A classic formula that has yet to feel dated, Advance Wars Days of Ruin is very much a strategy game worth playing.
Story: 8/10
A meteor has hit the planet and destroyed civilization as we know it. Although there are still many survivors, life is very much a day to day challenge as the catastrophe has left the skies clouded with a layer of ash, preventing any sunlight from penetrating through. Not only is coming by food much more challenging, but due tot the lack of civilization, many soldiers have decided to run rampant, killing any who get in their way, as well as a deadly virus that kills its host by sprouting out flowers all over their body.
You primarily use Will, a young soldier who was rescued by Captain Brenner of the Rubinelle Army and you quickly prove your worth to the Captain as well as his 2nd in Command Lin. Through Captain Brenner's unconditional need to help others, Will is inspired to help his cause and fight those who threaten humanity.
It's nothing ground breaking although the story is well written.I can't say whether it's a good or bad thing but the game definitely dose make you hate certain characters, even those who aren't even your enemies.
Visuals: 9/10
Advance Wars has always had a rather simplistic style due to the nature of the game, which works perfectly. Everything is in 2D and the animations (especially during the battle scenes) are great and always a pleasure to watch. I always get a huge satisfaction of wiping out an entire unit in one blow. Though darker in tone than the previous Advance Wars, the art style still suits the game, with a slightly more mature look to all the characters.
Sound: 8.5/10
Although there is no voice acting, the music of each stage is a pleasure to listen to and the sound effects of every vehicle is perfectly done.
Gameplay: 10/10
Advance Wars has always been a turn based war strategy game, sharing a few similarities to Intelligent Systems's other major IP, Fire Emblem. Unlike Fire Emblem where you tend to have a predetermined amount of units, Advance Wars typically tasks you with building up your army. Every unit has its own special capabilities and you must learn how to effectively utilize these units in order to be successful on the battlefield. Focusing on just 2-3 units is easily a good way to be overwhelmed as every unit has a major weakness.
First off, every army has an HQ, unless there's a special objective (like escape or destroy a specific building), in order to win, either wipe out all enemy units, or capture enemy HQ (usually best during battles involving naval units since submarines can be annoying to find). Bases provide you with ground units (infantry, vehicles and tanks), airports grant you the ability to create air units (airplanes and helicopters) and shipyards manufacture sea units (boats, carriers, subs, ships). Infantry (Mechs and Bike) units are vital as they are the only ones able to capture buildings. The more buildings you capture, the more money is granted to you each turn as well as serving as supply/repair spaces for you units. Take note that air/sea units can only be repaired at their manufacturing plants (although they can be supplied if placed close to a transport rig).
Like stated earlier, every unit has a strength as well as a weakness. Infantry units have weak fire power (except mechs although they have the worst movement range), recon are good at picking off infantries (except mech units) and have long vision (during fog of war scenarios), tanks have strong direct fire power but the stronger the tank, the worse the movement range is, rockets, anti tanks, and artillery are powerful ranged vehicles but cannot attack when moved or defend themselves when attacked (anti tanks will fire back though), air units are fast and powerful, but expensive and easily picked off by anti air vehicles as well as eating through gas faster (helicopters are cheap though, but can be attacked by any direct ground unit), sea units are even more expensive but can be devastating when used properly (especially aircraft carriers and battleships). Every unit has a set amount of gas and ammo (although foot soldiers are don't need gas) so it's important to keep track of every unit (the game will tell you if a unit is running low on ammo or gas). Air units as well as subs will be destroyed if they run out of gas. Each commanding officer also has their own special abilities but you don't really have access to those until halfway through the single player campaign, but they do play a huge role in free battles as well as multiplayer.
Units move in a grid like area, when a unit is selected, an area is highlighted, any green area is where the unit can move and the red is the attack range. Everything is turn based and when you attack a unit, a percentage is pulled up, letting you know how much damage you'll deal to the unit as well as how much damage your own units will suffer. The unit attacking will always have the advantage of dealing damage first so say two medium tanks fire at each other, the first one will destroy 2-3 tanks while the one firing back will only destroy 1. Of course, the idea is to try and minimize damage as much as possible so you do want to ensure that the unit attacking has the advantage.
It's an addicting formula and one that doesn't seem to age no matter how advanced gaming has gotten. Keeping track of your units as well as your enemies and effectively placing your units to where they can easily pick off the enemy without getting destroyed themselves proves to be quite the challenge. The game is by no means a breeze, the first few missions are easy but about a third into the game, you really need to start using your brain and planning out your movements as well as analyzing the enemy (who is by no means stupid).
Value: 9/10
The single player campaign is rather short, with only about 24 missions (although most of the later missions can take you about an hour to beat) but the game does provide you with special maps to test your skills (if you think the story missions are hard, prepare yourself for the special maps). There is multiplayer but considering the age of this game, I would think it would be hard to find someone to play online nowadays, although local multiplayer is still an option. The game does challenge you to go back and best your own score. I saw myself repeating certain missions that I got an A ranking in because I knew I could achieve an S ranking.
Overall: 9/10
Advance Wars Days of Ruin is yet another excellent strategy game from Intelligent Systems, placing a great focus on your ability to make tactical decisions and manage your resources. I look forward to seeing what they have planned for the 3DS version.