Reviews
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Advance Wars: Dual Strike

War just got more advanced.


Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo/Intelligent Systems
Multiplayer: Yes
Online: No

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If the DS is lacking in anything, it would be decent strategy games. Yes, I just can’t get enough of them. It’s a shame as well; the touch screen would be great for controlling masses of armies and giving them commands. Despite this fact, there is a strategy game that stands out in the crowd, that game, is Advance Wars.

Advance Wars DS is the 3rd game in the series (not including the famicon wars games) and is the first Advance Wars game on the DS. Funnily enough, Advance Wars got its name from the console it debuted on (in Britain), but changing the name would just be pointless now, I mean, DS Wars? It just doesn’t have the same ring to it…

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Its one of my most favourite strategy games, no, in fact - it is my favourite strategy game. I’ve been a Nintendo gamer almost all my life, and there is nothing finer than Advance Wars on the strategy front. Did someone just say Fire Emblem? Pffft… if you ask me, Fire Emblem is appalling as a strategy game, call it an RPG though, because I still love it. Unlike Fire Emblem, much more strategy is involved. Other than placing units in strategic places, (which you do in both games) you capture cities, factories, manage funds and create new units instantaneously. In Fire Emblem, once a unit is out, it’s out; but in Advance Wars, it’s every unit for himself. Sometimes a unit is destroyed, but it’s all part of the job.

If you haven’t play the previous Advance Wars games, shame on you; but don’t make that put you off buying it. It’s a very welcoming game. The presentation is great, and there are a lot of options, even when you just start playing. The interchangeable menu opens up colourful variety of different game modes and extras; you know straight away that you will be playing this game for hours.



After routing Black Hole (the opposing army) from Cosmo Land and Macro Land, they take the fight to a new continent; Omega Land, where sinister new plot unfolds. The 4 nations in the previous games who were previously at war with each other have teamed up, to form the ‘Allied Nations’, which is a good thing in terms of gameplay, because it mixes up the different types of COs you use. In previous games, it was a limited set of COs (usually 3). This time however, you gain more commanding officers as you progress, enabling you to pick the right officer for the job, taking advantage of the abilities of your units, or even surrounding objects and the are itself.

If you are familiar with Advance Wars, then there are no surprises here. The gameplay has remained exactly the same. The only difference would be the interface; you can now control units via the touch screen. It’s a nice touch, but not revolutionary. Most people would prefer to use it; as it makes the game feel ‘new’ and is also very easy to use. Just tap the unit you want to use, which opens up a display of blue squares around you (which is your movement range) and tap the place you want to move to. Simple! As well as just moving, you can attack enemy units, join allied units, load and drop infantry, and capture buildings and several types of bases. As well as the touch screen controls, there are also the other basic functions such as pressing ‘R’ to display more info on units and terrain. So as you can guess, if you liked previous Advance Wars games, then will probably like this as well. As for other people… you will learn to love this game; you will fall in love with its style and charm.

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Now, moving onto the gameplay itself; after choosing your commanding officer, you’re ready to play. The war is set out on square map, the size varying on the importance of the mission. The landscape is littered with trees, forests, mountains, and other miscellaneous debris that your units can use to your advantage to beat the opposing side. You usually start off with a small armada, one or two bases, and a decent amount of funds and buildings. The idea being that you have to capture more buildings (using your infantry type units) to earn more funds per day, which are used to purchase more units. Obviously the more expensive the unit costs more, but is capable of taking out several units and defending weaker units that do the small jobs for you. It’s not just about power though, some units are better at doing some jobs than others.

For example, you have the anti-air unit. It’s cheap and mass produced, unlike something much more expensive and powerful as say… a mega tank. While the mega tank is the most powerful land unit in the game, it isn’t capable of attacking any air units. The anti-air unit is however, and it does a damn good job of it as well. Though obviously, it is a much weaker unit overall. By combining a good set of units, and by utilizing there different abilities, you can win the fight, and win it good. You are ranked on a mission based on; Speed, Power, and Technique. So you’ll need a force that can do the job quickly, efficiently and effectively.

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That’s just an example of course, as there are many more units that take advantage of there different abilities. The snake of the ocean, the submarine, can dive; making it invisible to the enemy unless they are adjacent to it. This makes the submarine an invaluable unit in the navy force. While it is very powerful and stealthy, it also takes a huge beating from cruiser units, and takes up a lot of fuel. Fighter units; while there speed and power is unmatched against other air units, they cannot attack land units, and are susceptible to anti-airs and missiles. As you can see, it’s like a game of chess. You also need to place these units strategically, and if you don’t keep your eyes peeled; your defence will be destroyed with a blink of the eye, and your ‘Queen’ will be reduced to flaming metal scrap. Life’s tough, hun. Of course, while they are busy decapitating your force, you could have sent a transport copter to there HQ, upon which capturing it with an infantry unit gives you an instant win.

Don’t put let this put you off the game though, perhaps I’ve put the game across as being too difficult. It really isn’t. Maybe it isn’t for everyone; you need a brain, and a few fingers. But the game has a very good learning curve. Missions in the campaign start off very easy, and then get gradually harder and harder. Like most games, it will guide you through the first few levels, giving you hints and tips. If you stick to it, you’ll have finished the campaign, and will be somewhere in the hard campaign. Why? The fun is in winning; winning in style.

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This brings me onto the multiplayer mode, which potentially is the best mode. It all depends on the type of friends you have, and whether they can give you a good fight or not. If they have a brain (and a few fingers) you’ll have bags of fun. Like a lot of games, the multiplayer is set out similarly to the singleplayer. The same gameplay, same goals, and so on; in fact, I’d say the only real difference is that there’s no storyline and that the other person isn’t computer controlled. You choose from a variety of different maps to play on, starting with a basic few, then buying more from ‘Battle Maps’; a shop that sells maps, commanding officers, designs, and new features. The currency being experience points earned from the campaign mode. Of course, being a grid based game, Advance Wars a perfect game for a ‘map maker’. An option that has always been in Advance Wars, the map maker allows you create maps to trade with friends and to battle on. It’s even easier as unsurprisingly, the touch screen is also used here.

So what is new here, exactly? If your fans of the older games, then you must be wondering, what the main differences are. Well, like I said earlier, that gameplay hasn’t changed much, arguably. The main new feature of Advance Wars is portrayed by the games name “Dual Strike”. In previous games, commanding officers had CO Powers, then Super CO Powers. These ‘powers’ are executed after a certain amount of damage is done on your enemy units, and especially on your own. Yet again, the CO power system has changed – introducing the new Dual Strike. As well as switching between two chosen COs in battle, both your power meters build up and eventually reach the Super CO power stage. When both meters are full, a ‘Dual Strike’ can be executed. This activates the first commanding officer’s Super CO power, and then switches to the other CO which then activates there own. If you don’t quite understand what I’m getting at, I’ll tell you now; this effectively gives you two turns instead of one. It can really turn the tables on any battle. You may think of it as cheating, but remember, the enemy can perform Dual Strikes also…

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Alongside the GBA games in the series, admittedly, the game hasn’t made a radical improvement. Though they’ve added all sort of fancy fogging effects, and the odd bird flying over the playing field, the sprites haven’t changed that much. It could almost be achieved on the GBA, which is a bad thing by the way. Not too say it doesn’t look good though, the game looked good anyway. It’s bright, colourful, and brightens up the grey of war games. Each commanding officer comes to life into there own. With there own style, and there own strange/cool look.

The music is as great as ever, while it also hasn’t evolved much from its predecessors; Advance Wars DS features some of the best music from any DS/GBA game. Each commanding officer has his or her own anthem, adding to the overall charm and character of the game. I’m not ashamed to say that I sometimes go back to this game just to listen to the music, because it’s just so catchy. The sound effects also sound great, as well as some nice movement sounds from the units, enemies are destroyed with a satisfying thud, followed by an explosion; music to your ears.

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So, to sum it all up, Advance Wars DS is a great strategy game that will (hopefully) appeal to a wide audience because it excels in almost all aspects. I’ve been mostly positive about the game, as I can’t find many faults. I could say that it hasn’t changed that much from previous games, I could say that it could have been even longer; but it doesn’t escape the fact that I love this game to bits. You need it in your life.


+ Hours upon hours of strategic action
+ Brilliant, addictive gameplay
+ Decent visual and audio
+ Multiplayer is still as fun as ever
- Not a massive improvement on the series
- Lacks single-pack multiplayer

92%

Posted on 15 Apr 2009 by KrikenKing 0 comments.
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