Advance Wars: Dual Strike Review (no fat)

Game Description

The Dual Screen of the Nintendo DS poses a lot of challenges for developers to build games that fully utilize the true potential of this great piece of gaming hardware. While many of the titles that have been released so far fall short of accomplishing this, Advance Wars: Dual Strike gets the equation right and brings a great turn based strategy game, with vivid characters, plenty of battle scenarios, a slew of gaming modes and fast paced action, to the DS.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike makes full use of the dual screens. The top screen is used to display relevant information and occasionally for combat, while the touch screen does it's duties in enacting the action and also acting as the main interface for controlling each element of the game.

There is a lot to accomplish, get ready with your stylus soldier!

Advance Wars: Dual Strike Gameplay

What seems like an extremely complex and complicated game, is actually very playable and accessible. The intuitive design, rich plot and depth of content make it a great game that's near flawless in it's implementation. This game is manna for strategy game fans and owners of the DS.

Kick start the game by selecting a Commanding Officer from a slew of characters from past editions of Advance Wars or newer ones that are exclusive to the DS edition. Seasoned players should have no trouble in gathering their vast troops and getting into the thick of action. As for new players, the learning curve is so low and the campaign mode is so user friendly that they'll find themselves maneuvering through the lands in no time.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike – Tag Team Success

The slew of features that have been incorporated into the game include the ability to do tag team action where two Commanding Officers can gang up and take on enemy forces. This can be a great device for optimizing the use of resources as you swap between COs based on situations, to make full use of their unique abilities. There are also unlockable skills that range from attack boosts to resource management gains that help you push your game to newer levels.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike – Dual Screen Battles

The game shifts to Dual Screen battle mode at times and you'll find yourself doing battle on two fronts at the same time. Here, the AI comes into play as your troops fend for themselves after you give your initial directives. Once your opposition is through fighting with you on one screen they will tighten the screws on you by coming as reinforcements to fight the second battle so you have to tactically control the battles in a manner so that you don’t get out numbered in the end.

All that and more…

To add more variety to the game, several unique and intuitive game modes have been incorporated to the game. In Campaign mode, you start off with fairly simple tasks to accomplish which is great for new players as they get acclimatized and start getting a hang of the unique gameplay of Advance Wars.

As you move from mission to mission, the complexities increase and newer features come forth to intensify the action. The Versus mode has invaluable additions like a map editor that lets you design your own maps and different AI levels that can test even the most skilled players.

You can also engage in multiplayer action provided, your opponent owns a copy of the game too. The game also has a Survival mode where players are subjected to all the hostilities that wars pack and are faced with the challenge of overcoming all of them.

Moving around the game is as simple as a stylus tap and the intuitive menu system provides you instant access to game features and options. The addition of a History menu is a sweet one as it lists out all your accomplishments. Most of the action can be controlled with the stylus as you move your troops or trigger an action with a tap or a drag and drop action.

The action is rendered in a practical manner and the developers have struck a balance between complex graphics and great gameplay. Load times are minimal and this contributes to the fast paced action. Characters are unique and fun to play with.

Overall, the game has enough content and hooks to keep gamers glued to the Dual Screen for hours to come.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike Graphics & Sound

Strategy games demand a lot of real estate as they pack a lot of elements and complex maps. The smaller screens of handheld games can make the job harder for developers when it comes to realistic graphics. To this extent, Intelligent Sys has done a great job, as Advance Wars features functional graphics, colorful sprites, plenty of weather changes and natural elements, an intuitive map and great animation sequences.

Clever use of 3D and great artwork on the central characters make this game, fun to play. The soundtrack is just right for this sort of game and strategic use of great sound effects add to the overall cause.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike Summary

Advance Wars: Dual Strike is brilliant title for a great gaming device. It captures the essence of Turn based strategy in a war based context. A sweet story line binds the action together and the presence of a slew of gaming modes and features offer players a wide range of combinations and possibilities that makes this a title with immense replay value.

The game banks on the elements of it's predecessors but does not force new players to spend hours trying to understand what's going on. On the contrary, it's a title that even new players can pick up, plug in and start enjoying. A lot can be said about the game but it's one of those titles that has to be played to understand it's brilliance.

As there is a shortage of titles for the DS and the most of the existing ones do not do full justice to the capabilities of this great gaming device, this is one game that DS owners should invest in.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike Cost

Advance Wars: Dual Strike currently retails at $34.99