Advanced Wars Review (no fat)

Game Description

Your job is that of a military strategist for the Orange Star army. You play as a Commanding Office (CO) who strategically positions forces and moves them around the battlefield, trying to destroy the enemy and capturing positions at the same time. The whole storyline takes place in the continent of Alara.

Advanced Wars Tutorial

To start off, there is a 14-mission training which involves all features of the game like managing units, coping with the weather, deploying units for attack/defense, etc. Though rather long, the tutorial toughens you up for the big job of controlling your own army and, by the end of it, you can claim to be a top notch CO in Alara.

Advanced Wars Game play

The game is turn based and you can move your units, position them, engage in combat and perform refueling at every turn. Like all tactical games, you have to ensure two objectives – Destroy the enemy, Safeguard your units. However, the depth of the game is such that those basic objectives will keep your grey cells fit for some time to come.

The principal mode in AW is the Campaign Mode – where you will guide a CO to complete a particular mission with a particular unit. The missions involve destroying enemy units, taking control of facilities like Factories, Airports and Seaports as well as defending cities against the other 3 armies – Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, Green Earth. Some missions are timed and not all have the objective of destroying enemy units – you have to stock up on ammo or earn enough stars to commandeer advanced units.

Scoring is based on a combination of Speed, Technique and Power. Speed is how fast the mission is accomplished, Power is how many enemy units are destroyed and Technique is how many units the player has lost. So defense too counts towards the final score as well as offense. These scores can be redeemed against coins which are be used to buy maps, features for the CO and even new COs.

Advanced Wars Units

Your forces have a diverse variety of units, ranging from ground units to sea and air units as. Individual Units have different characteristics – their own attack and defense ratings, visibility sphere, etc. If units are damaged, they can be replenished with points. You will have to trade-off between cost and effectiveness – for example, infantry units are very cheap but get annihilated easily. Also, each unit has its strength – some like Bombers are long – distance units and can be used to blow up an enemy city whereas the tanks will help during direct combat.

Similarly, each unit has its limitations, planes will crash if they are not regularly fueled and submarines will have to be aired because they can not remain submerged indefinitely. Also, infantry units use camouflage well so they have good defense while in covered areas and in cities.

Advanced Wars-The Intricacies of War

Terrain and Weather are two important features in the game play. The ‘Fog of War’ is the primary weather condition - the vision is reduced for all units, movement cost increases for some units (tire type). It is your responsibility to hide your troops and at the same time scout out your enemies. Some terrains like forests are advantageous to the units – they help in the units staying hidden. In the design mode, you can pick your own Terrain and Weather – the same map would be a lot tougher to negotiate in snow!

Advanced Wars Commanding Officers

COs are one of the strengths of the game, apart from the game play. They have well-fleshed characters with their own weaknesses and strengths. Each CO has his a unique power and it has to be a well thought out tactical decision on when to use the power to get the best results from it.

While the COs look like kids playing out the roles of army commandants, the different tactical style with which each CO tackles a situation mean that the gameplay never gets repetitive, and you have to change and adapt your tactics all the time.

Advanced War - The Strategy

By allowing you trade-offs between various characteristics, Advanced War makes the game play very subtle. You will have to be vigilant and need major decision – making capabilities – which unit to move, by what distance, how to optimize the unit’s power, when to use the CO power. Also, each mission can be played as a different CO which means you may end up with a different result – so the game play escapes monotony.

Advanced War Modes of Play

The Single Player mode allows play in the Campaign, War Room as well as Design Room. Players can design their own maps by combining units and features like volcanoes, forests, etc. and can also trade maps with other players if they are connected in the Link mode.

Multiplayer Mode allows four players to play using the Link Cable as well as the single GBA multiplayer hot seat. The only negative in the multi player mode is the inability to save games.

Advanced War AI

When you play against the computer, the AI is very sharp and strategically tougher to beat than your friend would be. If you were only attacking and not defending, the AI will destroy your units viciously. Expect no mercy.

Advanced War Graphics

Advanced War is visually appealing, with an anime look and bright colorful display. The cartoon style COs and the small but deadly units all are designed well. The units from different armies differ in their looks, ranging from World War era units to the modern times. Units can be moved using a simple select and turn operation and the information on each unit is displayed whenever it is selected.

While the background remains flat and board-game like, the battle scenes comprise of animations showing the action with firing and units biting the dust.

Advanced War Audio

The music is simple but a different track is tailored to each CO. The repetitive music can get a tad annoying when a battle lengthens out, but it can be turned down easily. The sound effects, however, are well placed and each unit has a unique, and suitable, sound attached to it. Also, the sound effects during battles are good and do a good job of creating an atmosphere, even with the small GBA speaker.

Advanced War – Summing Up

Finally, Advanced War is a very addictive game, with a detailed game play that would put bigger platforms to shame. A must-have for all GBA gamers.

Advanced War - Cost

Advanced War currently retails for $14.99.