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Advance Wars: Dual Strike (Famicom Wars DS in Japan) is a turn-based strategy video game developed for the Nintendo DS by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo in 2005. Dual Strike is the third game in the Advance Wars series of games, preceded by Black Hole Rising and Advance Wars. This trio of games is a child series of the Nintendo Wars set of games, as well as the only games in Nintendo Wars to be released outside of Japan. The real-time strategy/third person shooter hybrid Battalion Wars, which was originally entitled Advance Wars: Under Fire, is considered by some to be a part of the Nintendo Wars series. However, it was not developed by Intelligent Systems (although it was published by Nintendo).

In Dual Strike, players assume the roles of Commanding Officers, leaders of armies which consist of a variety of military units, ranging from simple infantrymen to large tanks, fighter jets and submarines. In total, there are 26 different units, separated into ground-, air-, and sea-based classes. Commanding Officers (COs) have different strengths and weaknesses, such as increased firepower, or more money. Each CO also has two unique powers, called CO and Super CO Powers. These attacks must be charged first, but offer increased statistical bonuses and varied special effects when activated, which often turn the tables against enemy COs.

The game's Campaign mode takes center stage among Dual Strike's different game modes; four nations based in Omega Land, known as Orange Star, Blue Moon, Green Earth and Yellow Comet, have allied under the moniker of the "Allied Nations." The Allied Nations are once more waging war against Black Hole and its army, which has regrouped under a new commander after their defeat in Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. In addition to the Campaign mode, modes such as War Room and Survival offer additional single player missions independent of the main story line. Several multiplayer modes (for up to eight human players) exist, in the form of both turn-based combat and a real-time shooting game called Combat mode.

Gameplay

Battle system

The battle system in Dual Strike is turn-based. Two or more armies, each headed by one (or two) commanding officers, take turns building and commanding units. The player that gets to move first is always the head of the Orange Star army, followed by Blue Moon, Green Earth, Yellow Comet, and Black Hole. In the Campaign mode, most matchups are Orange Star versus Black Hole, resulting in OS getting the first move. In multiplayer games however, the first four armies are used, and the players take turns in that order. The battle system is very similar to the popular game Dragon Force for Sega Saturn.

When a unit is selected, its movement range is shown in a (usually) diamond-shaped pattern. A unit can move to any unoccupied space it could normally occupy (for example, only infantry can traverse mountains). After moving, all units can Wait, which is the "no action" command. If the unit is adjacent to an enemy unit or structure, the Fire command can be used, which causes the unit to attack the target. The amount of damage done to the enemy is proportional to the number of hit points (HP) it has. Thus, a unit with 5/10 HP will do half the normal damage it would. This also gives a unit with more HP an edge in combat.

Some units can only attack other specific types of units (for example, infantry can only strike land vehicles, helicopters, and other infantry. Also, most units have primary and secondary weapons (for example, the Mech Infantry has a bazooka that can only be fired at land vehnicles, and a secondary machine gun for other Infantry). All weapons, with the exception of machine guns, have a limited supply of ammo. For a full list of unit commands, see Unit commands below.

Hardware features such as the DS's dual screens and touch screen are used in Advance Wars: Dual Strike. The stylus can be used instead of using the D-pad and various buttons to navigate menus, order units, and has various other uses. The DS' top screen is generally used to display the terrain or unit intel that the cursor is currently on, though in some missions the top screen shows a second front. The second front is essentially a second map part of the mission. On these kinds of games, the X button can be used to swap between the intel and map screens.

Maps

The gameplay in Advance Wars: Dual Strike takes place on grid-based maps; each cell is a specific type of terrain, such as plains, woods, rivers, roads, cities, mountains or water. Terrain affects the movement and defense of various units in the game. Units may be built for a price at bases, seaports, or airports, or automatically given to the player at the start of a mission. However, a unit may be built at other locations, depending on the circumstances.

Terrain
There are two types of terrain: natural and man-made. Natural terrain includes roads, plains, forests, mountains, rivers, sea, and shoals. Land vehicles cannot traverse mountains or rivers, unless there is a bridge to cross. Infantry can navigate moutains and rivers, although it is rougher terrain and takes longer. Sea units can move around freely in seas or reefs. Reefs give a small amount of defense. Shoals are "halfway points" between land and sea; transport ships may dock at shoals to board units. Terrain is not an issue for air units, because they are in midair.

A special type of terrain called a pipeline also exsists. Pipelines are large metal barriers that are indestructible and not passable by any unit (not even air units). The only way to get through a pipeline is to attack a seam on it. This takes several turns depending on what attacks it, but when destroyed it makes a small opening through the pipeline. Pipelines were designed by the Black Hole army and first seen in Advance Wars 2.

Man-made terrain includes any kind of structure. Basic properties include cities and headquarters (HQ). These structures are capturable by any army; the color of the property matches that of its owner (gray properties are neutral, and belong to no one). Infantry can capture cities in two turns usually, depending on their health. All property has 20 capture points by default, an infantry at full health (10/10) can take away 10 CP a day, and thus capture a property in two. Units with lower hit points take longer depending on their status (example: an infantry with 5 HP takes four days to capture). If the capturing unit is destroyed or moves off the city, the points are reset to 20.

The other types of man-made structures are bases. Bases are where units can be deployed for battle. The three types of bases are factories, ports, and airports. Factories manufacture ground troops, and ports and airports deploy sea- and air-based units, respectively. These, like other structures, may be captured by enemies; whoever owns the base may make units with it. If a unit of any army is standing on a base, new units cannot be built.

Missile Silos are special bases first seen in Advance Wars 2. An infantry that walks over a silo may launch a missile at any spot on the map. The missile damages units within a 5x5 diamond pattern. Because the missile will damage units of any side, they must be launched carefully to prevent friendly fire.

Two miscellaneous properties are COM Towers and Research labs. COM Towers are new to the Advance Wars series, armies gain a 10% attack increase for each COM Tower in their possession (this applies to all units). Research labs are only seen in the game's Campaign Mode; they are generally special objectives, but sometimes must be captured to finish the mission (as opposed to capturing the HQ).

Map effects
Fog of War is a term applied to maps that are covered in fog, preventing combatants from seeing the entire map. Vision is limited by individual units' lines of sight, which varies from unit to unit. Some terrain types, such as mountains, offer vision bonuses to units standing on them. Cities, factories, and headquarters all have a set line of sight visible to their respective owners. Fog of War is an optional setting in multiplayer battles and can be found in certain campaign maps.

Weather conditions can also affect gameplay. A map without Fog of War becomes foggy when it rains, snow causes units to consume more fuel as they move, and sandstorms decrease the attack range of indirect fire units such as artillery or rockets. In multiplayer games, weather can be set to change randomly, fixed to a specific condition, or turned off entirely (that is, the weather is always Clear).

Second fronts
In some Campaign, as well as multiplayer maps, the game intel normally shown on the top screen is replaced by an entirely different map, referred to as the second front. In most maps, the second front is simply another map. In some Campaign missions however, the second front is the sky, and is occupied only by planes (Fighters, Bombers, and Stealth Fighters; see Units). In both cases, units must first be sent from the first front to the second front; this is done by moving the unit of choice over a friendly base and using the "Send" command. The unit will then be sent to the second front; note that it cannot be moved back once transferred.

One Commanding Officer on each team takes control of one front. If, however, the second front battle ends before the first front does, the winning CO will rejoin his/her companion on the first front. The CO on the second front is, by default, computer-controlled, but can be set to employ various fighting tactics (i.e. "Assault," "Defense", as well as several others). Also, the CO can be controlled by the player himself. The COs on the second front perform actions right after every CO on the first front has taken his/her turn.

In some campaign missions, an objective on the second front must be completed to finish the mission. Early on in the Campaign mode for example, an airborne, bomb-dropping satellite must be destroyed on the second front by Fighters and Bombers. Destroying it allows infantry and vehicles on the ground to pass through the satellite's bomb-dropping area safely.

Units

There are a large variety of units in this game. These units range from infantry, to tanks, to air units and naval units. Each unit has a set amount of attack power, movement and fuel. Most units have two weapons; for instance, the small tank has a cannon which it uses as a primary weapon to attack most land-based units, while its secondary weapon, a machine gun, is used to attack infantries and mechs. Land-based units include the direct units, Infantry, mechs, small tanks, anti-air tanks, Medium Tanks, Neotanks and the newly introduced Megatanks. The rest of the land-based units are indirect units; each unit has its own range of attack and purpose. The artillery, which has less range and fire power than the rocket launcher, but can hit land units that are somewhat close, while the rocket launcher can only hit land units that are further away. The missile launcher has an identical range to the rocket launcher, but unlike the rocket launcher, the missile launcher can only hit airborne units. A new long-ranged unit introduced in Advance Wars: Dual Strike is the piperunner, a vehicle that can be deployed from bases and hit any unit, but whose movement is limited to pipelines and factories.

Miscellaneous land-based units include the APC, which can both carry one infantry/mech and refuel any unit's fuel and ammunition, and the recon, a lightly-armored jeep used for scouting, which carries a machine gun for offense. A new, special unit first introduced into Advance Wars: Dual Strike is the Oozium 238, a gelatinous blob of ooze which can only move one space per turn, but destroys any enemy it comes into contact with instantly (regardless of health). The Oozium can also traverse nearly any terrain, except seas and pipe lines.

Most of the game's naval units are multi-purpose. The Cruiser, for example, has anti-air gun turrets and anti-submarine weaponry (which can also be used, to limited effect, against other ships) and is able to house up to two helicopters (be they transport copters or a battle copters). Landers are simple transport boats, which can carry up to two land-based units (four, if the two units are two loaded APCs). Submarines are able to conceal themselves from enemy units underwater, unless an enemy unit is right next to the submarine. Submarines have an advantage over most naval units, with the exception of cruisers, and while submerged, burn more fuel than normal. The newly introduced Black Boat is capable of transporting two infantry/mechs, and can also recover one HP for any one allied unit next to it as well as resupply its fuel and ammunition, for a price. Another newly introduced unit, the Aircraft carrier, is a long-ranged unit that is able to damage airborne units as well as shelter any two air units. The Battleship has the most powerful attack of any sea unit, which is accompanied by a very long range.

Air units fall into two categories: helicopters (Transport copters for infantry transport, Battle copters for attacking air and ground units) and aircraft (Fighter planes and Bombers). New airborne units to the series include the Stealth fighter, along with the Black Bomb, a missile that can be manualy guided and detonated.

Most units have specific strengths and weaknesses, as well as units they can fight and those that they have a disadvantage against. This isn't entirely black and white however; a unit can be strong and weak against a unit. For example, the Missile launcher can destroy a Bomber plane in one hit, but if a Bomber gets close to the Missile launcher it can also destroy it instantly by dropping bombs on it. Not all units are for attacking, such as the APC; as it is purely for the transportation of infantry, it has no weapons, and is also a prime target due to its frailness. Units such as APCs, Transport copters, and indirect units such as the Artillery cannon and Missile launchers, which can not attack directly, generally have escorts to keep them safe from enemy fire.

Unit commands
COs assign commands to units after they've moved (or, they can stay where they are to be given an order). The following is a list of unit commands.
  • Wait - all units can wait, which means to simply do nothing.
  • Fire - most units, with the exception of transports, can attack opposing units with the fire command; units with indirect attacks cannot move and fire in one turn.
  • Join - two units (of the same type) with low HP (health) can combine into one unit, bearing the two units' combined HP, fuel/rations and ammunition (if joined HP exeeds 10, the commanding CO will gain some money).
  • Capture - Infantry and Mechs use the capture command to take control of neutral or enemy buildings.
  • Load - units that move onto compatible transports use the load command to enter the transport.
  • Drop - the transport may later unload the unit onto an adjacent space using drop.
  • Supply - used by APCs to restock adjacent units' fuel and ammunition
  • Repair - used by Black Boats to repair a nearby unit (generally one hit point per turn).
  • Dive/Rise - used by Submarines to dive underwater and rise back up again. Being underwater uses extra fuel.
  • Hide/Appear - used by Stealth Fighters to cloak (and uncloak) themselves. Being cloaked uses extra fuel.
  • Send - on maps with two fronts, the Send command is used to transport units from the primary to the secondary front. (Note: Units on the second front cannot be sent back, and any unit on second front will be lost at the end of battle, whether it is victory or defeat.)

Commanding Officers

Armies are lead by Commanding Officers (COs) who control units. A CO provides units with special advantages and/or disadvantages, such as extra firepower or a longer unit range. COs have a Power Meter which fills up by defeating enemy units, winning the second front, or when on the receiving end of a brutal offensive attack. When full, a CO can unleash his or her CO Power, which gives a temporary positive effect to friendly units or delivers a wide-spread attack on the enemy. Super CO Powers take longer to charge, but have better power boosts or more devastating attacks. In the Campaign mode, COs gain ranks depending on how well they perform a mission. When COs reach certain levels, they can equip skills such as extra firepower for their units or increased vision in Fog of War.

A new feature includes an experience system. As COs fight and win battles they receive experience that improves their abilities, allowing them to eventually use special skills. Every 1000 experience points, the CO being used is promoted (levels up) and he or she can use another ability (up to four) and another line of skills is unlocked up to rank nine. Skills vary in type and benefit - some improve attack or defense, others increase the abilities of units and terrain types, some boost partner CO abilities when using more than one, while others affect the player's money flow. Each CO can eventually use up to four skills at once, allowing for a large amount of customization. Once a CO reaches rank 10, the player can opt to have them in their civilian clothing as opposed to their uniform. It's also mentionable that while the skills used in the four slots can be changed around as many times as needed, they cannot be changed during a given mission.

New Commanding Officers
Nearly every Commanding Officer from the previous Advance Wars titles is featured in Dual Strike. The new COs are detailed below.

Orange Star
Advance Wars: Dual Strike's Dual Strike#Campaign mode centers around two COs new to the Orange Star army: Rachel and Jake. Rachel has balanced units (no statistical bonuses or losses). Her units are repaired by 3HP as opposed to the standard 2HP, though she must still pay extra for a 3HP repair. Her standard CO Power, Lucky Lass, increases her luck (the chances of a random increase in firepower during an attack), and her Super CO Power, Covering Fire, launches three missiles at enemy units. The missiles deal 3HP damage to units within three spaces of the blast. Jake is a new CO being trained by Rachel; his units have increased firepower while fighting on plains (grassy terrain). His CO Power, Beat Down, increases his offensive strength on plains further, gives indirect vehicle units like Artillery cannons an extended range of fire (+1 space) while on plains, and all mechanical (tank, artillery, etc) units a +1 movement bonus. His Super CO Power, Block Rock, increases his attack bonus on plains even more, and as well as giving indirect vehicles +1 range and increasing the movement of all vehicle units by 2.

Blue Moon
One new Commanding Officer joins the Blue Moon army, Sasha. Sasha receives an extra 100G from allied properties every turn, and can decrease her opponent's CO Power gauge using Market Crash, her CO Power, preventing opponents from using their own powers. The amount of power subtracted from the opponent's meter depends on how much money Sasha has at the time of use. Sasha's Super CO Power is War Bonds, which gives her an amount of money equal to half of the total monetary value of damage she deals to her enemies for the power's duration.

Green Earth
Green Earth also introduces one new CO, Javier. His units have a higher defense against indirect units, and gains a defensive bonus from Com Towers, in addition to the default offensive bonus. His CO and SCO Powers, Tower Shield and Tower of Power (respectively), increase his indirect defense and increase the offensive effects of com towers. Tower Shield doubles the effect of Com Towers while providing extra defense against indirect attacks, while Tower of Power triples the Com Tower bonus and provides even more defense against indirect attacks, making Javier's units nearly immune to them.

Yellow Comet
Grimm joins the Yellow Comet army in Advance Wars: Dual Strike. He has very high attack power, but low defense similar to Advance Wars' Campaign Sturm. His two CO Powers, Knuckleduster and Haymaker, increase his attack power greatly as well as slighty increasing his defense.

Black Hole
Four Commanding Officers join forces to reunite the Black Hole army. Jugger deals a random amount of damage to enemy units, which may be increased or decreased from the standard. His CO and SCO powers Overclock and System Crash (respectively) make this increase or decrease even more dramatic, thus drastically increasing or lowering his attack power. Koal (also known as Chakka in the Japanese version and Zak in the European version) has increased offensive abilities on paved roads. His CO Power Forced March increases his road power further, and gives all of his units +1 to their movement ranges. His Super CO Power, Trail of Woe, also increases road power and gives units +2 to their movement ranges. Kindle (also known as Candle in the Japanese version and Candy in the European version) obtains extra firepower for units attacking or defending from man-made terrain (cities, factories, ports, airports, and towers); her CO Power Urban Blight increases these bonuses, and also inflicts 3 HP of damage to any enemy stationed on said man-made terrain. Kindle's SCO Power, High Society, increases urban strength to very high levels, and increases the firepower of all units (3% times the number of owned properties). Von Bolt simply has increased offensive and defensive powers. He has no standard CO Power; his Super CO Power, Ex Machina, deals 3HP of damage in a 3x3 diamond pattern. Any units hit by this attack cannot be commanded for one full turn.

Tagging
A new feature to the Advance Wars series is called Tagging, which allows two COs to be on the same team, with one CO acting at a time. This allows two strategically picked COs to cover each others weaknesses. For example, the Blue Moon CO, Colin, purchases units with a 20% discount, but his units lose 10% of their fighting strength. If paired with a CO with strong combat skills, the player can gain the benefit of cheap unit production without taking a loss in combat ability by swapping in the second CO before attacking. When both COs fill their Meters completely, they can Tag, which puts in both of their Super CO Powers in effect, and lets the player take two consecutive turns. This is also called a Dual Strike.

The game has a way of varying Tag Powers, called Tag Affinity. This is basically a way of showing how compatible two COs are. If two COs have a tag affinity, their power will increase during the Dual Strike. An example of this is the two main COs of the game, Jake and Rachel, who have a Tag Affinity of 2 stars, each star granting them an extra 10% of power for a total of 20%. The added power is shown as the Tag option is selected. Some extra small Tag Affinities are hidden, such as Jake and Sasha, who have an extra 5% power. Paired COs with a Tag Affinity that is shown on their intel screen by a star will also have a special Dual Strike move name such as, again, Jake and Rachel who have the Tag name "Orange Crush".

Game modes

Advance Wars: Dual Strike has a variety of Gameplay modes and extra features; not all are available from the start, some must be unlocked. In addition to the main Campaign mode, there are a number of distinct missions in the War Room mode; several forms of multiplayer are also available, in the forms of both turn-based battling and a new minigame that plays out in real-time called Combat mode. Also included are a number of customizational features, as well as a map design mode.

Campaign mode

The Campaign mode is the main part of the game. Campaign mode takes place in Omega Land, where the Black Hole army has been resurrected by a new set of COs. The story tells of how Orange Star, Blue Moon, Green Earth, and Yellow Comet, who have joined together to create the Allied Nations, defeat the Black Hole army for the third time (since the first Advance Wars).

The missions in Campaign mode are objective-based, with most requiring the player to capture an enemy headquarters. After each mission, the player is rewarded with a Rank, from C (lowest) to S (highest). The ranks are based on three categories: Power, Technique, and Speed. Power is determined by the number of enemy units destroyed in one turn, Technique by how many of the players units are destroyed, and Speed by how fast the mission is completed. Technique points are decided by calculating a percentage of how many units built were lost; thus, by building many units before the end of a mission, this percentage of survived units can be skewed upward slightly. All three categories are rated on a scale from 0-100, and added together to form a numerical ranking from 0-300 in addition to their letter ranking.

Also earned are points, which can be used to purchase things in the Battle Maps mode. The number of points earned is equal to the numerical rank earned post-mission, plus any bonus points awarded by destroying certain enemies. In addition to points, the COs that participated in the mission earn experience points (also equal to post-mission rank). EXP can eventually be used to unlock Skills, which are upgrades for COs, ranging from statistical bonuses, to special side effects such as decreasing the deployment price of units. Up to four skills may be equipped by a given CO at a time.

In total, there are 28 missions. Hard Campaign can be unlocked as well, which is (naturally) a more difficult version of the standard campaign. All unlocked COs can be used in Hard Campaign, including those unavailable in Normal Campaign. Up to three save files can be kept for Campaign Mode.

Story

The Black Hole Army has returned, this time under a new commander, Von Bolt. He is accompanied by his Bolt Guard, Koal, Jugger, and Kindle, along with Hawke and Lash from the original Black Hole Army. Using Lash's new Black Obelisks, Von Bolt is draining Omega Land of its energy to give him eternal life. However, Hawke notices the energy draining (which also is turning Omega Land into a desert) and questions its use. After uncovering Von Bolt's plot, Von Bolt betrays him, attempting to swarm him and Lash with Oozium 238, a glob that consumes anything it touches. After the Allied Nations COs save Hawke and Lash, they begin to turn the tide against the Black Hole Army. Both Hawke and Lash provide valuable intelligence of the Black Hole weaponry and their plans for Omega Land. With this information, the Allied Nations slowly corner the Black Hole Army, leading to a last mission in the middle of the Crimson Sea. After destroying the last Black Obelisk, Hawke(or Jake)destroys Von Bolt's life support chair, supposedly killing both of them in the process. With the Black Obelisks gone, Omega Land begins returning to normal. Kindle rallies the remaining Black Hole forces and escapes. Kindle is interested in more shopping, and wonders if Hawke is still alive, ready to build another army.

Combat mode

Combat mode is a new feature in the Advance Wars series, meant to be a multiplayer game. Instead of taking turns with various units, players engage each other in real time, controlling four different units (Mech, Recon, Tank, and Artillery), each with a particular strength and weakness. The goal of the game is to capture the opponent's HQ or defeat all enemies, as in the classic combat mode. The four available units are graded on four different categories: firepower, rate of fire, movement speed, and capture speed. Their respective strengths and weaknesses resemble those of the units in the main game.

In-game maps also resemble Advance Wars maps. Each team starts with an HQ and possibly several cities. All units can be moved in eight directions with the D-Pad and ordered to fire their weapon using the touch screen or the face buttons (A, B, X, or Y). The projectiles are small bullets that damage enemies on impact, but also disappear after several seconds. The Artillery has a special kind of ammunition, which explodes shortly after being fired, causing large amounts of splash damage to nearby enemies.

Terrain from the main Advance Wars modes, including plains, roads, rivers, forests, and mountains, are in each of the game's maps. Each unit has its own unique movement patterns (ie Mechs can traverse mountains and rivers; Artillery cross forest terrain slower than Recons). Unlike the main game, however, Mountains can be destroyed to clear a path. Cities, factories, and Headquarters are also on each map. They don't offer money of any sort, but a unit which stands on its own property will slowly be healed. Also, if a factory is captured, the player who did so will receive an extra unit of the type they captured the property with.

Unit Types

  • Mech: Cost: 1000 G; Attack: 2; Rapid: 2; Move: 1; Capture: 3
  • Recon: Cost: 3000 G; Attack: 1; Rapid: 3; Move: 3; Capture: 2
  • Tank: Cost: 5000 G; Attack: 2; Rapid: 2; Move: 2; Capture: 1
  • Artillery: Cost: 6000 G; Attack: 3; Rapid: 1; Move: 1; Capture: 1

There are also power-ups, usually found in mountains or from dead units, which give units temporary speed, power, or defense boosts. As in the main game, when a CO fills all of their CO Power stars by killing enemy units or losing units of their own, a CO can use a CO Power. These last temporarily, and range from strength boosts to invincibility to an increased capture speed. Generally the CO's power in Combat Mode relates to their turn-based counterpart's CO Power.

In single player, there are three levels of difficulty: Normal, Hard, and Brutal (Hard and Brutal must be unlocked first). Enemies on higher difficulty levels may be more plentiful, or use smarter tactics. In each mode, the player is taken through six levels, each on a different map against a different CO. Beforehand, 20,000 G may be spent on as many of any of the four units as possible; although there is a limit of 20 units (which would allow for twenty Mech Infantry at most). The units bought must last through all six levels, as extra units can not normally be acquired (except when factories are captured). The enemy CO will have many units on the field at once, while the player only gets to use one at a time. Most enemy units will stand in separate groups, idle, at the start of each round; they then come alive when a player-controlled unit approaches them.

In multiplayer, this mode can include up to eight players, with up to four competing teams (with a maximum of two people per team). Computer-controlled units, which take on a grey color, may also be added into a match. These units will fire at anyone, and do not have an HQ (but can capture them as well as cities). Combat mode is playable between players that own the game, and demo recipients. The demo in Advance Wars: Dual Strike can be sent wirelessly to other DS units. The demo contains Combat mode on four difficulties, an instruction page outlining how the game works, and the multiplayer. The demo remains on the DS until the system is turned off.

War Room

A large number of preset missions outside the main story in Campaign Mode occupy War Room mode. Each mission takes place on a map against one or more enemy COs; the player may choose the COs he will use in the battle (as long as he or she has been unlocked). Generally, these maps have no predeployed units, but on occasion, there can be. Ranks are also given at the end of a War Room mission, as in the Campaign. Some War Room maps must be unlocked first. If a mission is completed, a ranking system similar to that of Campaign Mode's is used: the player is ranked on Speed, Power and Technique. Speed is how quickly the mission was cleared (faster is better), Power is how many enemy units were eliminated in one turn (more is better), and Technique is how many friendly units were lost (less is better). The three categories are weighed equally, each contributing to a third of the final score, which is designated by a letter; C being the worst, S being the best (the rankings are C, B, A, and S). Any map can be replayed at a later time, to aim for a higher score.

Multiplayer

In addition to the real-time minigame Combat mode, there is another type of multiplayer, which is like the normal turn-based Advance Wars game. The multiplayer comes in two forms: Versus and Link mode. In Versus mode, only one DS system is used, which every participant in the game uses. One person will take his/her turn, then pass the system to the next person who's turn it is. Link mode is the same game as Versus mode gameplay-wise, but multiple consoles are used; one for each person. Two to eight people can participate in wireless multiplayer games; every DS owner must also have a copy of Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Link and Versus mode have a variety of settings that can be changed pre-battle. These include weather conditions (clear, rain, snow, sandstorm, random); the option to enable or disable Fog of War; how much money each player is assigned at the beginning of the match; the amount of funds given to a player at the start of each of his turns (number of man-made structures x n, n being said amount), among others.

Other modes

There are three types of Survival missions: Money, Turn, and Time. Money Survival missions allot the player a limited amount of funds with which to build new units; in Turn, a given mission must be completed within a certain number of turns; in Time mode, a real-time clock is shown, requiring the player to think quickly and command units quickly. The player is ranked after the mission depending on the mission type, and how well they completed it: how many turns were taken in Turns, how much money was spent in Money, or how much real time was taken to clear the mission in Time. The History screen shows a large number of statistics, such as unit types built and lost, total number of captured cities, total cumulated points, among other things. Medals are awarded for reaching preset milestones in the game (e.g. accumulate 10 hours of playing time to win a medal). The unlockable Sound Room is where music from the game may be listened to. The Gallery contains CG pictures from the Campaign cutscenes as well as individual CO wallpapers. The Design Room contains three items: Map, CO, and Wallpaper. In Map design, custom maps can be built for use in multiplayer matches; CO customise has an unlockable set of palette swaps and unlockable costumes for each Commanding Officer; Wallpaper contains a set of unlockable wallpaper, which is applied to the background of most in-game menus.

Review ratings

Awards

  • IGN: Editors' Choice Award
  • GameSpot: Editors' Choice Award

See also

References

External links

Official

Unofficial

2005 computer and video games | Nintendo DS games | Nintendo Wars

Advance Wars : Double offensive | Advance Wars: Dual Strike

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Advance Wars: Dual Strike".

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