It's kind of a catch-22 with Dual Strike Vs. Days of Ruin. While Dual Strike is a sequel, so you should play though the first two to get the most out of it, it's the easier of the DS Advance Wars. Meanwhile Days of Ruin is a whole new plot-line so you don't need to know anything about the older AW games to "get it" but it's the harder of the two.
Overall I would recomend Dual Strike to a beginner over Days of Ruin to beginners, but, as a vet, I still think Days of Ruin is the better game.
here are the pros and cons as I see them:
Dual Strike:
Pros: more to unlock, easier, more COs, *Dual Strikes, more light-hearted story/artwork, 200+ hours worth of things to do
Cons: easier :P, **Less balanced, some new modes don't fit in well (I'm looking at you Combat Mode), no online
*Dual Strikes are special moves you use that allows you to have two turns in a row thanks to the new tag-team system
**unfortunatly it hurts the game's balance making it more about the dual strikes and less about your actual combat strategy
Days of Ruin:
Pros: More mature themes, harder, more balanced units, online play, 100+ hours of things to do
Cons: Less to unlock, *No War Room, **less units, less COs
*Room Room was a staple of the AW games, it was a mode that let you play though 40+ maps and attempt to get the best ranking you could, a favorite of vet players.
**There were a few units that got canned in Days of Ruin, but it ended up making the game more balanced so it's not really a "con", although some people do miss the old units.
Finally as to online play:
You are able to play against "Rivals" which is other people with the same win-lose ratio as you, to try to keep things balanced online. That or you can play with people who have traded friends codes with you. Friend matches let you use voice chat and gives you way more options for the match.
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