Video Games : Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

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: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
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Binding: Video Game
Brand: Nintendo
EAN: 0045496739447
ESRB Age Rating: Everyone 10+
Format: Nintendo
Label: Nintendo
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: January 22, 2008
Sales Rank: 118
Studio: Nintendo

Features:

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Editorial Review:

From the Manufacturer:
Advance Wars has been reborn. Set amid a world in chaos and boasting new characters and settings, the latest game in the series features a gritty look, an engaging storyline and online battles and map trading. It's the most stunning Advance Wars ever.

Game storyline:
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin features a new group of COs and supporting characters, as well as a new setting. After a terrible asteroid strike that leaves few survivors, the world is in chaos. Toxic dust clouds are choking out the food supply. New diseases strike without warning. Terror runs rampant as people do whatever is necessary for their own survival. Against this background, one small band fights to restore human dignity in a world gone mad, but the mission seems impossible. Their own country is being led by a dictator. Their former enemy thinks only of revenge. And behind the scenes, a scientist with unbelievable power dreams of eliminating the human race once and for all.

Game-play Modes:

Special powers/weapons/moves/features:
Multiplayer has always been the backbone of the Advance Wars game play, and the addition of playing via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection makes it even better. Here's a brief overview of the online experience:

Product Description:
Almost 90% of mankind has been killed off following a devastating meteor strike that has caused a massive dust cloud to blot out the sun. Scattered survivors pick through the wreckage, and the remnants of several military superpowers patrol the ravaged landscape, some factions protecting the innocent while the others prey upon them. The two rival world superpowers, Rubinelle and Lazuria, continue to fight among the ruins of their countries, the few surviving military leaders of each side carrying on the conflict begun before the catastrophe. In their wake, various warlords rise to power, seizing scarce food rations from the defenseless survivors and attempting to assert their dominance in the absence of law and order. Follow the Rubinelle COs Will, Brenner, and Lin as they embark on a mission to rescue as many of the survivors as possible, with the help of the mysterious Isabella, an amnesiac girl who seems to know vital military secrets, and various other sympathetic factions.
ESRB Rated E10 For Ages 10 and Up



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Addictive and challenging
This game is tactically challenging, requiring use of terrain and the right units to defeat the enemy, rather than building a massive amount of tanks and charging across the battlefield. The resource system makes you take objectives instead of set back and build a super base and launch attacks from the rear.
Great turn-based strategy for both long sessions and pick up and play. The excellent in-battle save feature requires very little waiting after you turn on your DS.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Awesome game, story
The game is a bit more complex now, but still pretty simple (for a strategic wargame). The story is gritty, and much more realistic. The stupid "bombers stopped by pipeline" idiocy is gone. The mechanics of the game are more realistic, balanced and dynamic.

The only thing I miss about the older Advance Wars DS is that they've seriously toned down the CO powers in Days of Ruin (now the CO has a CO "zone" and only one CO power ... some don't have any power).

Also the replayability is a just a tad less (the "free battle" games don't rate your performance, and you don't gain rankings or medals for completing the missions).

I haven't tried wifi gaming, though. I hear that's greatly improved.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Missing the character & charm of previous Advance Wars games
I've been a tremendous fan of the Advance Wars series since I first got my hands on the original Game Boy Advance release. I have followed the series since then right up to its most recent iteration, Days of Ruin on the Nintendo DS.

Days of Ruin trades the characters and charm of previous Advance Wars titles for a much darker, grittier tone. The game play has also been stripped down to its core fundamental 'rock, paper, scissors' basics. While it is still an extremely engrossing battle of strategies, these changes along with a obnoxiously bloated story make Days of Ruin my least favorite title in the Advance Wars series.

Due to a lack of overpowering special attacks, Days of Ruin requires much more strategy than ever before. If you are used to relying on your Commanding Officer's special abilities in previous Advance Wars games you'll need sometime to adjust to the evened playing field here. I found myself double and triple thinking my moves, and planning a full battle strategy as opposed to short term attacks. While this may be what the designers intended, it ends up making Days of Ruin more difficult and unforgiving than any other game in the series.

There is an on-line mode (a first for Advance Wars) but over all the package feels 'featureless', especially when compared to Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (also for the Nintendo DS).

While Days of Ruin is still a worthy addition to any video game library, if you're only going to pick up one Advance Wars game I would recommend you go with Dual Strike. It has infinitely more personality and though lacking on-line play offers additional play modes and options.

On a scale of 1 - 5 I rate Advance Wars: Days of Ruin as a 3. It's a very engaging, strategic experience but is weighed down by an unnecessarily long story, too few options, and a lack of the character, personality and charm that made previous Advance Wars titles so great.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Initial disappointment, but I got over it
At first, I hated this game completely. But after a while, I grew to like it. First, I'll explain the bad parts.

They got rid of ALL the old COs and powers of the previous game. There is now only one generic CO power (still varies from CO to CO); no Super Power. Powers can now only be obtained through the use of a CO-occupied unit. If you don't have a CO in a unit, you don't get your CO power. Simple as that. The COs also don't have distinguishing differences between them (like stronger close range units, etc.) They are all basically the same except for their power and CO presence.

They also got rid of the ability to use 2 COs at the same time (which means no more Tag power), the CO skills, and Hachi's shop. You now have to UNLOCK everything, which is really stupid. But oh well. Maybe some of you like it better that way.

They get rid of a LOT of units from the previous game, Dual Strike. A complete list of what they termed follows:
- Neotank
- Megatank
- Black Bomb
- Stealth Fighter
- Black Boat
- Piperunner (and pipes!)
- Oozium

However, they DID add units as well.
+ Bikes (basically an infantry that can move farther)
+ Antitank (basically an artillery that can hit units that attack it directly)
+ Duster (basically a sucky fighter)
+ Gunboat (actually really cool; carries one infantry and has a good attack against other naval units)
+ Sea plane (basically a fighter and a bomber combined, but not quite as powerful as either)
+ Wartank (basically a less powerful and costly version of the Megatank)
+ Flare (nothing special; just shoots flares that reveal fog of war; worthless in maps without fog of war)

They also changed a few of the units. Infantry cost 500 more, while mechs cost 500 less. Medium tanks now cost 12000, but are less powerful. Missiles' range is increased by one. Cruisers and Landers each cost 2000 less. Carriers can no longer shoot anti-air missiles, but can now produce Sea Planes. They also cost 2000 less. Battleships can now move AND shoot in the same turn. Anti-aircraft now cost 1000 less. APCs are now called Rigs. They can build temporary airports and seaports. These ports can repair and resupply their respective units, but can't build anything.

Maybe I'm just weird, but I liked how infantry would "hop" on buildings to capture them. Anyone else like that? Well, they don't do it anymore. Probably part of the whole "more serious" thing.

They also got rid of a lot of the other assorted things like the War Room and Battle Mode and whatnot, but I really didn't care for those much anyway.

Now for the good.

The campaign is probably the highlight of the game for me. The initial plot may be overused, but it's pretty engrossing after that. I love all the interpersonal relationships that Dual Strike lacked. I'm a sucker for anime romance, which IS present in the campaign. The thing with the flower virus was pretty cheesy, but it's WHAT THE VIRUS DOES that matters. It also gets a little lengthy, but it's awesome. Other reviewers complain about one of the characters that slightly resembles Lash from Dual Strike, but she really doesn't. There's really nothing similar about them at all, except for the fact that they both think war is a game and soldiers are the playing pieces.

The graphics in Days of Ruin are WAY better than those in Dual Strike. The battles are much more entertaining to watch (as if they weren't already). It's surprising how good they are. Everything from the terrain to the explosions to the animations looks a lot better.

Ships can now go on/through/under bridges.

I'm not sure whether this is good or bad, but they added a building called Radar. It just reveals an area of fog of war. Like the Flare unit, this is worthless if there is no fog of war. At least it gives you money.

I like how they made the units look much more serious and realistic. Some people don't, but I think it's a good change of pace.

I like the ability to put your CO in a unit to make it more powerful. The unit with the CO also will have a "sphere of influence" that makes everything nearby more powerful as well. I also like how units can gain experience: First Level I, then II, then Veteran - getting more powerful each time they kill a unit.

I also like the new "Ruin" terrain type. It also has some new terrain objects: Pillars of flame, ruins, wastelands, roughs, mists, meteors, and electrical fields. They changed the name of shoals to beaches, but whatever.

In map making, you can change the size of the map, but it's limited to 30x30. This may sound small, but it appears larger since it's more zoomed in than Dual Strike. You also have the option of saving up to FIFTY maps! Personally, with Dual Strike, I'd always be trying to decide which 3 maps I wanted to keep and which to delete. This gives map-maker junkies a lot more freedom. Now you know where all the memory from lack of COs, skills, and other things went.

It also has Wi-Fi capability, but I haven't used that yet either.

All in all, it's actually a mixed bag.

Hardcore Dual Strike fans: Prepare to be disappointed. This game gets rid of all the COs, CO powers, units, and other things that Dual Strike was made famous for. If you decide you MUST get this game, keep Dual Strike just in case. I'm glad I did, so you have the option of playing either.

If you're new to Advance Wars: Go for it. Days of Ruin is a great strategy game with almost infinite replay value - especially when you have 3 other friends to play with. It will push your strategic mind to its limits. This game is definitely worth the money.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Best strategy game on the DS so far
DoR is a traditional turn-based strategy game set in post apocalyptic future. The game has a lengthy single player campaign (15+ hours, depends how good you are) and a versatile map editor. Also included are some nice multi-player and online modes but to be honest I couldn't care less since I play strategy games for the single player campaign. Don't get me wrong these are a nice addition and I've even used them. The real gem of this game has to be the map editor (Design Room). I've spent most of the 60+ hours that I've put into this game in creating my own maps and then beating them. This has to be one of my favorite strategy game of all time. Before wrapping this review up, I just want to address what others have said about DoR not being as great as Dual Strike. First off I want to make it clear that Advance Wars: Dual Strike is a good game that should also be played. While both games are almost identical in many ways DoR is better balanced. In AW:DS CO powers were often too powerful and could turn the tide of battle. Besides being over powered they were a hassle to obtain since you had to remember to switch CO's after each turn to fill their gauges, that is if you wanted to use their dual strike. You might think you could just ignore the COs but the problem was that the AI opponent would use their dual strike against you. While CO powers are still present in DoR they are more difficult to pull off since you actually have to place your CO into a unit that can be destroyed. When you take into account that COs often buff the stats of surrounding units as well as fortify the unit they travel in, the strategic possibilities are greater. Even if the AI uses their CO you can easily have your units destroy it before it can unleash its full power. In the end all I'm trying to say is if you want to try a portable strategy game then you should make DoR that game.

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