Finally available for Xbox One comes ‘Tiny Troopers Joint Ops’ which is a compilation of two free to play mobile games by developer Kukouri and published by Wired Productions. It was released last year as a crossbuy across PlayStation platforms and reminded me very much of an Amiga Classic. But how does it play on Xbox One?
Tiny Troopers Joint Ops is a twin stick shooter that is made up of different game modes. It has no real story driven campaign instead it relies on missions where the player sends out troops to take out enemy forces, earning money and experience points in order to upgrade and purchase new troops and weapons to progress further. The missions will have different objectives to complete which increase in challenge as you progress.
Playing this on Xbox One gave me a real sense of playing a traditional XBLA title. Considering that it is made up of free to play mobile games, it has to offer something special in order to justify charging to play it on a main console. I found the missions far too simple to complete to begin with, essentially navigate your troops from the mission start to the extraction zone whilst keeping your squad alive as you take out enemy troops. Using the left stick to move your troops and the right stick to aim and fire their weapons along with special weapons like rocket launchers or grenades to take out targets at range.
Special Ops offers some variation in mission objectives with escort missions, protecting an objective from waves of enemy troops and on rail vehicle combat. Missions will start out relatively easy and as you progress towards the final boss level of each stage, more enemies and targets are thrown into the mix but I never found myself out matched with the upgrades and weapons I could purchase before missions to make my squad stronger and during missions by calling in weapon drops.
Scoring is based on objectives completed during the mission, the speed at which you complete the level and the difficulty you selected it. Doing well will reward you with medals and Command Points. Mission areas can be explored to find collectibles. If you lose a trooper in action, they remain dead unless you use medals to revive them after a mission is completed or you can recruit a new trooper and begin upgrading them via more gameplay. You can get attached to your battalion if you have been using the same troopers in missions but as it’s rather simple to replace them, it never becomes a hindrance should they fall in battle as you can revive them after the mission is completed.
The mode I did enjoy most was the Zombie Mode, where you fight off ever increasing difficult waves of enemy zombies as your trooper squad gets additional members, ammo and weapon upgrades as you progress. The longer you survive and more zombies you take out the higher your score which will go on an online ranking leaderboard to compete with other players or friends.
Visually Tiny Troopers Joint Ops has an almost Team 17 look and gameplay that reminds me of the classic Amiga title ‘Cannon Fodder’ and is great as a fun distraction but only in short bursts. Tiny Troopers never escapes its origins as a free to play title and though the asking price is cheaper than other games on the store, it just feels small on a main console like the Xbox One, it just lacks the content to keep you sitting there playing for long periods.
With 58 levels to complete and plenty of customisation options, it does have some worth for the £5.49 asking price. For me, Tiny Troopers Joint Ops never breaks out from its mobile game roots for me and though it was fun, it sadly is very forgettable and rather quickly as well. There are more meaty shooters available to keep this title away from being your first choice should the need to shoot things take hold.
