Battalion Wars

"RTS + Tactics + 3rd Person Shooting = Battalion Wars"

Formerly under the title of "Advance Wars: Under Fire", "Battalion Wars" delivers well to those people that have awaited a long time while spending the rest of their free time whiling their time away playing combat simulations of the Nintendo Wars series. Having grown up playing the series since the debut of the first Famicom Wars, I personally find that Battalion Wars to be a suitable answer for other over-18 veterans to the series. However, people, who have played other FPSs will eschew playing this game,

This review will be broken down into several sections: Gameplay and Graphics, Story and History, and Final Word.

Gameplay and Graphics
The gameplay of Battalion Wars is rather simple and intuitive. The first group of missions act as a Tutorial, even though sometimes the firefights are far from easy, and helps the player to accustom to the lack of using the C-stick for precision aiming. The Control Stick controls both your aiming and your movement. Holding down the L Button results in the unit keeping their weapon pointed in that direct, handy for watching out for ambushes. The R Button comes very useful in surface-to-air engagements, especially when Gunships swoop in to tear your units apart. B Button is still for jumping, but when combined with the L Button and while moving, a dodge-roll can be executed to evade most weapons. The C-stick is used for selecting units from a roster and using the Z Button results in the selection of a member of that unit.

Unlike most other First Person Shooters, Battalion Wars puts you, the player character, in the shoes of a Commander of the Western Frontier Army. But unlike most other war leaders, you don't have your own character on the map fighting alongside your troops. Rather, you are more of an entity capable of taking command of a single unit and leading the rest of the battalion by executing orders. Sometimes this is very useful, especially if you leave half of your team behind to stay under cover, so shifting from your command position from the Heavy Tank at a forward position to the Missile Veterans at the back lines can come very handy.

While on the matter of units, Advance Wars covers all units of the ground, sky, and seas. However, in Battalion Wars, only ground and air units were present. Completely devoid of naval units, this noticeable lack sticks out when anyone looks at the campaign map and the few missions that have large bodies of water. My only gripe is that if there were Cruisers, Destroyers, and Subs present, the gameplay would be much better.

The targeting system for BW is somewhat frustrating. Upon encountering enemy units, not locking onto the enemy will result in decreased damage. The only units that you can lock onto constantly shifts, sometimes targeting a Light Tank that is far away from you instead of the annoying Rifle Grunt that is spraying your troops with gunfire. However, the designers were smart enough to include a better AI for you troops so that they will target enemy units that are an immediate threat.

There is little difference in controlling ground units and air units. Aiming can be inverted or not, depending on your tastes. With inverted, you point down while in Aim Mode to point up, while pointing up will point your weapon down. If this seems too confusing for those who have never, ever played an air combat simulator, you can go to the Settings Menu and check NO to the inverted y-axis. Then, pointing up will mean you'll shoot upwards and pointing down will result in you shooting downwards.

In most of the missions, you usually have a free reign as to what action you want to take. You could, for instance, take command of an infantry unit and run around the battlefield with or without any assistance. Or, you could just take control of a tank and order other vehicles to follow while laying waste to the enemy. The choices are many in Battalion Wars, which allows the player to utilize whatever tactics and strategy that they have in mind. Speaking of missions, sometimes a new objective will appear while in the midst of combat. Usually there is a timer accompanying this, which puts a constraint on the player to hurry up and complete that objective.

Another noticeable option missing in action is the multiplayer mode. When Battalion Wars was announced, there was much speculation that multiplayer would be thrown into the mix. However, it seems that with the awkward gameplay elements in place, multiplayer would have greatly multiplied the chaos. Co-op mode would seem possible, reducing casualties on your side if the entire unit was divided in half in order to utilize more efficient battle tactics. Versus mode is also possible but the defects would also cause more chaos.

Like other games designed for the GameCube while under the supervision of Nintendo representatives, Kuju Entertainment has managed to keep the graphics of Battalion Wars similar to those of the Advance Wars series. Even though most people had expected for a RTS version of the AW series on the GC, the new style of the game is enough to carve itself a new home in the series. The sound bites of the soldiers speaking are quite entertaining, especially in the thick of battle. The graphics are reminiscent of a cartoony look which is similar to those found in the AW series. One must remember though that even though Nintendo has put a cute face on the game, war is not to be taken lightly.

Story and History
The story is completely different from that of the other Nintendo Wars series. There isn't a Red/Orange Star nor a White/Blue Moon. Nothing of the AW franchise are in this game, except for perhaps a few Easter Eggs found every once in a while (example: GBA unit found on a Rifle Grunt's pack).

The story of BW begins at the Demilitarized Zone seperating the Western Frontier and the Tundran Territories. What they are fighting over, I have no idea, but who cares as long as stuff is blown sky high? Anyhow, you begin your role as Commander of a border outpost along the DMZ on a field excercise when Tundran units are found on your side of the border. Before long, with your superior's backing, you find yourself leading a battalion of soldiers in clearing out the Tundran outposts set up in your side of the border.

But I digress. Anyways, in every war, there are always factions in the fight. As the player character, you are the Commander of the Western Frontier. Your first enemy are the Tundran Territories. Later on, a new foe will join the fray, the vile Xylvanians. However, you are not without allies. Much later in the game, a new faction will appear and assist you in putting down the dastardly Xylvanians (all of which have Germanic accents similar to that of the "Governator"). Even later in the game, another faction will appear in the fight, this time against you. In total, there will be five nations involved, similar to that of the AW series number of nations.

Apart from the story, Battalion Wars features a variety of units that are at your disposal. Most of your fighting for the majority of the game will be on the ground but occasionally a Gunship or Fighter and even perhaps a Bomber will be available at some point during a mission. But the greater majority of your battles only gives you with a small squad of soldiers and perhaps a Recon vehicle against a horde of Tanks, Gunships, and other vehicles and infantry.

Final Word

Battalion Wars is overall a decent mix of strategy and third person shooter. While the controls might be a little awkward when it comes to aiming weapons and driving vehicles, the quirky and humorous one liners that the soldiers in the field deliver tend to make up for the awkwardness. The only thing that needs to be removed is the terrible voice acting, especially when done by that Brigadier Betty, and replace it with voice actors that are a little less peppy. Even though it lacks a multiplayer mode, which could've been added on as a second disc like in Resident Evil 4, Battalion Wars' main campaign gives a high enough replay value to keep its players coming back for more.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/26/05