"A very good well rounded game; good for 1-Player and Multi-player alike."

INTRO
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I have never played an Advance Wars game before this one. I just heard that it came from the makers of Fire Emblem and decided to try it out as I'm a big Fire Emblem fan. This game is very different than a Fire Emblem game, but it is excellent on it's own level which made me enjoy it. A lot. Don't waste time. You should get it too! In this review I will go over various aspects of the game.

GRAPHICS
9/10
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First, let me start with graphics don't make a game. This doesn't affect this game though as it has nice graphics. I wouldn't call them fantastic, yet I would by no means call them bad. They are good functional graphics that don't hurt my eyes and that is all I request in a game. Once you get into the game you'll be able to tell the difference between a Rocket unit and a Missile unit just by the graphics and this is all the game needs really to function properly. Zoomed in unit graphics look pretty cool so that is a plus also.

The only minus in graphics in this game would be the character graphics. Each important character usually gets a few graphics... And only a few. This is just my opinion, but I think they should have gone the way Fire Emblem did and have the characters have mouth movements. It isn't a big deal, but they have the technology to do it and it makes the game that much better when you have to read through all of the dialog. After all, a big chunk of the game is dialog. It'd be nice to see that they spent some time there.

+ Graphics are moderately good.
+ Zoomed in units look cool.
- Character graphics could have effects to have made them look better.

STORY
8/10
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I'll be honest; the story is not spectacular. It does have a few plot twists and character development, but it just seems bland. It's good enough to call it a story, but it isn't a super epic story... it does have a few awesome parts in it though.

The story follows a band of survivors that get together after a meteor strike. They wish to search for survivors of the meteor strike. Along the way they battle with a variety of groups of people from a variety of different areas. Among these areas are the band of thugs, Luzarians, a scientist and his group, and if I say the other one I will be spoiling the story a lot, so I won't say it.

+ The story has elements of stories that make it somewhat good.
+ There are a couple of awesome parts in there.
- Awesome parts are rare.
- It could have been better.

MUSIC
10/10
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There are many music tracks in the game, and for the most part, they are all good. In the game the right music track is usually set to the right area to make the mood of the game; there is epic hard rock inspirational battle music for COs on the good side like Will and Brenner, and there is an eerie sounding evil track for COs that are most definitely not on your side and are evil. Also on the plus side there is a lot of music in the game.

+ Many tracks that fit the right mood in the game.
+ The tracks are, for the most part, high quality.
+ There is bound to be something that you enjoy in there.

SOUND
10/10
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Sound in a war game is usually important. If your bullet noise sounds like a whistle you aren't going to be too impressed with the game. Fortunately, almost everyone who makes a game already knows that. It is pretty obvious actually. The sounds in the game are nice. Different weapon noises fit with the different weapons that use them and all in all, it is good.

The sound of units as they move is also very different. If you had good ears then you could tell the difference between a Fighter and a Bomber even though they are both planes. This is useful on Fog of War maps over Wi-Fi where that may be all you have to go on for awhile.

+ Can tell units apart by sounds they make.
+ Many different sounds.
+ Can tell weapons apart by noises they make.

1-P GAMEPLAY
10/10
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1-Player gameplay is a big part of games, especially if it is heralded for it's multi-player. How will it be on it's own if I don't have anyone to play with? The answer for this game is that it is fine. If you have no friends with the game or no Wi-Fi spots in your immediate area then fear not! This game is good both with 1-Player and more players!

I'll outline the simple parts of gameplay here. In most levels in 1-Player mode you will start out with a group of units against the foes group of units. The goal is to either eliminate their units or to capture their main building; their Headquarters.

To do the tasks in the game you follow a turn based system. When you are ready to let the enemy move you can end your day and the enemy's day will begin. After this a whole new day will start and you rinse and repeat the process until only one side survives.

Units are a big part of the game. You control various units and the main part is that they can die. They have a total of 10 Hit Points and if it reaches 0 then that unit dies. Unlike Fire Emblem units are not one-of-a-kind so you can do those suicide tactics you have always wanted to do. Not that it's good or anything. There is a level system to try to make units more or less expendable. There are only three levels and to gain a level you simply destroy an enemy unit with the unit you want to level up.

Certain units perform certain tasks. A tank is usually best for blowing opponents up for big damage, an artillery unit is best for blowing opponents up for big damage from far away, and an infantry unit is meant to capture buildings.

Buildings do a variety of things. First is the Headquarters. This is simply an area that you don't want to lose. It usually the key to victory and the key to defeat. If an enemy unit captures your Headquarters then you lose the battle. If you capture the enemy's Headquarters then you win the match. You can also win or lose by destroying all enemy units or getting destroyed by all enemy units.

Cities are buildings that give you funds. Funds can be used at Factories, Docks, and Airports to manufacture units. These units can be used to capture buildings and attack other units. Hurt units can heal themselves and get supplies on captured buildings. A vicious cycle is born.

The part that makes the game hard is what units you produce. For certain different amounts of money you can make different units. This is what differs gameplay. You need to choose what units are more useful for what you want to do at the moment.

If you capture an enemy building then that building becomes yours and all of it's functions are now yours too. So if you get an enemy city then the enemy gets less funds per day and you get more funds per day and if you get enemy Factories then you can make units on that Factory.

If any of this sounds confusing, don't worry. The 1-Player mode has tutorials to help you along the way so you don't get in too much trouble.

And that is my brief explanation of the 1-Player gameplay. I hope you enjoyed it.

+ Fun gameplay once you get it down!
+ With many different ways to go you can make cool tactics to pave the road to victory.
+ Pretty easy to learn thanks to tutorials.

WI-FI / MULTI-PLAYER GAMEPLAY
10/10
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The Wi-Fi and Multi-player is done well in this game. For Wi-Fi you simply find a Wi-Fi area and you can find someone randomly or use a friend code to find a friend that's on. Multi-player is similar; you just search for someone in a certain area with a game card that wants to play.

The rules of Multi-player is that you and your opponents pick a CO. Depending how far you are in the game you'll be able to choose different CO's that affect battle differently if you choose to use them.

During battle there will be a timer that ticks down. If the timer reaches 0 then that person's day automatically is over. Battle proceeds exactly like 1-Player mode. If you are playing with a friend then you can use voice chat also. If you are going against someone who logs out or surrenders then you win. If you win by normal means then you obviously win. Unfortunately, since it's Wi-Fi, you must do the battle in one sitting so it might drag on longer than you expect it to. Luckily, the game will end after a number of days.

+ Gameplay has few changes from the 1-Player to Multi-player transition.
+ If you are playing with friends then you can use voice chat.
+ This can make the game much more replayable as the AI of individual humans is much different than a computers.

REPLAYABILITY
10/10
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This game has a lot of replayability in it. 1-Player replayability is in the game in the form of rankings. If you see a level that is just bugging you as you had a C-Rank in it then you can play it again and aim for a higher rank. Every level in the main game has a rank so you can play to your heart's content.

Wi-Fi replayability is there in the form of different opponents. Facing a new opponent every time can be very fun. You won't know if it'll be cake or tough, but no matter what it will always be fun.

Overall replayability in all areas comes from medals. There is nothing more satisfying in this game than getting a shiny new medal to brag about so you'll want to play a lot to get them all.

+ The game has much replayability in it.
+ The game has replayability in more than one aspect.
+ You'll enjoy replaying the game.

OVERALL
9/10 (As GameFAQs rating says)- Outstanding - Very enjoyable and engrossing, almost perfect.
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Advance Wars has a couple of flaws here and there, but for the most part it is a high quality game. Fans of Fire Emblem will definitely be pleased. This game isn't perfect, but it is pretty close and it is excellent!

BUY, BORROW, OR SKIP?
BUY
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I believe that if you have your eye on this title then you should buy it. You won't get all of the fun out of it by borrowing it and this game is much to good to consider skipping.

QUICK RECAP
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GRAPHICS ~ 9/10
STORY ~ 8/10
MUSIC ~ 10/10
SOUND ~ 10/10
GAMEPLAY ~ 10/10
WI-FI / MULTI-PLAYER GAMEPLAY ~ 10/10
REPLAYABILITY ~ 10/10
OVERALL ~ 9/10
BUY, BORROW, OR SKIP? ~ BUY

A solid game that is excellent all around! Get it and you will most likely not regret the decision, especially if you are a Fire Emblem fan!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/08

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