EVERY GAME is coming to XBLA

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Toy Soldiers First Look

I never thought I'd write the following sentence. Today, I saw a tower defense game that looks pretty darn cool. OK, that was easier than I thought it would be. I'm not the biggest fan of tower defense games. They all feel rather the same and aren't very exciting. If you're like me, or even if you're a fan of tower defense games, then you might want to keep an eye on Toy Soldiers. It's tower defense with a bit of a twist. Announced today at the Tokyo Game Show, this exclusive Xbox Live Arcade game comes from indie developer Signal Studios.

Toy Soldiers brings WWI action figures from 1918 to life. That naturally means that, while the battlefield looks totally real, you'll actually be playing in a bedroom filled with toy figures set up by a little boy or girl with a vivid imagination. Look through the grainy filter towards the battlefield and you'll see a raging war. Turn your sights up towards the sky and you might see a bookshelf or a desk lamp.

The visuals are quite good for an XBLA game, but they aren't what sets Toy Soldiers out from the pack. This game offers a more active role for the player than most tower defense games. Each round starts how you'd normally expect it to. You'll get a look at which enemies are queued up and preparing to charge your defenses and it will be up to you to set down towers of defense to keep your headquarters safe.

Once things are set in motion, they begin to get interesting. At any time, you can hop in to a tower and take direct control of it. Turrets allow you to aim and lay down covering fire. A sniper tower lets you become the sniper. You can even get in a plane and fly off around the world. And, of course, the whole time the enemy is attacking your defenses so it might be a good idea to upgrade a tower now and again to keep things even.

Toy Soldiers will also have a multiplayer portion to it, which Microsoft jokingly referred to as a sort of tower offense style of game. One side will defend while the other launches an attack. We didn't get a look at this mode, but it certainly sounds intriguing given the active role each player can take during the fight.

There wasn't any news provided on when you can expect Toy Soldiers to release on the Live Arcade, but we were told that it was coming soon -- either by the end of this year or early next.

 

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