Review of Minions!

Being on the battlefield can be hard work. With bullets flying everywhere, tanks demolishing the area, and crazy people with swords charging into the heat of the frontlines, it can be one hectic place to be. Luckily you're not alone. You have a whole army of minions right beside you. Though they may not be the smartest allies you've ever seen in battle, they are some of the most loyal.

Minions! puts you in the boots of a hero. Your job is to defeat the enemy. To assist you are minions who wield a variety of weapons to push the frontlines forward. There are two main types of minions, the first which consistently spawn from your base and continue to push the enemy back to their base. Though they are free they are relatively weak and can't do much without any help. The second type of minion you can hire are special minions. These you can customize their appearance and weapon selection. They can either be told to help the other minions advance the line or told to follow you around the battlefield. While your minions are fighting you are trying to find weapons and reinforcements to aid you in completing the mission. The missions vary from tug of war style scenarios to stopping tanks from reaching your base. The game can be played as a twin-stick shooter from a top-down perspective or as a third person shooter.

Minions! has a great retro feel to it. The game reminds me of Army Men: Sarge's Heroes for the N64. The graphics may look rather simple, but I think they go well with the style of the game. The soundtrack also adds to the game, and I was actually quite impressed. The game features six levels. Although that may not seem like very many levels they are varied and long enough to not be an issue. Along the way you will also level up enabling you to upgrade basic attributes like health, speed, and damage. The actual gameplay works well too. I found it easier to be in third-person mode rather than top-down because of the more accurate aiming. Even with all the action going on around you I found the game to continue running smooth.

There are a few issues with the game though. A few of the menu/create options seem clumsy at times. For example, to change any of your previous minions weapons you must recreate all the minions. There was also a weird difficulty curve. The first three levels aren't much of a problem at all; the next three, however, are much more challenging. Each one takes longer than the previous one and if you fail you have to start the whole level again. This can be annoying when you are only a couple of seconds away from winning and then all of a sudden a tank gets past or the last small group of enemy minions manages to penetrate your base only for you having to do it all again for another five to ten minutes. Finally, when I was at the very end of the game I was just about finished with the level when all of a sudden the game crashed. I don't know if that was just a rare mishap, but it was enough to make me want to stop playing.

Minions! was a rather enjoyable game. It took me about an hour and a half to make it to the end (right before it crashed.) If you are looking for some sort of shooter this could be a good choice. It only cost 80 microsoft points. I would recommend trying the trial to see if you would like it.

I give Minions! a 3/4.