// VIEW: ADVANCE WARS DS

One day, in the future, all wars will be fought like this. Infantry will move one or two squares a day (terrain and weather conditions permitting), Tanks will cost $7000 and be available in four models, ‘Tank’ ‘Medium Tank’, ‘Neo Tank’ and an enormous, bank-busting ‘Mammoth’. Capturing an enemy HQ will be enough to win an entire war in a matter of a few days. Generals will command from an omnipotent outpost high above the battlefield, and command their armies using a small plastic stick.

Okay, I’m being ridiculous. They’d obviously use the D-Pad.

Advance Wars DS can’t be called a revolution in the series – it doesn’t pretend to be. Indeed, it’s only the very subtlest of evolutions, in fact. But by retaining the series’ classic charm and super-refined mechanics of the GBA precursors, Intelligent Systems have an innately brilliant core to tinker with. The most obvious and immediately apparent DS-specific addition is of course the Dual Screen (Dual Screen? Dual Strike? DS? Do you See?) is used to display an overview of the current battlefield stats and occasionally switching to a second playing field for you to control airborne units hosting a mission-specific event (one mission uses the top-screen to display a missile impact countdown), or an entirely seperate theatre of war. You’re also given the option of touch-screen control, but this can be clumsy and it’s hard to stem your frustration when you move a critical unit to the wrong space or inadvertently tap ‘End’ rather than capture. The traditional grid-based nature of the game lends itself perfectly to movement and menu controls, and so the concession to stylus control does unfortunately feel unnecesarily tacked-on. That said, it’s completely optional, so there’s really very little to complain about an otherwise perfectly judged system.

Another slightly unnecessary (though certainly not unwelcome by any means) introduction for this entry in the series include a new game mode – ‘Combat’, a simple real-time blast-a-thon sorely lacking in the strategic depth the series enjoys such reknown for. While fun as a high-scoring change of pace, it’s not something you’ll visit with any regularity.

The most significant addition to the series’ repetoire is the game-changing introduction of Tag Powers. Series veterans will be all-too-aware of CO Powers previous games featured, and either love the last-ditch counterattacking power it grants or loathe the level-breaking harshness it inflicts (usually dependant entirely on whether they are using them or suffering their effect). Dual Strike takes this further, and on certain single-player missions a second Commanding Officer will be deployed to fight alongside you, and, after you’ve filled your power bar you’ll gain the ability to either take a second turn-within-a-turn, or unleash a hugely upgraded special attack. As is always the nature of such tide-turningly powerful special attacks, you’ll love the extra power it gives you when you’re the one using it, but when your AI enemy uses it to wipe out your well co-ordinated and expensively built force in a single turn you’ll be cursing it.

The AI itself has taken a devious step-up from the GBA pairing, and frequently pulls off incisive and vindictive strikes. It revels in kicking you when your down, and does well to repel any ill-planned strategy or over-confident rush. That said, it can ocasionally fall-foul of illogical targeting, and when it’s genuinely out-maneuvered has little to fall back on. The missions themselves can be wonderfuly cunning, and ocassionally take the form of old-fashioned puzzles rather than military strikes. You’ll be tasked with capturing a certain number of cities in a certain time-limit, shooting floating bases from the sky or simply surviving a set number of turns. Newcomers to the series are guided through a lengthy, well-judged tutorial period, where all of your required skills are introduced and honed in a well-paced hour-or-so’s gaming.

The best introduction to everything the game has to offer, though, comes from the multiplayer mode. As addictive as ever, hours can be lost to it, particularly if the combatants are evenly-skilled. The finely-poised balance of the games units really comes to the fore when two or more human foes make full use of them, and the range of options (including an essential toggle of CO-Powers). The standard mode is pretty much perfect as far as turn-based strategy goes, on handheld or any other platform. Bizarrely, wireless multiplayer is limited to the new Combat mode that feels a sadly missed opportunity and lacks the charming, at-your-own-pace sense of warfare catered for perfectly by the familiar game-sharing mode.
Alliances are formed and broken, allegiances switched and clandestine occupations of ‘friendly’ territories are commonplace when the full compliment of 4 humans are playing. The great pleasure of ganging-up on the strongest/weakest player for mutual benefit, only to betray your allies for your own gain is a classically exhilirating feeling, and the innate ease of play, being a portable, save-at-any-time turn-based war, means games needn’t drag – just take your turn, save and close the DS. It’s a real pleasure to spend time with, and any title that can make you forget the purpose of a watch is, without question, one well worth investing in. Just try to remember to eat. Oh, and drink. A bit of fresh air now and again might be worth trying. Then again, just one more turn won’t hurt…

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