Small Soldiers | Tiny Troopers Joint Ops Review

Tiny Troopers Joint Ops certainly isn’t the first mobile game to make its way over to the PlayStation Network, but surprisingly, it’s one of the best we’ve seen yet. Some minor control issues and repetition are certainly bothersome, but it doesn’t stop Tiny Troopers from being a fun pick-up and play title that’s more satisfying than its premise would lead on.

Tiny Troopers is a top down twin stick shooter that focuses on commanding one squad through various levels. You’ll start each mission navigating through the level and killing enemies that get in your way. Each level has its own objective, such as simply killing everyone in the map, destroying buildings, or escorting a unit to an extraction zone, among other things. Missions may have different objectives, but they never vary enough to really spice up the experience. Even when there’s a different objective, it’s mainly just kill everything in your way to win, rather than actually having to change up your play style. I found playing missions in short bursts greatly helped my enjoyment of the game, but I would have hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

If you play on Vita, you can choose to either use the traditional touch screen controls from the mobile version or use the thumbsticks and buttons, though if you choose the latter, some commands are still mapped to the touch screen and must be used there exclusively. Grenades and rocket launchers, which are used frequently in missions, can only be used on the touchscreen, and as someone who prefers buttons and thumbsticks, I found navigating between the two to be awkward. Not to mention when I try using either touchscreen attack, my hand then takes up half the screen and leaves me open for attack or an accidental stroll on top of a mine.

Tiny Troopers has two campaigns available, and I was pleasantly surprised at the charming comic book panel cutscenes and solid voice acting that accompanied them. The silly but satisfying humor adds a little more personality to the game, and it went a long way in helping my about eight hour playtime be just a little more satisfying.

Also included in each campaign is a zombie horde mode that has you killing as many hordes as you can before you finally meet your demise. There’s classic zombies, giant zombies with tons of health, explosive zombies – and even chicken zombies. Whenever I grew tired of the campaign, I found myself revisiting the zombie mode and really enjoying it. It’s a great palate cleanser, and it would have been great to see it expanded just a little bit further.

Each level contains collectible items that offer various bonuses and rewards. Dog tags, intel and enemy weapons can be collected to gain lucrative points that can be spent on in-mission items like weapons and health, which can be essential in completing difficult levels. Medals can also be collected which can be used after missions to unlock one-time use special units to bolster your squad’s power and give you a huge advantage in later levels.

Tiny Troopers is a cross-buy game, so buying a copy will net you the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions. You’ll also be able to transfer your saves across all three platforms with cross-save. The majority of my time was spent with the Vita version of the game, mainly because the bite-sized missions are something much more fitting on-the-go.

Tiny Troopers is a big hit on mobile devices, and it’s made a great splash on PlayStation devices, too. Repetition may set in after continuous play, but playing in short bursts is a nice remedy to help enjoy the wealth of content that’s included – and for only $8.

This review is based on a review copy of the game Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops by Kukouri Mobile Entertainment.