Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops XL (Nintendo Switch) Review

From the main menu, there are a host of modes available to jump straight into after completing a brief tutorial mode. The main story campaigns of the first two games are available under "Soldier Campaign" and "Spec Ops Campaign," then there's also a "Zombie Campaign" and a "Zombie Horde" mode. Regardless of what mode is chosen, when first beginning, it seems very promising. Classic arcade action that hints at plenty of replayability thanks to the system of collecting extra mission objectives. These objectives reward two types of currency that can be used before a mission to purchase permanent stat upgrades for the troopers, along with cosmetic uniforms and even unlocking troopers equipped with special weapons.

There's a ton of stuff to purchase and it seems strange as to why there would be quite so many items in the store… until you realise this was a freemium phone game; the type of title that relied on microtransactions. They are no longer part of the experience, yet the core gameplay hasn't been balanced to make up for their removal, meaning this feels horrifically grindy.

The problem with Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops XL is that after playing for even the shortest period of time, that promise is shown to be absolutely empty and the flaws really begin to become quite evident. The missions get very repetitive, very, very quickly. It would seem that perhaps jumping from the original Tiny Troopers missions to the Tiny Troopers 2 missions might give some fresh new gameplay, but that sadly isn't the case. It's the same old simple objectives. Kill something, escort something, and destroy something - with no real variation or innovation as things progress. All the while, some of the worst AI in recent memory is showcased.

Ironically, the extra modes based around zombies actually improves the AI considerably, as does it improve the general quality of the game. The Zombie Horde mode is actually fun and, despite the repetitive nature, it has the same sort of fun arcade gameplay that grants it some value and a reason to keep playing.