Real combat. Plastic men.
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes is a series of third-person shooter video games from the Army Men franchise by The 3DO Company. The first game was initially released on Nintendo 64 in September 1999, followed by a PlayStation version with slightly worse graphics and animations but with voiced cutscenes, both in-engine and pre rendered, in February 2000. Further ports would follow on the Dreamcast in October 2000 and then PC in December.The game tells the story of the ongoing war between the Green and Tan nations. The Tan, under General Plastro, has found a way into the human world and is bringing back weapons of mass destruction to tip the balance of the war. Sergeant Hawk (more commonly just "Sarge") must stop him at all cost.
Followed almost exactly a year later by a sequel, Sarge's Heroes 2, releasing on N64 in September 2000, PlayStation and Game Boy Color in November, and then the PlayStation 2 in March 2001.
With Plastro missing and the Tan army on the run, it looks as though the war will soon be ending in the Green Nation's favor, just as soon as they can capture its interim leader, Field Marshall Tannenberg... though the entrance of the mysterious spy Brigitte Bleu and her search for the missing Plastro quickly throws a wrench into the proceedings.
Sarge's Heroes was to some degree a Soft Reboot of the series, using the same basic setting as the first two games but with a mostly-new cast of characters and an overall lighter, funnier tone, and save for Toys in Space (which is explicitly a sequel to Army Men II) and the World War games (which are in their own continuity), just about every game in the series since is in continuity with it rather than the original two. As such, Sergeant Hawk, his Bravo Company Commandos, and/or Vikki have some role in just about every game in the franchise since, whether main characters (Army Men: RTS featuring Sarge and the Commandos as the Green army's Hero Units, Sarge's War being a sequel), supporting (Air Tactics and Air Attack featuring Sarge and more rarely Vikki in a handful of missions), or just The Cameo (Army Men: Green Rogue featuring Bravo Company in the intro as they donate plastic to create the "Omega Soldier") - even the first two World War games feature Sergeant Hawk on the cover for their PAL releases.
This game provides examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: Sarge gets pretty annoyed with Shrap whenever he refers to him as "dude".
- Admiring the Abomination: Sarge is fascinated by the Tan weapons even after seeing their devastating effects."That thing is barbaric! It's-it's merciless! Can we build one?"
"Then where is Plastro getting these magnificent- I mean, horrific weapons?" - Advertised Extra: Despite being in the name and on the cover, and with most of the game's plot focused on rescuing them, the eponymous Sarge's Heroes are barely actually in the game, only appearing in the missions where Sarge must rescue each one of them individually, and only briefly showing up together at the end (and we don't get to see them in action all that much, either). The game instead focuses almost completely on Sarge himself.
- All for Nothing: The Green-Tan war comes out to be this in the end, which Sarge muses on.
- An Ass-Kicking Christmas: The last two levels in Sarge's Heroes takes place in a living room with a gigantic Christmas tree in the background and presents strewn throughout the room. Oddly, in preceding levels that take place outside the house there's no indication whatsoever that it's winter.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Sarge's Heroes 2 lets the player take control of Vikki in a handful of missions.
- Animated Actors: The games have their own gag reel, with the characters acting as if they're just actors.
- Artificial Stupidity:
- Sarge's Heroes' ally AI is this in spades. The generic Green Soldiers only appear in a few levels and they rarely ever manage to kill a single tan soldier even if they're in a group.
- In the same game there is a mission where you can bust a handful of Grey soldiers out of prison cells. They are very prone to friendly fire and they have a tendency to set off alarms.
- Enemies will never react to getting shot so long as they have their back to Sarge.
- Badass in Distress:
- Vikki in the Sarge's Heroes games. She spends most of her time as a captive secretly relaying tan troop movements.
- Bravo Company spending much of Sarge's Heroes in Tan clutches is a major plot point of that game, as Sarge must go out of his way to rescue each of them and put his squad back together.
- Baddie Flattery: Near the end of Sarge's Heroes, when Plastro and a few tan soldiers have Sarge at their mercy, he is able to knock the tans (save for Plastro) off the present they are standing on by kicking a block at them, leading Plastro to congratulate Sarge on his cleverness.
- Better than a Bare Bulb: Sarge's Heroes especially knows that its premise is inherently silly, and as a result doesn't even try to take things seriously for more than a few moments at any given time.
- Big Good: Colonel Grimm, leader of the Green Army in the Sarge's Heroes games.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Bravo Company, to various degrees. Riff, Scorch, Hoover, Shrap, Thick, and even Sarge all have their quirks. They’re still the most elite squad in the Green Army.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Shrap. He's your typical surfer dude, and as such, he tends to be pretty out there.
- Crosshair Aware: Due to engine limitations in Sarge's Heroes's multiplayer, every player can see everyone else's aiming reticule for mortars and grenades.
- Dead Guy on Display: In the Garden level, Sarge finds dead soldiers hanged upside down from flower stalks.
- Didn't See That Coming: In the Cut Scene before the final mission, Sarge confronts General Plastro who says he will use the last remaining portal to destroy the Green Nation and marry Vicky Grimm, they share the following dialogue:Sarge: She wouldn't marry you on your best day.
Plastro: How about my worst?
(Sarge kicks over a wooden block, and knocks down some Tan soldiers guarding Plastro off a ledge, complete with a wooden pins being knocked down sound effect)
Plastro: Huh!? Excellent move, I didn't see that coming! But do you think you can outsmart a bullet, hhhmmmm?
Sarge: Maybe not, I bet that thing could.
Plastro: What thing? (Notices dog behind him) What? Oh, mommy... (dog starts chewing on him) No, let go- Ahhhh!
Sarge: I don't think the world is ready to be led by a chew toy, have a nice day! - Dumb Muscle: Thick, which applies to both his neck and skull. His PS1 Sarge's Heroes bio describes him as an "educated trigger finger attached to a nearly brain-dead soldier", while his bio in 2 compares him to a big, lovable puppy who breaks things on accident because he doesn't know how strong he is and then got handed an M60. The listed stats as such give him 100% strength and bravery, but near 0% intelligence.
- Epic Tank-on-Tank Action: A number of missions offer Sarge the opportunity to drive a tank and blast Tan infantry and tanks alike.
- Escort Mission: Whenever a member of Bravo company gets rescued.
- Fat Bastard: General Plastro in the Sarge's Heroes games, compared to the original Army Men titles where he was built like a truck.
- Foreshadowing: The first Sarge's Heroes has a throw away line about plastic soldiers who stay in the real world for too long becoming frozen. Sarge's Heroes 2 makes this a major plot point.
- Hidden Depths: Bravo Company are each individually exceptional soldiers, despite otherwise being a bunch of misfits... well, except Hoover, but even he's incredible at his job.
- Honey Trap: Vikki uses this to get info on the Tan after being captured in Sarge's Heroes.
- Hypocritical Humor: After being shown a film of green soldiers being melted by Plastro's magnifying glasses, Sarge goes on about how horrible and barbaric they are, before asking Col. Grimm if they can build some.
- Improbable Weapon User: The Tans use mundane objects from the human world as their superweapons. They use magnifying glasses as "death rays", bugzappers as electrical fences and toy robots as Humongous Mecha.
- Ironic Nickname: The stoic, humorless Colonel Grimm is referred to in some sources, including the PS1 intro for Sarge's Heroes and several in-game bios, as "Happy Jack". For extra irony, most occurrences of the nickname outright mention his grim outlook from having been at war with the Tan several times over several decades, right in the very same sentence as they mention the nickname. His PS1 Sarge's Heroes bio at least does more or less state that it is, indeed, ironic.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: Sarge. As ever, lampshaded:Plastro: Well, well, well, if it isn't Sergeant Hawk. How very nice of you and your jaw to join us.
- Last-Second Word Swap:Sarge: But where is Plastro getting these magnificent, uh I mean, horrific weapons?
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to the previous Army Men, this series is more character-driven and humorous.
- Mama Bear: A boss fight in Sarge's Heroes 2 is against a giant spider called the Queen who attacked Vikki for killing all the other spiders, that happened to be her children, that she ran into.
- Meaningful Name: You can tell what Bravo company's personalities (and often choice of weapons) will be just by their names.
- Mid-Season Twist:
- Part 1 (Fort Plastro): Plastro demands the surrender of the Greens or he will destroy everything Colonel Grimm loves, including his daughter Vicky (who pretends to have defected to the Tans).
- Part 2 (Revenge): Plastro returns, disrupts the peace treaty signing and kidnaps Vicky.
- Misidentified Weapons: The machine gun is clearly modeled after a Bren gun, but befitting the heavy Vietnam influence on the plastic soldiers the games are based on, it is instead referred to as the M60.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Bridgette helps out the green forces when Plastro invades the blue nation. However, she betrays Sarge later to Plastro. Then she goes back to helping Sarge at the end.
- Ms. Fanservice: Bridgette Bleu and Vikki to a lesser extent.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Scorch is a plastic soldier who adores fire.
- Mythology Gag: Sarge's Heroes 2 features multiple BattleTanx: Global Assault-branded objects in real-world levels and cut scenes.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Vikki Grimm and Brigitte Bleu, the two major female characters, are depicted as dolls with flesh-colored skin, rather than single-colored plastic figures like the male characters, Bombshell, or Tina Tomorrow.
- Not in the Face!: General Plastro, when Sarge gets ready to beat him up, begs him not to hit him in the face, before passing out.
- Once More, with Volume!: In Sarge's Heroes, on being informed that Colonel Grimm and Sarge have successfully escaped, captured a blue intel officer, and found one of their portals, General Plastro is understandably shocked. The subordinate giving him the Sit Rep thinks his General is hard of hearing, so he starts repeating his report. Plastro angrily clarifies that his "What!?" interjection was rhetorical while punching him out.Tan Soldier: Colonel Grimm and the Sarge have escaped our forces and captured a blue intelligence officer and...to make matters worse, Sarge found one of our portals.
General Plastro: What!?
Tan Soldier: Colonel Grimm and Sarge have escaped -
General Plastro: I heard you! It was a rhetorical "what"! - One-Man Army: Just how Sarge likes it."They've got us outnumbered and outgunned 50 to 1... sounds like good odds to me."
- Papa Wolf: Col. Grimm, in Sarge's Heroes, was ready to capitulate after Plastro had Vikki captured and threatened to kill her. Fortunately Sarge was able to rescue her before it came to that.
- Party Scattering: Sarge's squad, Bravo Company, gets scattered at the start of the game. Most of it is about reassembling them.
- Prison Level: Shrap is being held in an arctic gulag.
- Promoted to Playable: Vikki in Sarge's Heroes 2.
- Pyromaniac: Scorch, from Sarge's Heroes. In his flavor text, it say he sleeps in a box of matches.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Bravo Company in Sarge's Heroes.
- Reformulated Game:
- The first game has a clear split between the N64 and PS1 versions, which are for the most part the same game with the same plot and characters but have slightly different presentation: the graphics and animations of the N64 version are slightly better, but the PS1 has more content, including usable vehicles and proper voiced cutscenes. Later ports follow this, with the Dreamcast version being an upscaled port of the N64 version with the addition of actual voice acting while PC got a more direct port of the PS1 version.
- The second game's console versions have fewer differences beyond that which platform differences necessitated - e.g. the graphics improve between PS1 to N64 and then to PS2 and the N64 still has to settle for voiceless in-engine cutscenes, though the in-game animations are the same across all three - so this instead befell the Game Boy Color version, which reworked the basic plot into a top-down vehicle-based shooter.
- Remixed Level: The Garden and Fort Plastro levels get replayed twice. The Fort has to be re-infiltrated at night.
- Running Gag: In the Sarge's Heroes games, Plastro keeps demanding one of his subordinates to bring him a sandwich.
- Schmuck Bait: Twice in the second game's "Revenge" level, Sarge will be told to find the armory and stock up on firepower. Wouldn't you know it, it's also a good place for an ambush.
- Sergeant Rock: When he's not acting as a One-Man Army, Sarge is this to his squadron, the Bravo Company Commandos.
- Spin-Off: See Portal Runner.
- Taking You with Me: Plastro briefly tries this at the end of Sarge's Heroes, being too fat and injured to run away from the lit M-80 that Sarge was using to blow up the last portal, but not wanting Sarge to make it back to the plastic world either.
- Took a Level in Badass: Vikki, in Sarge's Heroes 2. While she had her moments in the predecessor, she takes a much more proactive part in the fight in 2, even rescuing Sarge at one point.
- Totally Radical: Shrap and Riff get this pretty bad.
- Trapped in Another World: Staying in the human world causes army men to freeze. The process becomes known as "plastrification". The second game reveals that the Blue Nation possesses a serum that can undo plastrification... as well as one that immediately causes it.
- Was Once a Man: The Tans have a machinenote that turns enemy soldiers into spider creatures.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Sarge in the Sarge's Heroes games only ever shows nervousness around spiders. Vikki gets grossed out by them too.