Metachronos overall score = 9.4 / 10
Positive- Perfectly tuned, incredibly deep, addictive, and approachable strategic gameplay
- Tons of different gameplay options make for almost limitless variety
- Excellent presentation makes marathon gameplay sessions easy on the senses
- Great artificial intelligence for solo play, plus tons of Wi-Fi multiplayer options
- Memorable cast of characters and a good story-driven campaign
Negative- Campaign is a little easy for series fans (though a hard mode is unlockable)
- Underlying gameplay elements and visuals recycled from past entries
The brilliantly designed, addictive Advance Wars series of strategy games has found itself a comfortable new home on the Nintendo DS, and it couldn't be more welcome. Originally created for the Game Boy Advance back in 2001, Advance Wars now is on to its third installment, which significantly broadens the scope of this very deep and incredibly fun series while not messing with the fundamentals that made it so great. The result is Advance Wars: Dual Strike, the biggest and in many ways best game in the series yet. It offers a tremendous value and is sure to provide you with hour after hour of fun-filled, surprisingly brisk turn-based gameplay. A terrific presentation and tons of different modes of play, in addition to some great Wi-Fi multiplayer support, put this one way over the top. It's arguably the first must-have game for the Nintendo DS, and it's a perfect excuse to get the system if you haven't already.
Apart from the lengthy campaign, Advance Wars: Dual Strike offers a war room, a versus mode, and a survival mode for experiencing all the possible variations on the strategic gameplay. For good measure, as you win single-player battles, you earn credits with which you can unlock tons of new maps and many new COs for use in the various modes of play. In keeping with this whole "give you everything and more" theme, extensive multiplayer options are available. You can pass-and-play with other people using one DS and one copy of the game, or you can compete with up to three players in wireless Wi-Fi battles. Using Wi-Fi, you can also trade maps you've created in the game's design room (which are easier to create than ever thanks to the stylus), and you can also download the new real-time "combat" action game to any unfortunate DS owners who don't have the game.In short, this Advance Wars game somehow succeeds at making a well-worn formula as fresh and exciting as ever. Intelligent Systems, the developer of the series, deserves tremendous credit for crafting such a deep yet approachable gameplay experience. Those who haven't yet played an Advance Wars game shouldn't hesitate to start with this one, while the series' dedicated fans will find that there's lots of great, new stuff here to play around with, get really into, and share with their friends.
Subject: Advance Wars: Dual Strike ( DS ) 
Sat Feb 09, 2008 11:44 am
