"What ever happened to the little cute units and colerful backgrounds?"

If you're here looking for the common Advanced wars experience, with G-rated combat and almost comical storyline, look somewhere else. In the newest release of the AW series, Nintendo went with a brand new approach, and basically destroyed the planet. But l'll cover that more in the Story section.

Story- 9.5/10

Ok, so you can forget the joys of Omega Land, Macro Land, and Black Hole's army. Whether or not it is the same world or not is unknown, and also irrelevant. Basically, the world was nuked with meteors, 90% of the population was wiped out, and the main characters are in a small army, trying to save survivors of this apocalypse. While doing that, you fight off raiders, armies trying to revive old wars, and others which I choose not to reveal for the sake of spoilers. There are no real flaws that I can find. The dialogue is great, and the delivery is executed flawlessly. I give it 9.5 because of the depressing mood that it's set in. There are rarely, if ever, comical scenes, and it's virtually impossible to smile while playing.

Graphics- 8/10

These are definitely different than they were before. Many of the units are more realistic looking, and really fit the whole 'world nuked with meteors' category. In attack/defend scenes, some of the graphics are a little choppy, but otherwise they are ok.

Gameplay-7/10

For the most part, the gameplay has remained the same as it was in the previous titles. You can build, guide, and command units to do battle against an enemy army. You can hide within mountains and cities for boosted protection from enemy fire, or if you are feeling daring, you can send out your troops to strike enemies hidden within mists. All of the different terrains give you varying defenses against enemy fire, and of course, some units are far superior to others. However, there is no "reigning supreme" unit. All have their strengths and weaknesses. Tanks are powerful, but can be crushed by a new unit I will not reveal. Anti-Air units can decimate planes, but are weak against everything else.

But one thing concerns me greatly: what ever happened to War Room!? Honestly! Probably the worst mistake made with this game was the removal of War Room. For those of you who don't know, War room was a mode where you could fight pre selected enemies on pre made maps, all the while trying to earn S ranks. In AW:DoR, however, this mode was scrapped. Instead, in Campaign Mode, you can unlock "Training Maps" along the way to the story's completion. However, you cannot choose what CO's you use. It's alright, but not perfect. Not by a long shot.

One other problem that I found is that all of the old CO's are gone. While in some cases this is a good thing (I NEVER want to fight an overpowered Grit or Colin again!), I do miss some of them, like Andy or Max. The new COs are less varied than their predecessors, but at the same time, they do not have one single weakness which can kill them under the right circumstances. Another thing that I've found is that they've scrapped the concept of CO Powers. In the previous games, these allowed you to score points as you attacked, and finally unleash a power that would give you an EXTREME advantage for one turn. At any rate, they do not exist anymore. If they were found in the game, I never got the chance to use them, but I never noticed it. In some ways, however, this makes the game fairer, as it keep you from going from beaten to near-victory in one turn.

Music-9/10

Wow, they really are trying to push this whole "Post-Apocalyptic Nightmare" motif. Basically, all of the music is techno-rock in style, but it will depress you for a week, I promise. If there is any happy-feeling music, you hear it to rarely to notice it. But overall, it's a good soundtrack, and I did not find myself turning it off at all while playing.

Overall

Indeed a very good game. Although there are some unwelcome changes, there are no major problems, and the game is quite playable. Depending on your skill level, the main story should take anywhere from 4 hours (for the Ǖber-experts) to 18 hours (for the newcomer). If you want to include the time it takes to get all S ranks and all of the medals, it will take MUCH longer.

Buy or Rent

If you are a fan of the series, go out and buy this immediately. If you are a newcomer, go and buy it anyways. You should not have any regrets. If you do not like war games, why are you reading this in the first place!?

So, quick recap:

Story – 9.5 (Apocalyptic theme, few survivors, and war, of course!)
Graphics – 8 (Realistic vehicles, fitting environments, yet slightly flawed battle scenes)
Gameplay – 7 (Great battle system, yet hurt by lack of old COs and War Room)
Music – 9 (Good sounds, techno rock, and depressing songs)

Overall – 9/10

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

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