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| From: Nintendo
Category: Video Games
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $16.49
You Save: $13.50 (45%)
New (30) Used (7) from $16.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  39 reviews
Sales Rank: 1083
Platform: Nintendo Ds
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Media: Video Game
Batteries Included: No
Operating System: Nintendo DS
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0 x 0
MPN: DSNTRPYW2E
UPC: 045496739447
EAN: 0045496739447
ASIN: B000XJNTMY
Release Date: January 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The best to date April 29, 2008
In my opinion this is the best Advance Wars to date. They changed how CO's work and their powers to add more balance to the game. This is also the first Advance Wars with a story that keeps you entertained. Definatly buy this if you enjoyed any of the past games or if you are interested in the series.
A step back from Dual Strike, but still excellent April 29, 2008
This review is geared more toward people who have played previous incarnations of the Nintendo/Advance Wars series. If you haven't played any of the previous games, then start now! Even if you only have a middling interest in strategy games, you'll probably enjoy this game (as well as its predecessor: Advance Wars: Dual Strike). The Advance Wars series provides some of the most lasting games in the Nintendo portable library.
If you've played Advance Wars: Dual Strike, you'll feel like you're stepping back in time. Many of the features of the previous game are missing, but the core is still chock full of delicious turn-based strategy goodness.
Regarding COs: COs play a much more limited role in the game (and aren't even available until the second half of the single-player campaign), dual strikes are gone, CO selection is much more limited, and the CO powers themselves are not as balanced as in Dual Strike. That said, the new CO mechanic does add an interesting twist to the core gameplay. You can load a CO onto a unit at half of the unit's base price, which allows the CO to exert bonuses to selected units within a sphere of influence (it's a 2D grid game so the "sphere" is technically diamond-shaped, but whatever). The area of the CO's influence increases when units inside the sphere do damage. When the CO meter is full, you can use the CO's special power, which reduces the sphere of influence back to its base state. The loss of CO zone, combined with the fact that using the CO power wastes the CO unit's turn, often limits the utility of the CO power.
Regarding single-player replayability: There is no "hard campaign" option after beating the game. However, the plethora of trial maps, as well as the ability to download custom maps online, more than makes up for this shortcoming.
Regarding multi-player: Let's face it, I would probably buy this game even if it was single-player only. The Advance Wars game mechanics are just so addictive that I would continue buying map packs forever. However, the addition of Nintendo WFC multiplayer is what really makes this game shine. The ability to play with friends (or random people) online turns this game from maybe 30 hours of gameplay to 100+ hours of gameplay. Nintendo WFC is still a bit flaky, and disconnects are still somewhat common, but it's an acceptable price for playing with others across the world.
Best GameBoy game I have played so far. April 11, 2008
I have always enjoyed wargames from hex maps to computer based. This game is clearly the best of this genre that I have played on any version of the GameBoy. I am even considering buying a second DS just so my son and I can play head to head.
The fog of war is very well done. The amount of chance involved in battles does a good job of requiring good strategy but keeping outcomes from being completely deterministic. The relative strengths of the units keep the game well balanced and make good use of mixed forces a powerful advantage.
In short, this game has cost me too much sleep already and I love it!
 Solid game that tries new things, but falls short of expectations April 9, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
~~~THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, DO NOT READ THIS IF THAT IS A CONCERN FOR YOU~~~
Firstly, I'd like to say that I'm a big advance wars fan, and I was really looking forward to this game. I give the game's developers credit for trying new things in DoR and trying to take the game in a new direction. Some things that are great additions to the series include:
-Wifi! Its great to be able to play and share maps.
-Actually, thats about it.
The single-player campaign is passable, but to be honest, I did not enjoy it as much as previous installments. This game was advertised as being "darker" and "more mature." Really? Given the E rating, I wasn't expecting blood and guts everywhere, but did they have to add TWO 10-year-old-squeakier-than-ever Lashs' to the enemy team? (for those of you who do not remember Lash, she was the one who thought war was a game, and soldiers were toys.) Prepare for a lot of: "*SQUEE!* TANK GO BOOM BOOM NOW!! BoOOM!" At least previous installments were honest and straightforward about being a bit childish, this one attempts to hide its juvenile story behind more sophisticated drawings. I cannot take a game that contains any of the following seriously:
-A virus that make you *gasp* grow flowers
-Characters that have and randomly lose stereotypical accents
-"WHERE THERES LIFE, THERES HOPE!" (expect to hear that, oh, 60-70 times....per cutscene)
-EVIL, bloodthirsty villains...who decide to play(teehee.) nice and join you. (Mr.Bear said he didn't want to die!)
-Characters so flat that you can see right through them! (I'm serious. if you can't predict the story from the moment you put the game in...)
-Story lacked spirit. Really, there was nothing interesting about it.
Now, you may be thinking "Thats ok, Advance Wars was never really about the story. Its all in the awesome strategy!! I can skip the cutscenes if I want and go straight to the action!" Alright, I'll agree with you here. I could forgive the story that some developer let his 5th grader write it ,if there were a noticeable improvement in the strategic gameplay to make up for it. Sadly, I do not feel as though DoR succeeded on this count either. It is mediocre, hence the 3 stars, but nothing fantastic. Lets do a run down of in-play issues and disappointments:
-I was looking forward to gaining access to new units, but all of those added (carrier, anti-tank, flares ect) did not add much depth to the already existing gameplay.
-Lack of choice. In previous games, you had the ability to select your CO(s) when going into combat. It allowed you to tailor your team and your abilities to the challenges ahead. Upon failing a mission, you could go back, rethink your approach, and try something new. Heck, if you were completely stuck on one level, you could try a different one (typically, 3 or so were unlocked to you at a time) and take a crack at the problematic level later. It did not effect the story, but it allowed you to take a break from a frustrating level. In DoR, this is not the case, only one level at a time can advance the story. (Yes, there are side "training" levels, but they are even more aggravating and uninspired than the regular gameplay and have nothing to do with the story) This customization is sacrificed in the name of a piss-poor story that forces you to use one pre-designated CO per map.I would have loved more user customization, not less.
-The game designers advertised that CO powers and abilities were being reduced placing more emphasis on strategy. This is true for your units, not so for the enemy units. I am not complaining of difficulty here, its not that it is ridiculously hard, just irritating. You scratch an enemy unit, and then they turn around and one-shot yours. Prepare for a lot of "huh? why is my unit dead?"... For the record, simply making all of the enemy units stronger is not a satisfying way to create difficulty, try again.
- One more note on COs and CO powers: they feel more like an afterthought in this game, and may as well not be there. You don't even get them til well into the game! The COs do not lend themselves particularly well to any of the maps that you are forced to play on. Don't expect fancy flight-action when you get to play as an air-specialist! Mostly its a lot of generic play with Wil. Previously, more interesting COs allowed for more creative level design that would allow them to shine. Choosing the correct CO for a level was an important part of play!
- Difficulty could have been implemented through creative level design, this is also not the case. I felt like level design produced dull, repetitive, uninspired, slam-your-head-into-the-enemy-til-he-falls-over-50-turns-later style play with only a few interesting exceptions. I wish there had been more of the interesting ones.
-Lack of hard mode and other unlockables. Part of the fun of the previous games, for me, was unlocking all the nifty stuff in the war room, and trying my luck at the hard mode campaign. This had very little to do outside the single player. Like I did point out, wifi is great, so if you have lots of friends with AW, this may not be such a big problem.
SHORT VERSION FOR THE LAZY:
Days of Ruin had a lot going for it, its still an OK game. You'll probably chug on through it and enjoy it just fine. I suppose I just had very high expectations for this game, and it fell far short. I can only hope that things improve in the future. Shinier graphics and "cooler" (see: stereotyped and boring) characters do not redeem a completely ridiculous storyline, mediocre single player game, and lack of unlockables.
Ds Game April 6, 2008
Great game came in no less then one day and might I add a fun game.
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