Patreon button  Steam curated reviews  Discord button  Facebook button  Twitter button 
3DS | PC | PS4 | PS5 | SWITCH | VITA | XB1 | XSX | All

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS) artwork

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS) review


"What do you do when the world is devastated by meteorites? Band together the survivors and work toward resurrecting civilization? Nope - you keep on fighting, duh! The game has a crack at this untested scenario in the latest iteration of the Advance Wars series. Gone are the cute and cuddly tanks that would not look out of place at a kids birthday party; missing, presumed dead are the old COs (not Andy! I hear you scream in terror) and in its place is a bleak and barren world, effectively brough..."

What do you do when the world is devastated by meteorites? Band together the survivors and work toward resurrecting civilization? Nope - you keep on fighting, duh! The game has a crack at this untested scenario in the latest iteration of the Advance Wars series. Gone are the cute and cuddly tanks that would not look out of place at a kids birthday party; missing, presumed dead are the old COs (not Andy! I hear you scream in terror) and in its place is a bleak and barren world, effectively brought across in stylish dark visuals and a plot that is surprisingly engaging for a strategy title.

Despite a new lick of paint and broodish undertones, under the hood the game is essentially the same. The rock-paper-scissors strategy gameplay is still as effective as it was before, revamped with a few new units and ground types. Highlights include those that can create temporary ports and units from within themselves, ruined cities to run amok in and plasma fields generated by felled meteorites to avoid. When push comes to shove (or when tank rolls over corpse, a more fitting analogy) the gameplay is nothing new - but if it isn't broke, why fix it?

In terms of features, the game is streamlined to fit the new aesthetic. CO powers are downplayed and more ‘realistic' – they now appear on the field and give stat benefits to surrounding units instead of turning the tide of the war with a random snowstorm. Disappointingly, the Shop and Battle Room are removed (remember that war is no longer fun!) although the Map Editor still exists in all its creative glory. Online play is inevitably added and works incredibly well and adds unquantifiable amounts of replay value despite the single player shortcomings. Although the campaign is not on the weighty side, certain missions will completely punish you, and there are additional side battles to partake in if you so please. Oh, and did I mention that music is quite simply awesome?

Days of Ruin is good, very good, and gives fans of the series plenty to mull over, especially with the online play. If you were undecided by earlier editions then this game will not change your opinion of the series. There is nothing wrong with this game, and while it does enough to warrant a playthrough, it is not the evolution in the series that you might have been hoping for.



Crazyreyn's avatar
Community review by Crazyreyn (February 18, 2008)

A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.

More Reviews by Crazyreyn [+]
Cannon Fodder (Amiga) artwork
Cannon Fodder (Amiga)

Sensible Software took soccer and made it slick, speedy and easy to pick up and play, resulting in the cult classic Sensible Soccer. Using the same mechanics they turned their attention to warfare. Strip away a soccer pitch and replace it with a maze of trees; replace match day kits with uniforms and swap the aw...
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (Xbox 360) artwork
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (Xbox 360)

For a few of us, the end of Rainbow Six: Vegas left a bad taste in the mouth; a sudden cliff hanger that provided little satisfaction or resolution. For everyone else, it was just a side commentary to combine smoldering action set pieces together, or was forgotten altogether due to the compelling multiplayer. In...
George of the Jungle and the Search for the Secret (Wii) artwork
George of the Jungle and the Search for the Secret (Wii)

Despite being an initially promising platformer, its charm is spoiled by pointless motion control, absent collision detection and unforgiving enemy encounters.

Feedback

If you enjoyed this Advance Wars: Days of Ruin review, you're encouraged to discuss it with the author and with other members of the site's community. If you don't already have an HonestGamers account, you can sign up for one in a snap. Thank you for reading!

You must be signed into an HonestGamers user account to leave feedback on this review.

User Help | Contact | Ethics | Sponsor Guide | Links

eXTReMe Tracker
© 1998 - 2024 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors. Staff and freelance reviews are typically written based on time spent with a retail review copy or review key for the game that is provided by its publisher.