Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1326 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Released on: 2008-01-25
• ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .75" h x 5.00" w x 5.25" l, .28 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review

For those in the know, the best strategy games aren’t on the PC or home consoles but Nintendo portables. This war game is fast and accessible without ditching complexity in the level of control it gives you over your huge army of tanks, planes, and warships. The superb online multiplayer mode is the real draw, and there’s even a chance to make and share your own maps. If you’ve been turned off by past Advance Wars games, give this latest entry a try. The streamlined rules, new units, and improved graphics make it a winner.

Manufacturer's Description

Meteor storms, earthquakes and tidal waves devastate the Earth, causing 90 percent of the world’s population to perish. The sky has been blocked out by ash, yielding little sunlight. In a world ravaged by a domino effect of catastrophic events, those lucky enough to survive are divided into warring factions fighting to drive the direction of a new civilization.

As the CO of an army you must defeat the enemy army by either destroying all their units or taking over there HQ building, although dependant on the stage there could be further rules of victory. Each stage brings a new map, and challenge, as the CO of the army you will need to take control of your units and understand there strengths and weaknesses in order to attack the enemy efficiently.

Strategy fans will rejoice over the long-awaited inclusion of Wi-Fi play, which adds depth and re-playability. Use Nintendo WiFi Connection and battle against a friend halfway across the world, or use the map editor to create, trade and battle on your own custom maps.

Features:

More than 60 exciting single player missions.

Within Story Mode, players can play through an additional 38 Trial stages. Although independent of the Story Mode, the Trial stages add much to the game play challenge and depth.

New strategies also emerge by way of the Command one. For the first time, a Commanding Officer can enter one of the units, and by doing this, he or she creates a Command Zone.

Create your own maps and share them with your friends or upload them to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Customer Reviews

The most addictive game ever returns - but this time it's even better!
Advance Wars: Dual Strike has always been my favourite game on the Nintendo DS, possibly even my favourite game from the past few years, racking up over 120 gameplay hours on it over the 2 years that I've had it. So when I heard that there was a sequel coming out, I just couldn't wait and I wasn't dissapointed in the slightest. In fact, it even exceeds my expectations.

GAMEPLAY - 5/5
Simply unbeatable. The actual structure of the gameplay is fairly straight forward - you have an army of units where you take it in turns with your opponent(s) to move your units strategically and eliminate all of their units or capture their HQ.
The game can either be played using the stylus and touch screen (which is my preferred way of playing, as it is faster and easier to use) or by using the d-pad and A, B, X, Y, L & R buttons.

GRAPHICS - 3/5
The visuals on the map screen in Dark Conflict aren't the best and aren't much better than they were back on the Gameboy Advance AW titles. The new gritty style to the game adds more seriousness to it and the animations do seems to be a lot better than the previous DS game. It just goes to show though that next-gen visuals are not all a game needs to make it brilliant.

SOUND - 3/5
Dark Conflict has lost it's quirky, memorable Nintendo tunes that were present in Dual Strike and have replaced it with rock guitar music that is ok, but not great. It does fit in with it's new image very well however.

LIFESPAN - 5/5
Endless. Like I said earlier, Dual Strike kept me entertained for over 120 hours (and probably would have kept going if this hadn't been released) so with the addition of the online play via Nintendo Wi-Fi and the 100+ maps on the single player Free Play mode (as well as Story, multi-cart and map builder modes) this game could literally be played forever with unlimited gameplay. There are also 270 medals to win, so once you start playing you will get addicted and try to win all of these.

OVERALL - 5/5
The only thing missing from Dual Strike was the online play, now that Dark Conflict has this feature, this game couldn't be more complete. Unbeatable gameplay, unlimited lifespan and endless entertainment. What more could you want? Good-bye social life!

- EDIT 05/02/08 -
After playing this for a good 2 weeks now, I must warn that if you are new to the Advance Wars series, it may be worth getting Dual Strike beforehand (unless you want it purely for online play) as this does get very difficult very early on in the game and I can imagine would be quite impossible without previous experience.

Not as good as the Advance Wars games that came before it...
... but the bar has always been incredibly high when a series is this good. I feel many are being too critical about the new story and style - I feel the style and tone don't stray too far away from past titles in the series (especially Advance Wars 2 for the GBA) but, like many others, was not as impressed by the story as I was with the fresh concept of the first, or the tongue-in-cheek fantasy elements in Dual Strike. The plot is interesting, but quite empty in places - the dialogue and dated character interaction scenes just aren't enough to carry it anymore.

Even with these negatives points, this was never going to be awful. Don't get me wrong, it's not. Punishingly hard at times, but aren't they all? Stick to Dual Strike, get this when it drops to £20 or so.

Good times, though.

Advance Wars grows up!
The original Advance Wars (AW) game was regularly voted the best game for the Gameboy Advance and it's easy to see why. Great presentation, really accessible, and the gameplay was spot on. The next games in the series, AW: Black Hole Rising and AW: Dual Strike, continued the excellence with just a few tweaks and extras.

So what's new in AW: Dark Conflict? At first glance not much. The solid strategic gameplay is still there, you still have the Campaign (or Story) mode, and the maps or battlefields are still presented the same way. So seasoned players will be able to dive in without so much as a glance at the manual.

But after a while you realise that a lot of tweaking has gone on. Small things like the ability to zoom in and out with the R button, unit graphics that aren't so "cartoony", menus that feel more professional. The whole package has an edgy feel.

In addition, extra units have been added. In previous versions this usually amounted to not much more than adding a more powerful tank or a novelty like a piperunner. AW: Dark Conflict has motorbikes (in reality far ranging foot soldiers that can capture bases), and anti-tank units. Just these two low cost units completely change your strategy. One of my tried and tested methods was to send out as many tanks as possible with foot soldiers ahead of them to act as sacrificial pawns. This simply does not work anymore. It also seems the computer AI routines have been upgraded.

Another feature added is Wireless and on-line play. Not only can you play with your friends, but with people all around the world. The excellent map designer has also been retained.

If you've played any of the AW games before, this new version will be a worthy addition to your collection. It's not just an extra campaign, it's a deeply strategic turn based battler that will have you rethinking your usual gameplan. But if you're new to the series then I'd advise against getting it. There's just too many stats, units and concepts to get your head around. Much better to get the Gameboy Advance original - this has a superb tutorial mode and campaign that will teach you all you need to know slowly and gently. And much cheaper as well (under a tenner on a well known aution site).

Finally, if you're after the strategy guide, it's called Advance Wars Days of Ruin strategy guide (not a different game, just the name of Dark Conflict in America).