Advance Wars: Dual Strike Impressions

On A Roll

Advance Wars: Dual Strike (AW:DS ) was worth the wait! The first thing I noticed after starting the game was the greatly improved quality of the sound and the general slickness of the menus. If you have played either of the two previous games, the menu items will be very familiar. The campaign mode picks up where the story of Advance Wars 2 left off. However, the action takes place on a different continent with (mostly) new COs, so new players won't have much trouble understanding what is going on. Basically, the story is that the enemy from AW2, Black Hole, is back and the four nations of Orange Star, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, and Green Earth have formed an alliance to defeat them.

Gameplay and graphics are very similar to the 2 GBA games, but there are some new play dynamics at work to keep things fresh. The biggest addition is tag team battling, where each side has 2 COs and can switch between them during the battle. If both COs on one side get their power meters full then the Tag option can be initiated, allowing that side to go twice  in a row, once with each CO. Obviously, this can greatly affect the progress of a battle. Also new to AW:DS are Second Front battles, where the top screen shows another air or land battle that is fought by the second CO. Units can be sent between the fronts as reinforcements, and the player can choose to let the AI control the second front or to control it themselves. If the second front is lost, you don't lose the mission. However, winning on the top screen is to your advantage, as it means the CO will come down to the bottom screen and allow you to tag battle the rest of the way.

Other than the Second Front feature, the other way that AW:DS takes advantage of the NDS hardware is by using the touch screen to battle and navigate menus. Honestly, I've found it easier to use the D-pad as opposed to the touch screen. The units and menu items are a bit to small to reliably select if, say, you are playing the game in a moving car. Several times, I've accidentally selected the wrong menu choice ("wait" instead of "fire," etc) with disastrous results.  The only other problem I've had with the game is that 18 missions in, the campaign is still rather easy. There are a number of new units in the game, but the new play modes are introduced so gradually that I don't recall seeing any of them until about mission 12. However, to be fair I am playing the game on normal difficulty and I have played the other two games extensively.

I have yet to  try the other play modes, such as the War Room and the self-explanatory Survival mode. Additionally, AW:DS has the capability for single-card wireless multiplayer, which I am dying to try. As usual, there is a metric ton of things to unlock, so I think I will be absorbed with this game for some time to come. This game is on track to be the best Advance Wars game yet!

By: Andy Rucker