It takes more than a stylus, a tactical brain, and an open heart to appreciate Advance Wars: DS.
Wit is Advance Wars because DS really means Dual Strike in this latest installment of the popular SRPG franchise, which was last seen in the GBA. Advance Wars: DS is definitely worth more than a cheap pun, as sharing it's name with that platform which so effectively intensifies its beauty is hardly its fault. If there's any example of how a perfect SRPG should be like, or how a DS should be utilised, the game certainly gives us a pretty good hint on it.
The war between the Black Hole Army and the Allied Nations sets the pace of this engaging journey. Miraculously, the former was rejuvenated since the last game and they are now back with a greater purpose: a new weapon which threatens to destroy the world. As the mother of all clichés, it will be up to you to stop their evil doings.
Getting on the campaign mode is almost like a breeze; it unfolds in a story-driven, no-nonsense manner. The first few missions serve somewhat as a tutorial for veterans and those who are new to the game alike. You attack your opponents via three ways: land, sea and air. Regardless of which, there is always a healthy selection of units for your shrewd planning. Balanced game play is key to any SRPG, and Advance Wars is nothing but that. Whether they’re infantry units, tanks or bombers, each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Infantry and mech units, albeit weak, are the only ones who can capture enemy bases. Bombers are strong against units on the land, but they would meet their doom in the hands of a nasty anti-air unit. Having a balanced array of weapons is key to winning any battle, and mind you, it's no easy task.
There are several ways you can win a particular battle. On any normal circumstances, you would win the match if you capture the enemy headquarters or if you destroy all their units. Bearing in mind that enemies also have that choice of building new units each turn, the textbook-style of ‘destroying everything and anything’ may not always work out well. Each battle is different from one another, and you must have that flexibility to adjust to the un-foreseen. In addition, with the inclusion of fog of wars and time-based missions, there’re greater grounds for you to flaunt your tactical capabilities. At the end of each battle, your performance would be graded in three aspects: speed, technique and power, and you would be ranked accordingly. Depending on the outcome, different amount of experience and war points would be awarded. Amid the huge fogs of contents, the game seems to be moving in a direction-- brilliance.
For all the convincing images of a real war which Advance Wars has been attempting to paint, they most unfortunately fall apart here. A war is nothing without the commanding officers--you. The game first welcomes you with a pitiful selection of COs playable; Jake, a hot blooded teenager who seems to have developed a liking towards internet slang, and Rachael, a feisty young lady who insists that she's cute. Before you can scream "preposterous!", the game takes another reality bite by introducing CO super powers. A paltry attempt to separate them from the rest, I imagined. Anyway, you start each battle with an empty power gauge, and it fills up accordingly whenever meaningful moves are executed. Most COs have access to two different super powers; one which can be unleashed when the gauge is half-full, and a stronger one which is available once it hits the full scale. The super powers are comprehensive, whether they're in the support, offensive or defensive categories.
Here’s more good news to lovers of the genre. Each CO also has an innate strength and weakness: some are strong in direct engagements, while others may falter in the ranged department. In Dual Strike, as the name truly suggests, you would gain control over not one, but two COs at any one time. To further entice us, their super powers can be tagged to form some devastating moves and in its better days, would no doubt turn the tides of battles. Together with all the other tactical considerations involved, the war is only for you to lose.
Graphics looks inconsistent, though. Like a desperate attempt to match up with the colorful personalities of the COs, the game does a similar, if not better job on their designs. In the most rebellious way, however, the environments look plain and distasteful; threatening to undo the brilliance that is said. The disparity seems so great you can be forgiven for imagining that the aforementioned have to make do with a shared pool of limited palettes, such that over-usage in one results in a shortage in the other. Perhaps the dull selection of colours serves as a justification that war is ugly in nature, with much credit going to the grainy-like textures used in illustrating the war-torn land.
Ugly is however, not what you would associate with the battle sequences. The game relies on a heavy dose of anime to paint their units, and the cutesy allure of the result looks somewhat like a satire to the harsh reality that is a real war. Be it the sparks that shoot out of a firing rifle/cannon, or the recoils that come with that, the game delivers us all the details. Like a seasoned war veteran, the producing team wows us with their knowledge on wars; and with Advance Wars, it almost seems that we too can play a part in it, without the hassle of any messy bloodshed of course.
The game offers a good variety of scores, and each is tagged to a particular CO. That, everyone, is a stroke of genius as it forces music to serve its rightful purpose: ambience. The compatibility of the tunes to the CO is breathtaking; although taking breaths while playing Advance Wars: DS should be the last thing on your mind. Sorry, but I've exaggerated a little. Be it the gung-ho nature of an over-enthused CO, or the shy complexion of another, the scores accentuate their owners, making these made-believed people all the more believable.
Again threading the line between reality and fiction, these tunes emulate the functions of war cries: they set you in the mood. It influences the way you approach battles; a zealous score breeds recklessness, while a judicious one throws you in a defensive mood. The brilliant music selection almost overshadows other segments, which provide us with some convincing sound of gun fights. The only complain I have here would be that over-employment of a particular CO would ring the same tunes over and over again. But with an interesting cast of characters to boot, and a huge one at that, it just prevents you from doing that.
Long-suffering SRPG fans, your grieves are addressed. The painstaking control of a D-pad and buttons combo is now replaced by the slick trio: touch screen, stylus and some nimble fingers. The easy concoction of touching and dragging your units around is effortless. It makes us realize that touch screens and SRPG is indeed a match made in heaven, never to be separated by those cursed X and Y buttons again. The dual screens are put to good use as well; the upper screen provides some useful information on terrains and enemy units without shifting your focus from the lower, the battlefield. The way Advance Wars: DS abuses the platform’s capabilities, you can forgive the untapped voice control, its sole saving grace. When I now think Advance Wars, I think DS, much to the glee of the game makers. Damned.
To further insult other pretenders, Advance Wars: DS excels in terms of value, promising tons of options and more importantly, fun. Besides the campaign mode, there is a war room for you to hone your skills, and in doing so, trains your COs for some harsh roads ahead. A survival mode which limits the amount of turns, money or time usable looks set to be the breeding ground for hardcore gamers. With online game play, an achievement room, a design gallery, and a ‘shop’ where you can spend all those hard-earned war points, there is just so much to do with this game.
Advance Wars: DS brings out the potential of the Nintendo DS, and in doing so, it in turn embraces the game with its welcoming arms. The game demonstrates the prospect of employing touch screen technology on the genre skillfully, and that just may be the turning point of it in years to come. Forget about rescuing the world, the game seems more likely to be saving the faltering genre that is SRPG.