Battalion Wars

"For The Little Commander In All Of Us."

This is my first video game review.

Intro:
Battalion Wars was supposed to be the sequel that has the feeling of an Advance War game for the Gamecube. But the company took it back and changed it completely. However, Battalion Wars feels like an Advance War game.

Story: 9/10
For those history lovers out there, this game has ties to WWII and the Cold War. You play as the Western Frontier (United States). In the beginning you fight against the Tundran Territories (Russia). Then after the first campaign, an enemy an enemy comes out attacks both of the armies. They are Xylvania (Germany). Then later you meet the Solar Empire (Japan), they become you ally. The Western Frontier, Tundran Territories, and Solar Empire fight Xylvania until…You'll have to play to find out.

Controls: 8/10
The controls are fairly simple. There is a little learning curve. You'll get the hang of it quickly. Ground, Vehicles and Aircrafts have the same controls but each class has some things the others don't. Controlling units is the easy part. Giving orders to specific units and fighting a battle at the same time can be a little difficult. Overall the controls are pretty straight forward.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics in this game are not the best, but decent. All the characters look good for a fun little game. The terrain is well designed for a cartoony game like this.

Audio: 9/10
The audio is great. The music is good. Each country has their own style of music music, which you won't hear over the blasting of the guns.

Gameplay: 9/10
The gameplay is awesome. This is a third-person real time strategy game. So you have to be on your feet in this war. This isn't the kind of strategy game where you point and click. There are many terrains in the game like forest, beach etc. There are many units in this game like in the Advance War games. Each unit has their own advantages and disadvantages. The two categories of objectives are; Primary and Secondary. Primary you have to do in order to complete the mission. Secondary is there for added fun and if you complete them, you sometimes get more soldiers. The missions have many kinds of objectives. For the most part you just go and eliminate the enemy from the area. Some have you defending an area. Others you have to get to area within a certain amount of time. After completing a mission you get a grade. Looks like history class is coming back huh? Don't worry there are no F's just S, A, B, C, with S being that you are a true strategist, and C being that you need to think of a better strategy. There is a percentile you need to meet in order to get the letter grade.

Difficulty: 7/10
The game has normal difficulty, some missions you can complete easily to get an S grade. Some missions are so hard that you will spend hours trying to complete it. But all missions you have fun completing.

Replay: 8/10
After beating the game you can go back and play any missions over and over again to get a better letter grade. If you get a certain percentile average on each campaign, you will unlock a bonus mission that has you playing as either, the Tundran Territories, Xylvania, Solar Empire and…you'll find out about the last one.

Conclusion: 8/10
Battalion Wars is a good war game. It's fun and has lots missions that require some thinking on every mission. With all the different units everyone will have a favorite. This game will last you about a few days.

Buy/Rent:
Buy it. It is $9.99 new and $8.99 used at Gamestop. It is worth the price for all the different units, missions, and the fun you'll have.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/04/07