Battalion Wars

"Short but good."

Battalion Wars is the Advanced Wars counterpart for the cube, but instead of controlling a whole army, you control 1 unit at a time, in real-time battles, instead of turn based battles. And even though there is no multi player sadly, the game doesn't really seem like it needs it.

Game play- 9/10
Battalion Wars is hard to control at first, but after playing a few missions you'll start to get the hang of it. It also get kinda difficult pretty early on, but a challenge is always good in games. After you learn the basics, it gets to be very fun and addictive. To control the units around you, you can call them to you with X, dismiss them with X, tell them to fight with Y, and switch which ones follow you with the C-stick. You can also command individual units with the C-stick and Y and X buttons.

Story- 5/10
The story is kinda basic, the Tundran Empire declares peace with the other nations, then the leader secretly invades it's neighboring country, the Western Frontier. Then the Vampire nation of Xelvania get in on the fighting, and the Tundran Empire and Western frontier join forces to fight Xelvania.

Graphics/sound- 8/10
Very nice graphics, give it an almost cartoon-ish feel, but still let you know you are playing a war game. They are very smooth, and flow with the theme. The sound is also very nice and clear, and greatly add to the effect. Kuju did a very nice job in this department of Battalion Wars.

Playtime/Re-playability- 6/10
Though the game is short and can be completed in a few hours, there are 4 bonus missions you can unlock by getting high percentages in the 4 campaigns. So you play some missions over and over until you get high enough percentages, to unlock the 4 extra missions.

Final Recommendation- 7/10 I highly recommend it as a rent, though still a good buy. Some may not agree, though if you are willing to try it, without spending $35.00+ then I'd say rent it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/26/05