EVILNess reviews DS games

[EVILNess]

TLDR THREAD WARNING

So, I have been playing my DS to pretty much exclusion for the past 3 months, and I am the of honest opinion that the DS is the superior choice when it comes to choosing a handheld, and possibly even a system period.

With the enjoyment I have received from my DS has also come some disbelief and shock that many of you still don't own a DS, or worse bought a PSP. So to educate you guys (and for fun!) I figured I would start a thread for me to review games in, maybe with a pace of 1 reviewed game every week. Feel free to leave comments and your thoughts or additions about the games in between reviews.

Here are a two formating things you should know, the title of the game will be a link to the game's official website (If available), and the box art will be a link to a trailer, probably on Youtube (If available). I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum as this is a review thread. I ask you spoiler tag all your spoilers.

Also, my final scores will not be an average of the previous scores because I am of the firm belief that a game is more than the sum of its parts.

So without further ado, the first review.

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

Story

Score: (4.5/5)

The game takes place in a different continuity than the previous Advance Wars titles, so say goodbye to Macro Land and all of its warring factions. Now say hello to the warring nations of Rubinelle and Lazuria. You are quickly introduced to the young officer cadet Will, who after witnessing the devastation that has happened is quickly attacked by the leader of a local group of wasteland raiders by the name of The Beast. However, our intrepid young man is promptly saved by Brenner of Brenner's Wolves, a military unit that is traveling around looking for survivors that need help. Will impressed with Brenner's ideology volunteers to join the Wolves. Feeling useless, Will goes on a search for survivors and finds a a mysterious and amnesiac girl who does not even remember her own name or past, but somehow knows detailed military secrets. Will later gives her the name Isabella, and she joins the Wolves. The Wolves are then set on a path that will lead them to save the lives of everyone that are left, and maybe unite two war torn countries to fix a shattered world.

BOTTOM LINE: The Earth has been hit by meteors, are you a bad enough dude to save the president? Err... I mean to lead the people to a bright new future?

Characterization

Score: (4/5)

The story this time around is really dark, with lots of death, betrayal, some revenge, crazy ass clones, death by flowers, and a few madmen who'd probably give Kefka a run for mayor of video game character crazy town. The characters themselves are also much darker than in previous installments, and several of them are quite flawed as individuals. They don't really grow all that much in the course of the game though, well Will and Isabelle do some, but they have enough personality to stand on their own through the entire game and make you like them.

BOTTOM LINE: Interesting characters that are likable or that you like to hate. Some have real character flaws that make them sympathetic. There is very little growth in most of the cast. They are all still likable though. Except Waylon. Fuck Waylon.

Graphics

Score: (3.5/10)

The graphical style is also a step away from the previous three installments of Advance Wars. Where in the previous three the battles took place on mostly green fields with lush forests, this game is fought in darkened wastelands where the sun never rises. It really fits the tone of the game and sets the mood for many of the missions well. The graphics are pretty clean, and convey what is happening on the screen very nicely. While the in-battle sprites are not as crisp as they were in Dual Strike, I don't think the the new art style is detrimental. Nintendo gets bonus points here for having the guts to change the art style that much.

Character designs are standard anime fare, but are well drawn and not overly annoying. The game uses many magenta, greys, and browns plus a few other darker colors as the predominate color scheme. The bright colors are there, they are just much harder to find.

BOTTOM LINE: Darker, murkier and kind of a backwards step. However, the graphics still have plenty of personality and bright colors are still there if you look for them. Also, fuck Waylon.

Sound

Score (2.5/5)

The sound effects are... well... sound effects. They server their purpose and are pretty utilitarian. The music is passable as well, and you will probably enjoy it at first. That is until you realize that almost the entire music track is techno with electric guitars and can become a little tired after a while.

There is a music player, which is a plus.

BOTTOM LINE: In a single word? Passable. Also there is a music player in the game.

Gameplay

Score: (4/5)

The game play is where any game should truly shine, and Days of Ruin shines like a beacon of pure light. The game is a standard turn based strategy game. Two-four sides face off on a map made of square tiles. The system is basic in concept but very well implemented. There is still a map room with just as many choices for maps as before.

Gameplay changes include the way CO powers work, the ability to field your CO, and some minor unit tweaks from the previous games. The CO powers are much less game breaking and subdued, forcing you to rely on your tactical skills more than just knowing when to blow your special skill. You can also now field a CO boosting a units power and giving all units within a certain range a passive bonus. They also introduced veterancy to the game.

The single player's 26 missions have varying difficulties, and the training exercises can really give you a run for your money, especially if you are going for the S rank in them all.

There is also still the option of local multiplayer that were in all the previous versions. Not only can you battle buddies on their DSes, which requires everyone to have their own system and cart (Why doesn't anyone ever use the damn download and try thing for the DS in their games? ARGH!), you can just pass around a single DS between a few friends. Its a great way to kill some time, and piss off an English teacher.

However, there is one place this game really stands out.

Online multiplayer. Not to mention the fact that there is voice support over your DS's microphones and the ability to trade maps created in the map room. Also, periodically a map is chosen and put up for download for everyone to sample. Imagine my surprise when one of my own maps was available for everyone to download!

This gives the game a very high replayability, which is a plus for any game.

The score does lose points for the loss of several game features from Dual Strike, such as combat, survival, the CO customization, and the total lack of secret outfits.

BOTTOM LINE: A strategy game on a handheld with a challenging and fun single player campaign and Online multiplayer? Why are you still reading this? Go buy and/or play this game now. Why aren't you playing it yet? Go play it. I'll wait.

Overall Score: (4/5)

While not very innovative (Which is probably the worst thing about the game.), it is a very solid game that will keep you occupied for a long time. The only reason this game didn't get a 10/10 from me was the removal of some of the features that were in Dual Strike. Still, not owning this game is like saying you hate happiness.