|
 - Days of Ruin provides a much wider variety then Dual StrikeI bought DOR because I somewhat enjoyed Dual Strike. When I started Campaign i found it much more graphically satisfying as well as A better cast of characters for the campaign. Will Definitely has alot more personality then Jake and wants to rebuild instead of fight. He lets this be known after every battle instead of saying useless comments like "Oh man dude you got owned!" The campaign depth doesn't end there though, all the characters have much more depth, from strong and forgiving Brenner to Calculating Lin, Campaign is much better. War Room has been simply replaced by Free battle and You can now hold fifty designed maps, this kind of replaces the shop because if you want a certain map, just design it. Battles are now more even. I do not get gunned down by 3 battleships the second i get my first cruiser on the water. If you like this kind of thing, use the designer. With a much wider variety of tactics you can decide whether to carpet bomb the enemy with numerous bombers, or soften them with battleships from the sea then storm the island with troops from landers under the cover of carriers seaplanes. It's because of these things i enjoy Advance Wars, Days Of Ruin more then it's predecessor Rating:  - Not Better, Not Worse, Just Differentthe first thing you should know about this installment of the series, is that it is not the kiddy go-lucky advance wars you knew. the changes, whether for better or for worse is debatable. advance wars, days of ruin, takes place in a time of ruinous days, a meteor has struck earth, wiping out a lot of humans. but some survivors form a rag tag army to try to keep other survivors civillized. if you have a 6 year old who was smart enough to comprehend and enjoy the previous installments, you might want to think about this one. there is stuff some people might not particularly enjoy, such as savage murder, and ominous plant related desiese. But dont decide against this because of that. im only talking minimally. days of ruin takes on a new art form, more realistic. many people may islike the fact that there is a cast of completely new charactars, and that fact that the famous "shop" has been removed. destipe all these catastrophic differences, there is some hope: co powers have been toned down, they can no longer change the tide of battle in mere seconds. A very nice story line, which rarely gets too hard or too easy. and the stage builder is here, with 50 slots to save unique stages. i reccomend buying this game, just remember, dont expect too much of dual strike to be here. Rating:  - Much less of an SP experience than Dual StrikeIt's not bad. It gives Advance Wars fans something more to chew on I guess. But what happened to all to all that totally awesome unlockable content and all the level-up stuff from Dual Strike? Why is the list of commanders so much shorter? How come the powers just don't seem to have as much impact on the game? The serious plot was interesting at first but they really didn't make enough changes to the overall look and feel of the game to keep it going. The first few levels had an apocalyptic feel but then it was right back to happy sunny war times on the first naval mission where everything is bright and gleaming in spite of the fact that the atmosphere is supposed to be so choked with debris that you can't even see the sun. And I missed the music of Dual Strike. A lot. Basically more of the same minus a lot of the really good things. Rating: - Change of PaceAdvance Wars: Days of Ruin is the latest entry in the Advance Wars franchise. However, unlike the previous three titles (Advance Wars [GBA], AW: Black Hole Rising [GBA], and AW: Dual Strike [DS]) this game is set in a totally different universe. It's a change of pace to be sure; the question is whether this is for the better or worse. Those familiar with the previous AW titles shouldn't have much trouble getting used to this one. The general play is quite similar: turn-based, capture cities for funds, capture production facilities to make units, commanders with powers, etc. There are, however, many changes to familiar units, plus some units that are entirely new. For example, battleships can move AND attack in this game, and APCs (called 'Rigs' here) can build temporary airports or naval bases that can repair but not produce units. You'll also see a first in the anti-tank unit, an indirect attacker that can actually shoot back if directly attacked. Combat tactics are somewhat different as a result, but nothing that will take a veteran too long to get accustomed to. Additionally, you can zoom the map in, though I haven't found much use for this feature since it's quite easy to see all the icons in regular view mode. The units, COs, and animations have a more realistic look to them, and the general theme and plot of the game is more grimly realistic than playful. Most of the music is some form of rock/metal type track that sounds like it belongs in Command & Conquer, and the post-apocalyptic setting brings back memories of Mad Max and the likes. Themes are generally more mature, with not-so-funny plot twists and some profanity. In general, it won't take you long to realize that this is no Omega Land, and likely never was. Probably the most interesting new features in Days of Ruin are the veterancy system and the reworked commanding officers (COs). Units that destroy other units get promoted up to two ranks, and become more powerful as a result (merging units grants the higher veterancy). It's not overpowering, but enough that if you have mostly veteran forces you'll have a substantial advantage. Additionally, COs no longer just hang around the HQ- they can actually take to the field in any unit, deployable one at a time from the HQ or any production facility. The chosen unit is granted immediate maximum veterancy. Additionally, instead of granting their bonuses to all of their units, as in the previous AW games, COs only affect a 'radius' of units around them. For example, Brenner provides a global defense boost to any kind of unit. However, for units to enjoy this boost they must be within 3 tiles of his unit. Additionally, the CO powers do not charge at all if you don't have your CO deployed and in combat, and the power meter will drain to zero if the CO unit is destroyed (you can deploy them again at no penalty if this happens). To top it all, there is no 'super' CO power, no 'tag' as in Dual Strike, and most of the regular CO powers are nowhere near as strong as those enjoyed in previous titles. In short, COs don't play nearly as major a role as they did in the past games. Is this good or bad? That really depends on how much you enjoyed the varied CO abilities and powers in the previous games. If you're one of the folks that preferred tactical play to marshaling stars for a super attack, or thought that some COs were overpowered (bit hard to deny this, even though I loved them), then this is obviously a good change. If your whole reason for playing AW was the COs, then obviously you're not going to like this. Personally, I think I'd be happiest with something in the middle: maybe keep the CO zone idea, but make them all bigger, for example. It's quite difficult and often undesirable to keep your units clumped up inside such a small area. The campaign is quite linear, with no bonus objectives or branches. You can play bonus tactical challenge maps, but these don't present any reward, so unless you're just bored there's not much point. Playing the campaign from start to finish unlocks everything. Yup, you heard that right- there's no Battle Maps or grinning Hachi looking for your credits in exchange for spiffy CO color arrangements. You can still change CO colors, but this and all playable battle mode maps are automatically available. There is also a music room and wireless play, which is probably the only reason to do free battle mode at all. In terms of customization, Days of Ruin has a ton of space for you to make your own maps. 50 maps, as a matter of fact- probably more than anyone will ever need. You can use these in online mode, and in general this is a good improvement over Dual Strike. In addition to wireless play, you can play using Nintendo WFC- a first for Advance Wars. Maps can be traded online, if you choose to do so. Dual Strike added a lot of interesting new features, such as the dual front battle, tag, CO experience, plus some new units (most of which aren't in Days of Ruin). Days of Ruin adds some more- particularly the Internet play- but also takes out many of the best new things in Dual Strike. In particular, Days of Ruin relies very heavily on its multiplayer for replay value. The campaign and versus mode offer nothing in the way of rewards for the offline player, and the COs aren't especially fun to experiment with. In conclusion, Days of Ruin is definitely a change of pace for Advance Wars. It's similar enough to its predecessors that fans of the originals will probably like it. How MUCH you like it depends heavily on what your favorite aspects of the past games were. If you were addicted to unlocking things, really liked the old COs and their powers, and mainly play offline, then Days of Ruin will probably be less attractive. If you were in it for the tactical play, want to see what happens when a battleship can move AND fire, and mainly play online matches instead of versus mode, then this game will be more fun. Personally, I don't think Days of Ruin is much better or worse than the previous games- it's simply different. I'm not big on multiplayer, so I found Dual Strike to be more fun. However, it also introduces some interesting new game aspects that I hope will be integrated with the best features of the others, and I can't wait to see what Intelligent Systems has lined up for the future of this awesome series. Rating: - Addictive and challengingThis 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.
|
