I know what you're saying, "oh no, another Army Men game!" Well folks, we can all rest a little easier now, knowing that playing Army Men: Air Attack 2 will not be a total waste of your time. It's by no means what I would call a complete game but nevertheless, it's still better than any other Army Men game for the PS2.

Gameplay
Like the other games in the series, Air Attack 2 is all about simple arcade shooting. This is not a strategic game, nor does it require an ounce of gray matter to learn how to play. Once again it's the Green Army vs. the Tan army and players take the roll of one of the Green Army's top helicopter pilots. You will fly a series of straightforward missions combining simple seek-and-destroy, rescue, gathering and survival.

Aside from the fact that Air Attack 2 feels just like Green Rogue, and the big green guy is now a helicopter, this game is a lot more fun to play. One major improvement is now you can actually aim in 360 degrees instead of only four directions like in Green Rogue. There is a primary weapon, which is upgradable, a secondary weapon with limited ammo and a winch, which is used for many things and an important aspect of the game. The winch is used for picking up objects that are key to completing missions. But you can also pick up other objects, which can be used as a weapon against the Tan forces.

Contrary to what you would expect from a helicopter combat game, Air Attack 2's helicopters are incapable of changing altitude. What's worse is that most of the levels feel entirely unrealistic. They feel more like a maze of twists and turns or something completely fake than a representation of where little plastic men would really fight. Now you should be getting a good idea of just how linear this game is. Fortunately, the game's host of different helicopters and power-ups should keep the game somewhat interesting.

Graphics
Is it just me, or is 3DO making all these Army Men games to cover up their inability to program textures into their PS2 games? All of the Army Men games have looked utterly horrible horrible on this next generation system and this one is no different. The ground textures are unbelievably blurry, buildings are almost completely a flat color and just about everything else in the game looks as if it was textured with solid colors which makes for a very dull and ugly looking game. I understand that most of the things in this game are supposed to look "fake" but come on, at least have it running higher than 30 frames per second! There is nothing that looks even half-ways decent in this game.

Sound
Nothing special here. Players will hear the typical run of the mill military esque music. The explosions and sounds of your weaponry are done fairly well but not to any great effect. There is a also a decent dosage of voice in the game which helps to move the story forward and is definitely a lot better than having to read a text display of your mission briefing. But seeing as how the developers aren't taxing the PS2 in the graphical department one bit, they could have at least beefed up the sound effects quality.

Value
Air Attack 2 is not a terrible game and it is actually possible to get some enjoyment out of it but I wouldn't suggest buying it. This is just not worth your hard-earned cash for a game that offers so little in the way of innovation. All you are given is the very basics, bare bones combat flight game and it's not even a very good one.

The multiplayer mode may give some extra life but I'm sure that this game will no doubt be collecting dust in no time.