Software:Army Men: Sarge's War

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Army Men: Sarge's War
Developer(s)Tactical Development
Publisher(s)Global Star Software
EngineRenderWare
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
  • NA: July 20, 2004
  • EU: July 23, 2004
Xbox
  • EU: July 23, 2004
  • NA: August 2, 2004
PlayStation 2
  • EU: July 23, 2004
GameCube
  • NA: August 21, 2004
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Army Men: Sarge's War is a third-person shooter video game developed by Tactical Development and published by Global Star Software for Microsoft Windows, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It was initially developed by series creator The 3DO Company but after that company's bankruptcy was purchased and completed by Global Star Software.[1] Sarge's War is a third installment in Sarge's Heroes subseries. The game is more mature and darker than earlier games in the series. Sarge makes no comical moves, holes are blown into soldiers, and the weapons are also made of metal.

Plot

The game begins with an attack on Greentown by the Tan Army and Sarge battling through the war-torn city to save it. After the battle, Sarge is informed by Colonel Grimm that General Plastro and the Tan Army has surrendered and that there will be a peace ceremony later that night, but that a rogue Tan division - Operation "Vengeance" - led by Lord Malice has stolen some infantry molds and can now build an army. Sarge's mission is to find and capture Malice, recover the stolen molds, and locate a missing recon squad that hadn't returned from their mission.[2]

Sarge arrives in the area (a beach) and battles his way to the Tan portal. There, he discovers plans indicating that Malice is planning to detonate a bomb at the peace ceremony. Malice contacts Sarge on his radio, revealing the bomb is hidden in the peace statue. Sarge charges through the portal to stop the ceremony, but he is too late - as the bomb goes off, Greentown is destroyed and Plastro, Colonel Grimm, the Heroes, Vikki and the Green and Tan armies are all killed in the explosion. Enraged at the death of his squad, Sarge then sets out to kill Malice and avenge the Heroes.

He battles his way through the remains of Greentown to another Tan portal. Upon proceeding through the portal, he finds himself in Malice's artillery base. Sarge destroys all the artillery and discovers a plastic well mine that Malice is using to build his army. Sarge floods the mine, rendering it useless. He then travels across the desert to Malice's castle. Malice is using the castle as a communication center for his air and ground forces, as well as a prison base for some of the Green army's finest men. Sarge penetrates the castle's defenses, frees the prisoners and destroys the communications tower. Discovering a passage from the castle to a kitchen in the Real World, Sarge flashes back to a time when he was in a similar kitchen, in a squad led by Major Gooding. During an exfiltration mission, Gooding and his squad were ambushed by Tan forces. During the ambush, Sarge called in an air strike and found Gooding's arm near the sink, leading him to the conclusion that Gooding was dead (unknown to Sarge, Gooding was in the sink, trying to call for help). As Sarge takes off in the helicopter, the flashback ends, and Sarge moves forth.

At the end of the game, Sarge finally reaches Lord Malice's headquarters, where he battles Malice himself. After defeating and fatally wounding Malice, Sarge asks him why he killed the Greens and Tans in Greentown. Malice chastises Sarge for not remembering. Sarge removes Malice's face mask and discovers that he was actually Major Gooding, who was accidentally left for dead all those years ago. Malice tells Sarge that after the helicopter took off with Sarge, the Tan eventually found him and changed him into the Lord Malice he is now. As he dies, Malice reveals to Sarge that since that day, he dreamt of making him suffer the way he did. At the end of the scene, Sarge is seen walking out, saying that war makes ultimately no sense.

The closing animation reveals storage tubes inscribed with the names of the deceased soldiers from Sarge's squad, killed in the Greentown attack, though exactly what this means is unclear.

Reception

The game was generally rated as average or below average. Improvements on previous games included a new lock on feature as well as the ability to blow off enemy limbs. Most reviews also said that the darker appearance was nice. Drawbacks included sub-par graphics, repetitive gameplay and poor enemy AI.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Army Men: Sarge's War Details and Credits". metacritic.com. August 9, 2004. https://www.metacritic.com/game/army-men-sarges-war/details/?platform=gamecube. Retrieved 2014-10-08. 
  2. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (August 14, 2004). "Army Men: Sarge's War Xbox Review". Eurogamer.net. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_armymensargeswar_x. Retrieved 2010-07-03. 
  3. ↑ "Army Men: Sarge's War Review". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. September 26, 2004. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121025212836/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/109656/reviews/army-men-sarges-war-review/. Retrieved 2014-12-13. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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