40 hours of playing and still coming back for more. The brilliant simplicity & addicting gameplay will have you hooked
The single player mission mode does have a great challenge to it. It starts you off slow, doing quick and easy missions, which is great for those who haven’t the other games in the series. Don’t be disappointed at first because the game will gradually build up adding more challenges such as the “fog of war”, which is when the map is covered in a grey haze that limits your ability to see enemy movements. This game will surely wet the appetite for all gamers who are looking for a challenge. The mission mode also has a very basic story that is the journey of different armies and CO’s banding together to tackle the evil foe known as “Black Hole”. The single player is all about the game play and not the story.
In addition to the Mission mode is the War Room. The War Room is a collection of pre-made maps and you have the ability of playing them. When you win a battle in the War Room you gather points which can unlock costumes and new maps to be played in the War Room. One of the great things about this mode is that you can do what ever type of strategy that you whish to use. This is where the game truly becomes addicting, because you can always redo battles to get a better score or you can play to unlock more content.
Advance Wars also offers a great custom map editor. You are able to create any map that you want, ranging from air and naval battles, to large city invasions. There are many options that are at your finger tips such as adding river and lakes or having preset troops. You also can bring your custom maps to multiplayer to battle your friends with.
The multiplayer in this game is also very fun to play. Again they did a great job of having tons of options such as bots and the amount of money you get each turn. There is also is 150 maps for multiplayer play on top of any other custom maps. The multiplayer supports up to four players. If you don’t have four friends around to play, you can also play with bots, which also can be very challenging. However it is a little more satisfying defeating your friends to see their reactions.
The graphics in this game are very simple and aren’t very pixeled. The characters also have a sort of anime style to them which is very cool looking. The simplicity of the graphics makes a very clear display of the battle field. When you are attacking or taking fire, the game zooms in to the units and you see projectiles fly across the screen hitting their targets. The animations are smooth and crisp with no slow down. However the styles of the graphics are nice but they not exactly breathtaking, so don’t expect too much.
The sound of this game is also very basic. There are no voice-overs or fancy songs. They’re still nice, but they may get on your nerves after playing for a few hours. I’d suggest to instead plugging your headphones to your MP3 player or CD player. Like the visuals of the game, the sound is nice but it won’t sweep you off your feet.
Advance Wars: Dual Strike is the primer strategy game for the Nintendo DS. The simple game play and tons of unlocks will keep you wanting more. This is also one of those games with tons of replay value that you can always get back into after you have played through most of it. With the War Room in place, there will always be a challenge awaiting you. I would recommend this game to any one who is interested in strategy games or is a fan of the other installments.