Reporting by Keyan Reid
Beware, my fellow gamers. You are about to go pass into a dark and foreboding world. One torn asunder by the catastrophic impact of meteors on our fair earth, and further besieged by bandits and rogues looking to rape and pillage what’s left of humanity. This game is so unrepentantly dire and depressing that I hear players in Japan are rampantly offing themselves shortly after level 10 – still pretty early in the game.
Nah. I’m kidding you. This game is rated “E” for crying out loud.
Though the advertising would have you believe that this game is a bold and “gritty” new chapter in the Advance Wars saga, the fact is that it is extraordinarily close to its predecessors in almost every regard. The setting for this chapter is indeed a post-apocalyptic, Mad Max-esque world where the survivors are banding together against roving raiders and bastardized military groups. However, Days of Ruin has just as many bubblegum anime characters bantering to one another as any Advance Wars game before it. While the context of the story might be grim (and also played out – this is not far removed from the latter part of 1 st gen Robotech here), the actual proceedings are as light and airy as ever. So if you came here looking for a turn-based strategy version of Gears of War, I’m afraid you’ll need to keep searching.
You have the same basic units making up your army as in previous Advance Wars entries, though there are a few new additions. As always, you have at your command a wide array of aerial, naval, and ground forces, each with their own perks and deficiencies that must be accounted for when employing them on the field. As far as new stuff goes, you’ll get your hands on the motorcycle gang units (I don’t think they’re described as “motorcycle gangs”, but hell, that’s what I saw there. Whatever). They are really just basic infantry, but with expanded mobility and defense, and that makes these guys really good to have. They can sprint across the battlefield to rapidly capture structures for your army, boosting construction capabilities and resources. Just don’t let these gangs get into the booze, or they get rowdy.
There are other new additions as well, but the bikers are the first ones you’ll gain access to. What I found to be much cooler than any of the new units was the ranking system offered in Days of Ruin. Just like the more recent iterations of the Command and Conquer games, your units now get promotions after seeing combat, increasing their effectiveness on the field. I tend to be a cautious general on these games, so having units that progress with use works well in my strategy. But while I appreciated this new aspect in the Advance Wars series, I can see how it could be somewhat detrimental to players who use a kamikaze-strategy and just throw their units into a total blitz offensive. The ranking system encourages you to protect and restore your damaged units, instead of tossing them aside in the effort to destroy the enemy. As such, this new offering may force some tactical revisions for overly aggressive players.
Unlike the last entry in the series, Dual Strike, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin does not feature the two front wars where one of the battles is automated and out of your control. It’s a welcome change in my opinion, as the hands-off second-front battles in Dual Strike were something that never quite worked for me. It was a half-baked gimmick at best, and nothing is lost by curb-stomping that aspect.
Sadly, the one thing that many Advance Wars fans have wanted since the series first debuted on the Game Boy Advance – cooperative play – continues its unerring absence from the series. The standard face-off and map trading multiplayer options are included though. It’s the same ole same ole on the MP front here – just enough to scrape by.
All in all, this is a faithful sequel for the series, offering a few tweaks to the same old formula. That’s a good thing, as the Advance Wars series has always been solid for a mobile gaming experience. I can do without the bubbling characters, but the game is fun and is worth shelling out a couple ducats for.
Keyan Reid
Professional Hero
JRE Thug Division, Core Elite
Rating:
- Buy It
Editor, Art Director 
