Dreaming of Small Soldiers

Based on the Tommy Lee Jones flick of the same name (set for a July 10 release) comes Dreamworks Interactive's Small Soldiers for PlayStation.

If you're not familiar with the movie's plot, here's a summation: A hi-tech defense company decides that making weapons just isn't profitable in times of peace, so it shifts gears and starts making toys using its expertise. Unfortunately, by mistake a super hi-tech $5-6k chip is placed inside the toys, making them smart soldiers, bent on defeating their "enemy" counterparts, the Gorgonites. You can imagine the chaos and anarchy that engulfs the planet.

The movie's got plenty of CG effects from Industrial Light & Magic, and Dreamworks Interactive is making sure that the game has impressive CG as well for the opening and ending movies (the story advancement in-game is all with real-time characters).

Instead of using the movie's story, Patrick Gilmore, the game's producer, told us that they have set the game in the world of the two main "sides" - the Gorgonites and the Commando Elite. Almost like a Toy Story movie set in the real world of Buzz Lightyear.

The game will feature a one-player mode, where you are on the side of the Commando Elite and go up against the leader of the Gorgonites, Archfiend. There's also a two-player mode where you match wits with a friend, each on the side of either the Commandos or Gorgonites.

Dreamworks has used eight characters from the film but has also added its own, in the same style, to pump up the ranks of both sides. Gilmore explained to us that the game is nonlinear, and that the missions will each have different objectives involved - protect, destroy, rescue, etc.

The game is currently set for a release somewhere between October and the end of the year and is nearly halfway complete. We'll update you on the progress of the game as it gets closer to release.