every once in a while you get to control the bare chested one man army previously mentioned.

It should be mentioned that the controls have been vastly improved since the predecessor, and as a result the action sections are a delight. Minor side objectives within each mission, such as taking out at least three helicopters with your commando or squash 20 parked cars with your tank, make the experience even more rewarding. In fact, the action tends to be so good, that it almost overshadows the strategy component.

In order to build a proper defence you need money, and you earn money by killing off the enemy. The towers come in various shapes and are designed to be particularly efficient against a certain type of enemy, and you can only place the in designated spots. This makes for a strategy component that is rather rudimentary, where you seldom have to think long and hard about what to place where. The challenge lies more in keeping up with which tower is in need of repairs and what you should upgrade.

In addition to the campaign there is a surprisingly robust and deep multiplayer mode, that can be enjoyed both in split screen and online. The fundamentals are the same as in the campaign, but apart from building your defence you can also use your funds to send out attacking units. It's chaotic, intense and lots of fun. Large scale war on a small stage.

When doing battle online as the Soviets I learn that there is a commando running around on that side as well. He is called Ivan, sports a classic Guile style hair do, and shouts things like "I break you!". We're sure Dolph Lundgren is smiling proudly.

We're delighted with Toy Soldiers: Cold War, as it offers solid action, great controls, humour, and an extremely nice presentation. No one who has ever played general with plastic soldiers can avoid smiling at this game. Playing on nostalgia is walking a fine line, but Signal Studios manages to do it so well, that we completely surrender. It's violent yet innocent. Playful yet brutal. Grenades and napalm rain down in the playroom. Full of contrasts, packed with references and nostalgic - this is one of the best Xbox Live Arcade games of the summer.