Game Review - Advance Wars : Days of Ruin

Yes, it's an old game . But old game doesn't mean it's not fun.
Yes, I'm also aware that I'm writing in a style supremely similar to exam essays. So here goes.

Start by a American version cover that I stolen from other blogs.



Easily seen from the cover and the name itself, the game is war-themed strategy game.

A little misusing of wikipedia will help those who didn't know much about Advance Wars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Wars:_Days_of_Ruin

Since almost all things are covered by the all-mighty wikipedia. I'll get into the review.



Gameplay -- ??/10
Why all the 10/10 or 9/10 thing? It's fun, that's all that matters. Stupid category scoring system.

Unlike most modern strategy games, it's a turn-based strategy game. Such simplicity puts all the action elements out of the way so that ACT gamers won't bully pure SLG players by faster inputs ,which I like. Most (popular) strategy games lately require superb reflex to avoid being owned by enemy, where's the art of "thinking for the best action"? That's the art of "racing who is faster".

A little introduction of the game is put here for the sake of those who don't have the game.

Winning conditions are simple : Completely wipe out all of your enemies' units or capture their HQ. Vice versa for losing conditions.

Here's how you do it, details are found on the story mode of the game :
1. Construct units (which require funds)
2. Capture cities (to generate more funds)
3. Fight

Like ordinary modern wars, you get to use a couple of types of war machines to win the battle.
Tanks, Anti-Air Vehicles, APCs, Artillery, Copters, Fighter jets, Bomber jets, Battleships, Cruisers, and ready-to-die-for-you soldiers.

Since this is a strategy game, all type of units will have their own pros/cons. The balance of the pros/cons are well-handled, meaning no one type of unit that can handle all kind of situations as seen in some of the Super Robot Wars series or even DotA. You need to let the various units work together to defeat the enemy. This is the fun part of the gameplay. (At least I really enjoy doing so). Oh yeah, Commanding Officers (COs) in this game also provide only minor enchancement to your units. So it's more to the strategic mind to decide the winner, not the COs you use.

Multiplayer modes are avaiable, both local wi-fi and Nintendo's Wi-fi Club. Considering how time consuming this game is, local wi-fi is preferred if you really want to play with others. (No lagness to drag the already long game) Balance issues are not a problem since COs chosen won't be 100% owning other COs. COs only provide minor boosts. So feel free to go challenge your friends.

A little picture to show how the game is like.

The setting of the world is quite... generic -- Meteor falls onto earth, 90% of the human populations were perished, clouds of dirts covering the blue sky, food and fuel (for vehicles) are scarce, survivors get to live a harsh life...... The main character gets rescued by a battalion unit and then starts the war story. That's it, any more details may lead to spoilers.

The background of the world (map) suits the settings of meteor-destroyed world. (See above)
Simple effects are nice to eyes. Anymore detail effects may burden your eyes and this doesn't help planning the strategy.

Some issues of moral values are shown. But I cant exactly list them out here, I'm quite bad in
putting these things into words. Just notice the dialogue of the story. The issues are something interesting to think about. (How irresponsible of me)

About the characters....Erm, first of all, there are no voice vasting to torture your ears.
The art style were a bit different from the common big-eye-and-small-mouth generic anime/manga style. It tends to be more western style for me. Anyways, a picture wins over a thousand words.

Great art style, eh? Especially the uncle-ish high-rank officer.
He's the perfect example of how ugly-type villains look like.

Most characters featured are important figures in the story, so they have their own personality.
It amazed me that even a modern war themed games can show the funny personalities of the characters without lossing too much feel on the not-so serious planning or strategies.
Pretty much what you could expect from the guys who made Fire Emblem series.



The music were quite ... techno-metal-ish. Yeah, it shows the setting of the world, but that doesn't help in relaxing the mind. The characters' theme added a little "taste" of their personalities, but still.... techno-metal-ish. Have your old mom listening to these musics and she'll definitely yell at you to stop the torturing musics. Quite a waste. Intelligent Systems can do better in music.


Should have covered all of the game. Bleh. This post sounds like writing a report. Ain't very fun.
I'll never write like this again
Anyways, a few comments may compliment me for writing 2 hours.