Imperial EVO Trooper

June 28, 2009 | By More


EVO Trooper, Force Unleashed, Expanded Universe, Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®,  Action Figure Review

EVO Trooper, Force Unleashed, Expanded Universe, Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®,  Action Figure ReviewYeah, I’m a bit of Stormtrooper junkie. I’m not an army builder, but, if I find something other than a repaint variation, I’ll normally pick it up. That’s why I have a Crowd Control Stormtrooper in my collection. The upcoming “Force Unleashed” video game and tie-in figures have given us two such trooper variations. I recently looked at the Imperial Jumptrooper. This time I’m going to take a look at his cousin, the EVO Trooper. Not to confused with the Rachel Ray exclusive EVOO Trooper.

The card back paints this type of trooper as a sort of hostile environment soldier. Wookiepedia points out the EVO trooper is also referred to as a Heavy Stormtrooper. Their design may have been inspired by concept art for the New Hope Sandtroopers.

EVO Trooper, Force Unleashed, Expanded Universe, Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®,  Action Figure ReviewAppearance:

Since this guy is from a game that’s not released yet, I can’t tell how true to his appearance he’s going to be. He looks close enough to the artwork on the card to make a good impression.

Even before reading the wiki, I had a vague Sandtrooper feeling from this figure. The large rifle and oversized pack probably greatly contributed to that. His styling is more strongly related to the New Hope era Stormies than the prequel clones. Overall, he seems a bit more heavily armored than the standard troop or Jumptrooper.

His breathing apparatus is definitely heavy duty and draws strongly upon the TIE Pilot and AT-AT driver for inspiriation. The double tubes coming down to a chest plate unit are the same. The unit has an additional piece at the bottom, as well as another tube tying into the armor. The odd thing about the chest unit is that it seems unfinished. Most of the Star Wars chest units have lights, switches, knobs, etc. This one is smooth on the front. It almost looks like some paint aps were left off, or there was suppose to be a decal on it. The raised lip on the front panel gives me that impression at least.

All of the little extra add-ons on the armor remind me of Boba Fett. Especially the unit that is on his left forearm. There is a neat little slice out of the middle that makes it visually interesting. I’m guessing the little piece on his right leg is ammo for his rifle. It’s nicely done as a separate piece.

The shoulder and knee pads closely match the Jumptroopers. I’m not sure why they need the little holes, but, they add some visual punch.

EVO Trooper, Force Unleashed, Expanded Universe, Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®,  Action Figure ReviewThe pack is removable. It’s sculpted to match up to the armor piece that is on his back. The back pack hole appears to be the same diameter as the new GI Joe figures have. However, it’s not as deep. So, you can’t pop Torpedo’s pack on him. There’s two nifty sculpting details on this guy I really like.

One is his fingers. They have some little ribs on them. They also appear to have a bit of grey or metallic wash over they to make them stand out. The second thing that I thought was cool was his neck. It appears to have some texture all the way up to the ball.

There are a couple of things about his head I don’t like. One, the lower part of the mask seems a tad bit wider than it should be. Maybe this is intentional, I just think it would have been better if it was closer to the TIE Pilot.

Second, similar to the Jumptrooper, I really don’t cared for the dark black lines on the helmet. This is Star Wars figure not a McFarlane Simpson’s figure. And what’s with red line on his helmet?

EVO Trooper, Force Unleashed, Expanded Universe, Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®,  Action Figure ReviewMy last bit of criticism is also shared with the Jumptrooper. Why does the dirt stop at the knees? With the Jumptrooper, the weathering faded out as it went up his legs. On this guy it just abruptly stops at the knee. There is nothing natural about that.

Fun:

For the kids, and kids at heart, this guy gives quite a bit of bang for the buck. He’s got a number of accessories, good articulation, is a cool looking character. He’s got most of the modern articulation points. However, instead of a ball jointed chest, he’s got a cut waist. I think for this heavily armored troop, that’s just fine.

EVO Trooper, Force Unleashed, Expanded Universe, Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®,  Action Figure ReviewAccessories abound with this guy. He’s packed with a stand, pack, Flechette rifle, and two pistols. That’s better than some GI Joe figures.

The rifle is noted on the card to be a flechette rifle. That would make it a weaon that fires tiny metal pieces. The strap is painted and sculpted to look like canvas. My only small issue with it is that I wish they had made the barrel hollow at the end. The flat end looks a bit silly.

The pack is well done with some paint details. The little antenna at the top is a nice touch. When it’s on his back, it matches perfectly to the armor.

The EVO trooper also comes with two biker scout style guns. They look slightly metallic and have some nice details, as well. There are two small issues with these pistols. One, he doesn’t have any where to put them. I guess he just has to throw them down when he’s firing his rifle. Second, while he comes with two pistols, he can only hold one of them. The right hand is sculpted to hold the rifle, and this makes it too big to hold a pistol.

Being a “Force Unleashed” figure, he also comes with a small insert with a code for the game.

EVO Trooper, Force Unleashed, Expanded Universe, Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®,  Action Figure ReviewOverall:

If you find the EVO Trooper and Jumptrooper on a peg, and you only have cash for one, buy the EVO trooper. The concept seems a bit more fleshed out. The detailing is better on the EVO and he just flat out comes with better accessories. While the Jumptrooper sounds like he’d be the figure, the EVO really outshines him.

If it weren’t for the paint issues on the legs and head, I’d have given this trooper an A-. And that’s not bad for an EU figure.

Engineernerd Score: 87/100

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EVO Trooper, Force Unleashed, Expanded Universe, Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®,  Action Figure Review

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