Will actually pull you away from Advance Wars DS
It has a long learning curve if you've never played Age of Empires before (and I haven't) but the game has a great built-in tutorial that teaches you everything you need to know. (Although it is quite involved, and will take you a while to get through all the fine nuances of it.)
I am almost done with the tutorial, and I must say, I am loving this game! Everyone[IGN, GameSpot] mentioned about the issues with the screen cluttering up when you have units, buildings and enemy units on the same screen, but I never found that much of a problem, I simply used the D-pad when that happened.
The touch-screen works great, but there are certain points when you will want to use the slower D-pad (on a bouncing bus, for example!) I love the parts in-between the "chapters" and the library which give me lots of information on the real civilizations as I play them, and about the characters (like Joan of Arc) whom I never really knew their story! It's a lot like the info given during a History Channel documentary, and it really enriches the gameplay for me.
Chapters have goals to play, but the fun part are the bonus goals..you don't have to do them to beat a chapter, but if you do, you get "empire points" which allow you to unlock new units and maps for multiplayer. I found the game a lot more fun when I tried to complete all the bonus and main chapter goals..it's harder then you think!
My only gripe is the lack of personality during the battle scenes when you attack (or get attacked) units are animated but look the same, and do the same things everytime! Also, I don't like the fact that while their is a mini-map, their is no option to leave it on during gameplay; basically, all you get to do, is look at it, then put it away until you need it again!
And there is Fog of War, which I some people hate, but I think makes it more of a challenge then if the whole map was revealed...
it works just like it does in all other strategy games..can't see unexplored territory, and when you leave an area that has been explored, you can still see the terrain, but not any units!
I enjoyed the resource gathering element, but it's very bare..see gold, build a mine..it refreshes each game "day" ditto to farms and mills..no servants have to go back and forth (like warcraft 2 and 3)
Also, I, like many others, found the game does suffer slowdown when a battle begins, and it even froze up on me! Be sure to save often, just in case. Great Game! If you liked Advance Wars, give this one a shot!
Now, it's on the Age of Empires II and the expansion for me. Hope it's as good as this one for the DS!