Monday, October 10, 2005

Advance Wars: Dual Strike

This game was released on the 6th of October in Australia, and is the sequel to the popular strategy title "Famicom Wars" on the SNES, following on from "Advance Wars 2" on GBA. After receiving the game for a birthday present (thanks Dozy and Alhana!) I have spent hours and hours on it.

The game is a magnificent sequel, different in a way to the GBA version, but yet keeping the traditional style of game play. Using the stylus to move units has to be one of the best aspects of the game. The story is set in Omega land. This time, the Black Hole army is under a new leadership (not Hawke, though he is cool) and have once again declared war on the Orange Star army and its allies. They have invented a new weapon, which turns the land itself into vehicles, troops, and even clones for the army's disposal.

The two main characters for the game are Rachel: Nell's younger sister who strives to follow in her footsteps, and Jake: a young CO who feels the need to defend his country, and also happens to be an Andy lookalike. The most interesting aspect of these new characters has to be Rachel's super power ability. She launches 3 missiles simultaneously at area dominated by the enemy, and her troops also receive a boost in "luck". I've found this move to be extremely useful, especially against the slimlike Oozium, or the indestructable Mega Tanks. The new "Dual Strike" option is quite useful as well.

There are many other COs available in this game. Apart from everyone from Advance Wars 2 (excluding Sturm since he's dead), there are new recruits including Grimm, Sasha (Colin's sister), Javvier, Juggler, Koal, Kindle and Von Bolt. There are others but that is all I can remember.

Aside from the Megatank and Oozium, there are other new vehicles including a Stealth Bomber, Carrier unit, Black Boat and Black Bomb. Each has its own unique abilities, and they help enhance the (already cool) game play even further.

The Campaign mode is completely new. I have recently finished the normal mode (and have bought Hard mode from Hatchi) and have found the story to be much more exciting than Advance Wars 2. I won't spoil it for anyone, but the story is completely different to all previous versions of the game. Besides from having to dodge slimelike creatures, and team up with Hawke and Lash, to finish the game you are reqauired to hold dual screen battles, deactivate volcanoes, fight clones with character abilities and more.

If you are wondering whether you should buy this game, then wonder no further. This game (in my opinion) is currently the BEST title available on DS. If you've enjoyed the Advance Wars games, then you'll find this game amazing. And just to let you know, there aren't going to be any killer releases for a while. The GB Micro will launch on the 3rd of November, and Mario Kart DS will be available on the 17th of next month.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Finally a new post!
Anyway you're right, it is a really great game, although I haven't finished it yet because i've been too busy with nintendogs lately.

Man you should do something about these ads. Maybe you should put up a security code or Word Verification or somethin' like Infendo have done.

CK said...

With all due respect, what does keeping a blog link have to do with your financial position?