![]() Bad comedic timing aside, the difference in the Doctor, Will, Lin, Brenner and even the host of bad guys offers up a broad range of characters with many different views, goals and aspirations than before. Oddly enough, Intelligent Systems felt that they needed to keep at least some comedy in the story and therefore added the good Doctor, complete with terrible one-liners. I prefer not to go into great detail regarding the story but suffice it to say that the characters have more emotion, more realistic dialogue and more moral issues than in any previous Advance Wars title. Like the art the campaign is much darker than any previous campaign before it and to top it off the dialogue, message and characters in general are all a bit more mature. The writing for the title has definitely gone in a new direction for the series as well. ![]() Players can expect a whirlwind of activity and story in the first few missions only to have it settle down into direct antagonist/protagonist action in the later campaign maps. Gameplay basics are learned through this time as the player begins the story. Upon the opening campaigns the player will take control of Will, a survivor of the meteor and former cadet at the Rubinelle military academy. Gone are the days when the Black Storm, lead by a war-mongering lunatic, is trying to take over the world and in comes a band of former members of the Rubinelle 12th Battalion just trying to stay alive after a meteor strike destroys much of the planet. The darker tones cause the game to not only come off as more mature and allow for more added detail but they are simply more fitting for the game, as the characters are fighting for their very lives.Īlong with a darker art presentation comes a much darker story than we are used to seeing in an Advance Wars title. Most players will either love or hate the change as it is a big break from all the previous titles but this video game journalist really appreciates the spice thrown into the franchise and that the developers were willing to take a chance at changing something in an established series. I cannot stress enough how much darker this title feels when compared to all the others. Overall the audio that is present is just about on par with what one would expect but the story fails to have any voice dialogue, which is probably due to the size of a DS cartridge being the limiting factor. The audio aspect of the title is a pretty basic affair and the least impressive aspect of the title. Sadly, I have not found much use for the zoom mode but it does allow you to check out your units at a nifty 2.5D angle. Days of Ruin also includes a new 'zoom' mode available on maps as shown in the screenshot to the left. So much so that Days of Ruin can make one feel that Dual Strike is actually a well done GBA title and not an early DS title. The game also features much more detailed art than I remember from its DS predecessor, Advance Wars Dual Strike. The story's characters remain more cartoony than you may expect from a game based on war but they are presented in a much darker tone with earth colors such as greens, browns and reds being thrown about much more than say happy colors such as oranges and yellows that series fans are used to. The first major difference between this entry in the Advance Wars series and all previous, is the breakaway from the series' colorful and cartoonish visuals. To get my neck spread farther across the chopping block further allow me to submit to you the following claim, that Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is the greatest turn-based strategy game to grace a handheld system. But all of the franchise's titles to come overseas have been well-received both commercially and critically. Seeing as there have only been four titles in the series to come overseas, two for Game Boy Advance, and now two for the Nintendo DS, such a claim isn't too glamorous. I will get right to it, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is the fourth, and quite possibly the best, title in Nintendo's and Intelligent Systems' long-running Nintendo Wars series to grace the western world.
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