With a More Realistic Theme and 50 Custom Map Slots, It's One of The Best Advance Wars Yet!
PLOT: AW:DoR consists of a new plot line not seen in previous AW games to date. It is set in a post-apocalyptic (gotta check my spelling) Earth, where 90% of humanity is dead. With a lack of resources, everyone starts killing each other with- get this- military vehicles and weapons. Which require resources to make. (pretty retarded, but I guess it's kinda true in a way.) Well, the story isn't perfect, but it gets you involved and shows the player the dark side of war. Which is a first for an AW game. 8/10
GAMEPLAY: The game uses the same game mechanics of its predecessors, where you select unit and command to kill. Pretty basic. Of course, you need to use a certain strategy to get past a mission, or the enemy will lick your little army to scraps. Speaking of little armies, the artwork is much different than the cartoony look of previous AWs. No more little out-of-proportion soldiers in toy-sized tanks. =( The difficulty of this game is much harder than other AW titles, especially AW:DS, requiring a lot of thinking and deciding. (I myself isn't done with the campaign yet.) 9/10
MUSIC: The music is more orchestrated, that is to say, sounds less like video game music and more like a rough-edged version of something you'd put on your ipod, without the lyrics. (Though the music from AW:DS wasn't at all bad. In fact, all of the music from Advance Wars titles were pretty good!) A definite plus. 10/10
EXTRAS: Okay, I'm getting tired of typing, but I have to tell you these last few points. This game allows you to play the Music Player without having to complete the Campaign first. On another point, the game can hold up to FIFTY custom maps!!! That's opposed to previous games' measly amount of three custom maps. This time, you can change the frame size of the maps from 5 x 5 squares (25 squares) to a whopping 30 x 30 squares (900 squares!) Also, you don't have to place army HQs on the map anymore, if you want to make a "Rout Enemy" map. You can also battle over wi-fi connections and trade maps worldwide! Again, a first for an AW title. 10/10
If you're an Advance Wars or strategy lover, you'll love this game!