"The best AW game up to date."

Forget everything you know about Advance Wars. No longer is it "kiddy," or "immature." This game takes the series in a whole new step, some Advance Wars veterans may not like the new style, but it will attract more fans. I personally am a veteran, and enjoy the new change. So lets stop talking about me, and get on with the review.

Story

One of the first notable differences from past games, is the remarkable story in this one. People might be disappointed to hear that all of their Commanding Officers [CO for short] are gone, and have been replaced by new ones however. Also, all other nations from the classic games are gone, pretty much nothing from the old games exist in this one.

Anyways, the world has just gone through the apocalypse. About 90% of people are dead, and dust is covering the skies, preventing the sun to show. The main protagonist, Will, was a young cadet for the Rubinelle Military Academy. He gets trapped in the hall and digs himself out of the mess, and sees a devastated world, and is soon encountered by raiders led by someone known as "The Beast." He gets saved by captain Brenner of the Twelfth Battalion, a faction of the Rubinelle army.

The story develops a lot more from here, but I don't want to spoil it.

Gameplay

Advance Wars is a turn-based strategy game. The game consists of various units, from tanks, to battleships, to bombers, to infantry. Building a unit costs money, and you gain money by capturing cities and other properties. The more cities, the more money. Each unit has its own strengths and weaknesses, bombers are weak to anti-air guns, fighters, and missiles. Tanks are weak to bigger tanks, artillery units, and bombers. Each unit specializes in its own task.

There are pre-deployed missions, and start from scratch missions. In pre-deployed, you already have units out and ready to take action. The key to winning a battle, is having a lot of properties. Factories build land units, airports build air units, and seaports build sea units. The core game-play is still the same, but why change a nearly perfect formula?

I'm not done yet, there is so much to talk about. For your army, you pick a commanding officer [CO]. These COs have their own strengths for particular units, one might be good with artillery units, while another may be best with air units. In addition, you can load your CO onto a unit. When a CO boards a unit, it creates a field around that depending on the CO, gives a bonus to the surrounding units. When your CO destroys enough units, it can use it's CO power. CO powers give an edge for the player, but it doesn't go overboard, like in past games. Each CO is unique, and has their own personality in campaign mode.

Sound

I noticed a lot of reviewers are bashing this game's music. I personally like it. The soundtrack consists of mostly rock and techno music, so if you hate those genres, your not gonna like it. Each CO has their own catchy theme. The music is also sounds more dark, unlike previous games.

Graphics

The graphics sure aren't remarkable, but who needs graphics in a strategy game? It's good enough to tell the difference from all of the units, and that's all you need to care about. Some moments in campaign are pretty, but don't expect anything mind blowing.

Controls

Controls feel very solid, and the touch screen controls have improved since Dual Strike. You can use the good 'ol D-pad, or you can use the touch screen. I use the touch screen, and have never looked back at the D-pad. The touch screen is that good.

Replayability

A great new addition to this game is the Wi-Fi mode. You can play against random people, and friends. But only friend battles are ranked. You can submit maps, and download new maps, and rate them. For friend battles, there is an option for voice chat. You can also play against friends locally, and trade maps with them.

There is also, as I just mentioned, a design room. There are fifty save slots for your own map creations. In design room, you can change the land, and place units , factories, ect, wherever you want them!

For campaign, there is a ranking system, which encourages you to go back and redo the mission for a better score. There is also trial maps. Trial maps aren't plot related, and are optional, but help develop your tactics and strategies. There is twenty-six campaign missions, and thirty trial maps. Playing through campaign unlocks more COs available to use in on-line mode.

And now finally, there are medals. You earn medals for the most random things, and its addictive to try to collect them all. For example, you gain medals depending if you build unit x a certain number of times, or how many S ranks you have received from campaign.

Overall

Story- 10/10
Gameplay- 9.5/10
Sound- 9.5/10
Graphics- 8/10
Controls- 10/10
Replayability- 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/30/08

Game Release: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (US, 01/21/08)