I usually wait until my game reviews are posted on the TheGameReviews.com and link to them put I’m putting a sneak peek of it here until the link is available. I really want this out there because the game is so amazing I don’t want any DS owners to miss it. Here is the review:
ADVANCE WARS: DAYS OF RUIN for the DS
OVERALL SCORE: 9.5
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is an exceptional title no DS owner should miss. In this turn based strategy title, meteors have struck the earth, which is now suffering from post apocalyptic chaos. All semblances of order and government have been dissolved, and you encounter a variety of thugs including bandits, crooked politicians, and other trouble makers who think this is as good a time as any for war. Meanwhile, the story also has you aiding and protecting civilians in this time of crisis.
The gameplay and controls are spot-on. You could use the buttons and directional pad on the DS to perform all actions, but with the excellent touch pad support you probably won’t want to. You can do everything on the game with ease using your stylus. You will really feel like the strategy genre is right at home on the DS when you play this game.
The variety of awesome units at your disposal translates into a lot of strategic planning and a lot of fun. Powerful war tanks, bomber planes, battleships, submarines, fighter jets… this game has all the units you would want and many more. The game can be challenging and you will need to use strategy, although sometimes it seems like the optional extra “training” missions can be harder than the storyline missions. I did find myself needing to re-think my strategy and repeat missions, but it never felt tedious because it was enjoyable to “solve the puzzle” of the best way to approach the battle and best units to use against enemy units. Trying different strategies is fun and never got old.
With all these powerful units you would hope to have a lot of convincing explosions and great sound, and this game delivers. That little DS speaker is capable of more satisfying explosions than I would have imagined. When you engage in a battle, the strategic grid will disappear and the units in battle will appear on the top and bottom screens of the DS so that you may view and hear the attack and countermeasure.
As for the graphics, they are perfect for the DS and look amazing. The cell shaded characters, units, and dialogue bubbles look straight out of a great comic book. The artwork is exceptional and a real pleasure to view. The game takes full advantage of all the DS’s strengths and highlights none of the weaknesses.
If the game has one flaw it’s the fact that the dialogue and voice acting can be a little too over the top to be consistent with the dark tone of the story, and some of the music is overly melodramatic. The upside of this is that the absurdity of these elements can be funny and add some comic relief, even though they seem out of place.
This game is a big improvement over other titles in the series. The “CO Powers”, “CO Swap”, and split screens are thankfully gone, there are a lot more units, and graphics and sound are all grown up.
The game offers local multiplayer as well as online play with voice chat for up to 4 players. There is a lot of content already in the game that you can use with multiplayer, or you can use the excellent map editor to create your own content and share with your friends.
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is a deeply satisfying experience in so many ways. This is truly one of the best titles that has ever been available on the DS.
