Reader William was there to capture the tragedy, for this we thank him.

Once you’re in the game, duking it out with a new slate of bad guys across a post apocalyptic wasteland, the game looks an awful lot like Advance Wars Double Strike. Fortunately you don’t have a whole lot of time to sit around marvelling at how the vehicles still look like Tonka trucks, because the game’s artificial intelligence ramps up quickly.

By level 14, in fact, I had hit the sort of wall that required me to play the conflict over, and over, and over again, getting so annoyed at my imaginary adversary at one point that me wife asked me who I was playing. (She walked off in disgust when she realised I’d been yelling at the DS and not a real person.)

In fact, some of the single player campaign battles almost feel like tactical brainteasers. These levels are constructed so tightly that I suspect there are actually only a few ways to win.

The gameplay is pretty much the same as found in previous versions, though a few tweaks and a few new units help to make the experience feel fresh.

The game allows your units to level up in battle, up to level three. Each time you defeat an enemy and go up a level that unit gets a bonus in attack and defense.

While the commander special attacks found in Double Strike remain in the game, you can also now pick the commander up in a unit, which gets an instant jump up to level 3. A zone around the commander’s unit also gets offensive and defensive boosts. The zone increases as your commander’s power boosts with victories. When the unit carrying the commander is defeated the commander is sent back to camp to await a new ride, but not removed permanently from the battle.

The new units also add a couple of twists to gameplay. For instance, rigs can build temporary ports and airports. Other new units include motorcycle-mounted infantry units, a land or air attacking Duster plane, a mobile anti-tank unit and a unit that can shoot a flare to reveal hidden units.

Since I was tucked away in the mountains, internet free, over the weekend I wasn’t able to test out the coolest new feature of Days of Ruins: The voice-chat enabled online play.

The game supports up to four players either in online play or local multi-card play. It also allows you to create and trade maps, which should give the game plenty of legs.

Having spent the weekend, mostly, beating up AI, I’m psyched to test out my tactics on real live opponents.
Even if the game hadn’t changed a thing from Dual Strike the inclusion of online multiplay would make it worth the price, but the beefed up AI and play tweaks mean that I’ve got a new addition I can carry around in my pocket.

There’s no hiding the fact that McWhetor loves the art style of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. In fact just the other day I believe I overheard the two discussing plans to elope. Love of a game is a beautiful thing, even when narrated by the gravel-voiced pitchman in a television commercial. Sorry Mike, your secret is out. Better still it’s out in a sneak peek of a commercial that hasn’t even aired yet.

The story of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is one of a world in chaos following a cataclysmic meteor storm that leaves 90 percent of the population dead. The scattered survivors live in a diseased, war-torn world controlled by roving bandits and power-hungry warlords. The tone is muted, the dialogue dreary, the characters devoid of smiles.Advance Wars: Days of Ruin also takes the series back a step, gameplay-wise. The Dual Strike CO powers from the previous Nintendo DS Advance Wars are gone, and CO powers in general are said to have been toned down. The tides of war won’t turn so easily this time.

Also absent from Advance Wars: Days of Ruin are dual screen battles, with maps and information occupying the top, gameplay shown in the bottom.

Days of Ruin does add some new units to the series, though, bringing a Motorbike unit to the list of infantry units. Motorbikes can capture buildings and factories like other infantry, but they have better range and better firepower. A new Flare unit, incapable of attacks also joins the ranks, cutting through the fog of war—now a permanent dust cloud kicked up by meteorites. The Duster, a new air unit that wasn’t available for hands-on play is also promised for the final version.

Actually playing Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is much speedier than its Nintendo DS predecessor. The team has refined the interface so issuing orders takes fewer steps, resulting in quicker battles. The game’s assets have been completely redone, giving the maps and enactments of your firefights a new look.

While our play time with Advance Wars: Days of Ruin was limited to only a trio of chapters, we were introduced to many of the game’s characters. Leading man Will replaces Andy and Jake, with tactician Lin, a morose female officer, his companion. Captain Brenner, a “grizzled war veteran”, leads the Independent Legion to which Will and Lin belong.

Most of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin’s gameplay remains tried and true, it’s simply boiled down to the core formula. Players of previous Advance Wars games may initially be unsettled by the frequent references to murder, pillaging and destruction—there’s even a line from a barbarian named The Beast who wants more ears to add to his ear necklace—but the storyline feels more engaging than the light-hearted fare of games past.

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin boasts a feature set that should have fans excited. Wi-fi multiplayer battles over the Nintendo Wi-fi Connection are finally here, bringing voice chat with them. Also coming is the tentatively titled Map Center, making map creation and sharing a worldwide affair. Players can take their map designs, upload them, and rate and download others via the Map Center, adding hundreds of maps to the 170+ already included.

It may be a big change, but Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is a welcome addition to the series and one that should breathe new life into the game.