Trench warfare has never been so fun!
The Cold War has never been so hot!
"YOU WANTED A WAR? YOU GOT A WAR!"
— The Commando from Cold War
Toy Soldiers is series of Tower Defense games developed by Signal Studios, but with a twist. You can assume direct control of turrets, mortars, flamethrowers, chemical sprayers, vehicles, or special power-ups.
Games/DLC in the series-
- Toy Soldiers was released on the Xbox Live Arcade on March 3, 2010. Based in a child's wargame set modeled after WW1 Europe, you can play as either the Western Allies or the Germans, defending your Toybox from a onslaught of enemy troops, armor, and planes. A release on Steam and Games For Windows Live with all the DLC included occurred on April 27th, 2012.
- The Kaiser's Battle was release on the Xbox Live Arcade on June 30, 2010, and is the first downloadable content pack for Toy Soldiers. You play as the French Army, defending against a German offensive. Includes a Short campaign, in addition to new survival and versus maps.
- Invasion! was release on the Xbox Live Arcade on September 29, 2010, and is the second and final downloadable content pack for Toy Soldiers. You play as the German army, defending against a slew of new British secret weapons, including Spacemen, Space Tanks, Flying Saucers, and the P51 Mustang.
- Toy Soldiers: Cold War was released on the Xbox Live Arcade on August 17, 2011. An Affectionate Parody of 1980s Cold War films, you play as the U.S. defending against a Soviet invasion. In addition to the mechanics now standard to the franchise, they added a selection of minigames, and a family of Power Ups called Barrages, which you receive for killing a large number of enemies in a single wave using the same turret, or by assassinating a specific target.
- Evil Empire, the first DLC for Cold War, puts the player in the boots of the Soviets against the Americans. Featuring the Soviet turrets, Soviet vehicles and a Soviet Commando named Ivan. Includes new mini-game content, survival, and vs content.
- Napalm The second DLC pack for Cold War. The player is back controlling the American forces specifically in the Vietnam War. Introduces new survival maps and other content.
- Toy Soldiers: Complete presently available under Early Access on Steam. At time of writing it's a port of Cold War to PC with all of the DLC as well as all Minigames unlocked. The "Complete" part of the title is that it will also include the original Toy Soldiers with several of the improvements and changes made in Cold War, and also have versus and co-op for the original Toy Soldiers factions, the British and Germans, alongside the Americans and Soviets.
- Toy Soldiers: War Chest was released for Xbox One, Play Station 4, and PC on August 2015. It takes the toys concept even further, featuring factions such as a Ultra Super Happy Cute Baby Fest Farmer 3000 pasthice, a sci-fi army, and even established franchises like G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe.
This franchise provides examples of:
- And This Is for...: The Commando will occasionally scream out "This one's for Jimmy!" while blazing away.
- Art Evolution:
- The loading screens appear to be more modern in Cold War than in the first Toy Soldiers.
- In Cold War, the soldiers manning the guns wear 1960s olive drabs in Vietnam, more modern 1980s uniforms in Europe. Special forces outfits in the invasion of the USA, and finally, because the risk of nuclear fallout is so high, all your soldiers wear hazmat suits in the finale.
- Artifact Title: Loading screens claim that Toy Soldiers is 'The Famous Wargame From Bothell'. This is no longer true, as Signal Studios has since moved to Kirkland.
- Artificial Stupidity: Invoked, the AI is stupid on purpose to encourage you to take direct control of your units. Not that the AI is incapable of doing their job.
- BFG: The level 3 howitzers from the first game, The Mother and The Big Bertha count as this.
- Autobots, Rock Out!: The T-28's theme
in Evil Empire. - Bloodless Carnage: Though given that all the troops are made of plastic and/or tin, this is a given.
- Build Like an Egyptian: One level in Cold War is set in Egypt complete with 2 filmsy pyramids.
- Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: Subverted in both games. The French valiantly resist the German offensive in Kaiser's Battle, and defend Paris from the Soviets in one level of Cold War. That said, cheese, wine and bread all show up on French turrets.
- Colour Coded Armies: The British Are Yellow/Orange, The Germans are Gray/Dark Blue. In the second game, the US is Blue while the USSR is Red.
- Cool Boat: The second boss in Cold War is a massive Typhoon-class submarine. That can fly!
- Cosmetically Different Sides: For the most part, the armies have similar stats despite utilising different equipment. Cold War does have a few units that differ between the two sides however, such as the medium tank (flamethrower secondary for US, machine gun for USSR) and the level 3 machine gun (minigun for US, rapid-fire shotgun for USSR).
- Death from Above: Several barrage awards in Cold War are this, like the gunship and bombing run.
- Drop Pod: This is the Commandos method of entering the battlefield, exept he comes in his packaging, not an actual drop pod.
- Expy: The Commando is Rambo. Ivan may look familiar, too.
- Firebreathing Weapon: The level 2 chemical unit in the original, which is an actual flamethrower, and the level 2 and 3 makeshift units in Cold War, which are an Aerosol Flamethrower and roman candle, respectively.
- Gameplay Grading: You can get Bronze, Silver, or Gold in three categories- Profit, Defense, and Aggression. Getting a Gold in all 3 will get you an Overall Platinum.
- Guest Fighter: War Chest has four factions from established franchises: G.I. Joe and the opposing COBRA, Masters of the Universe, and Assassin's Creed.
- Humongous Mecha:
- Project R.I.S.E, the final boss of the second game.
- Robo-bob from the Invasion! DLC for the first game counts when you compare him to the units you're using against him at least.
- Space Phantom's forces have two in War Chest, including one titled the Emancipator that serves as their boss unit.
- Improvised Weapon: The makeshift category in Cold War.
- Instant-Win Condition: For the enemy on boss levels - not a single enemy soldier can get to your toybox and it can be perfectly intact, but if the Boss gets to it, it's instantly destroyed regardless of condition.
- Kill Sat: One of the barrage awards in Cold War. It's especially effective on single targets.
- Large Ham: The Commando, and his Soviet counterpart, Ivan.
- Limit Break: Cold War has something like this. When you're controlling a turret, a meter will fill when you perform kills in rapid succession. Fill it up partway, and the turret will be turbocharged and have unlimited ammo. If you fill it up completely, you will earn a barrage award.
- Living Toys: Natch.
- Made of Explodium: All the vehicles and turrets, no matter how they died, are reduced to scraps when destroyed.
- Monumental Battle: The missions in Cold War take you to the Berlin Wall, The Eiffel Tower, Mt Rushmore and the White House.
- No Campaign for the Wicked: Averted in the original, as you unlock the German campaign after completing the allied campaign, and in Cold War with the Evil Empire DLC.
- Palette Swap: The French Army gets a unique level 1 howitzer and machine gun but all other weapons are blue coloured versions of British weapons. The actual soldiers have their own models however.
- Rank Inflation: You can earn platinum medals in missions by getting all golds in the three scoring categories.
- Reality Is Unrealistic: Russian Laser Tanks? Check! Tank/Biplane hybrids? Check! Guided missiles with cameras in the nose? Check!
- Sequel Escalation: The first boss of Cold War is a 40 foot tall Tank/Bi-Plane with a Tesla Turret. And it just gets crazier from there on out.
- Shout-Out
- I love the smell of plastic in the morning!
- Our rockets will blot out the sun!
- One of the achievements is named Demolition Man.
- The canal mission is basically one prolonged Shout-Out too Top Gun, with a Star Fox
meme thrown in there for good measure. - During the final mission of Cold War, an optional objective is named Miserable Pile of Soviets.
- In Cold War's Evil Empire DLC, one of the optional objectives is called "I'm on the Leader".
- The Napalm DLC in Cold War has "Master of Unloading".
- So Much for Stealth: The first mission of Cold War suggests this in the description, 'A covert operation made explosively overt.'
- War Has Never Been So Much Fun: Hell yeah it hasn't.
- Washington D.C. Invasion : The last mission in Cold War.
- Zerg Rush: The regular infantry waves in both games.
- MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, SIR!!—Again, The Commando from Cold War
