Advanced Wars in a whole new way, and you know...I like it

User Rating: 9.5 | Advance Wars: Days of Ruin DS
By EpiLoN | Review Date:
Advanced Wars Days of Ruin to start, has done what many series fail to do. Which is take the same game, and generaly keep the key elements of the game the same, but sharply turn to the gameplay and feel, and come out successful. Being a huge fan of the series I will have to say this is the best in the series. The darker tone and feel to the story fits well, and better yet it's a good plot. Where it can be corny at times (every scene with Dr.Morris) it takes and great political and devastating situation and turns it into a amped story featuring some very memorable characters. You start off following the story of a military cadet named Will who is saved by a straight by the book military commander Brenner, who strives in the midst of the destruction to find and save survivors. And will go to all lengths to complete this mission. Will join's up with the 12th Batallion (aka Brenner's Wolves) a helps him fight his cause, in doing so runs face first into a full fledged war. So on to the actual gameplay. Where Advanced Wars generaly remains the same tactical game we all love it's gone through some changes, in my opinion for the better. First major change, New units, such as the anti-tank, the indirect ranged unit, which although has limited range, can counterfire. The Flare unit which dispells hidden areas of fog in Fog of War, and last but not least, the Seaplane which is created by your aircraft carriers and holds a perfect average of fighting capabilities in the field. Second major change- Units now level up through three ranks after defeating emeny units. After a single kill the unit becomes a level one unit, then progresses to a level two unit after a second kill. Then after the third kill it becomes a Vetran unit. In the process of leveling the unit's stats will increase. Third Major change, CO's abilities are now mellowed out and balanced down to a equal level. Now CO's can actually board your units and increase the stats of surrounding units. On top of this, the unit they board automaticly becomes a Vetran unit giving the unit an advantage in combat. When this CO unit destroys enemy units it will fill the CO's gauge where you unleash havoc depending on the CO your commanding at the time. Fourth major change, the enemy AI is now much smarter and won't fall for simple traps and such, and will most likely pull you into a trap of it's own. Due to this the gameplay has been amped up into a whole new level giving fans and those new to Advanced Wars a compelling challenge that true fans of the genre wont be able to ignore. For the minor changes, the art has been completely redone, much crisper, much darker, and sets the mood for the game. The soudtrack to the game has taken a rock/metal twist which I personally enjoyed, (not everyone would agree) and I felt this too helped contribute to the game's new look. For the bad? Not much really, the game's store is missing which I think was a poor decision to take out, CO's are not that difficult to unlock, and not as many of them to choose. Also the stylus doesn't play as well as it could, and it's very easy to miss touch a command and make a very wrong move in a very important situation. Also, the game could have done much better with a stronger line of dialoge for good ol' Dr.Morris. The character's lines completely kill the serious feel of the game and he's not funny, the game spells this out clearly, but he continues on with his bad puns, and annoying jokes. It not really the biggest downfall but it does get old. Overall this game rocks. If you like tactical games, you'll enjoy this one to the fullest. If your a fan of AW, look this way because this game is worthy of your time. Im glad that a series like this had enough guts to change it's face, and for the better.

Graphics- 8

Gameplay-10

Sound-8

Replay Value-10

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