2008 Woodie Awards
Advance Wars Days of Ruin
Britton Peele
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: La Vida
Aside from the new look, "Days of Ruin" introduces new terrain types, such as ruins, and new units, like the mammoth War Tank. In an extremely exciting move, Nintendo also added online play over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. You can play against either strangers or friends, though if you play with friends you're given the option of using voice chat.
Unfortunately, some old things were removed to make way for the new. The most disappointing loss for me personally is the Shop. In the past, you would receive money for playing the game, either through the campaign or skirmish matches against the AI. The better you did, the more money you received. This money allowed you to buy characters, maps and other things. The feature added a lot of replay value to the game, and I'm sorry to see it go.
CO Powers are also different here. In the past, the character you chose would have some effect on your army such as making your tanks stronger or making units cheaper for you to produce. The characters also had individual powers that would charge up as you both gave and received damage. When used, these powers would have a certain, temporary effect, like healing your units a bit or making them move further in a snowy environment.
Now, COs enter the battlefield themselves as opposed to watching from the sidelines. They piggyback with another unit and have a certain field of influence in which they give their trademark bonuses.
All things said, this is another very solid entry in the "Advance Wars" series. For both fans and newcomers alike - provided they like strategy - it's the kind of game you easily can start playing at 8 p.m., become engrossed in the tactics, then look at up the clock and realize that it's 2 a.m., you have a class in six hours, and you say you'll stop after just… one… more… turn.
Unfortunately, some old things were removed to make way for the new. The most disappointing loss for me personally is the Shop. In the past, you would receive money for playing the game, either through the campaign or skirmish matches against the AI. The better you did, the more money you received. This money allowed you to buy characters, maps and other things. The feature added a lot of replay value to the game, and I'm sorry to see it go.
CO Powers are also different here. In the past, the character you chose would have some effect on your army such as making your tanks stronger or making units cheaper for you to produce. The characters also had individual powers that would charge up as you both gave and received damage. When used, these powers would have a certain, temporary effect, like healing your units a bit or making them move further in a snowy environment.
Now, COs enter the battlefield themselves as opposed to watching from the sidelines. They piggyback with another unit and have a certain field of influence in which they give their trademark bonuses.
All things said, this is another very solid entry in the "Advance Wars" series. For both fans and newcomers alike - provided they like strategy - it's the kind of game you easily can start playing at 8 p.m., become engrossed in the tactics, then look at up the clock and realize that it's 2 a.m., you have a class in six hours, and you say you'll stop after just… one… more… turn.
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