They’re powerful against a range of units and can take a beating in return, but crumble against larger tanks and long-range artillery and missile units. The mechs are slightly more powerful infantry, able to deal solid damage to vehicles, with the tradeoff of having less movement range. But they’re versatile, able to be transported by APCs, and can spend turns to capture neutral or enemy cities and bases. Infantry, for example, are understandably weak compared to vehicles. Each unit type has its own strengths and weaknesses, so certainly don’t expect to steamroll the competition with a couple of tanks and copters. And each take turns to position their units around the map, with opportunities to attack if you’re within range of enemy units. As it stands, though, Re-Boot Camp is a lackluster imitation of its source material.Advance Wars pits two (sometimes three or four on the harder maps) armies against each other. I sincerely hope the remake can receive some impactful performance patches, as there’s certainly much fun to be had in its calculated approach to strategy. Throw in longer load times and we have an abject downgrade to what Intelligent Systems was able to achieve all those years ago.Īdvance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp is distinctly lacking some much-needed polish. That makes long-term strategizing far less satisfying than its two-decade-old predecessors, where performance was much smoother.Īs a result, transitions from the map screen to combat feel less natural. Navigation feels staggered and sometimes unresponsive. That’s particularly aggravating when selecting units on the games’ larger maps. The game has an unlocked, inconsistent framerate that looks to jump anywhere between 30-60fps during gameplay. But as with Bayonetta 3, this remake also suffers from frustrating performance issues. Overall, Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp would’ve been an easy recommendation despite its questionable visual overhaul. The remixed soundtrack is also superb, and it’s been a real treat hearing Advance Wars’ iconic tunes given a modern sheen. There are some lovely 2D character portraits, animation and decent voiceover work. Thankfully it’s not a complete disaster in terms of presentation. That instantly recognizable style could’ve worked wonders for Advance Wars. WayForward has put together some of the best 2D visuals in recent memory with series like Shantae, River City Girls and Mighty Switch Force. It’s a rather strange choice considering Re-Boot Camp’s primary developer. It just doesn’t translate well to 3D, and the busier maps turn into a near-illegible visual soup. The original GBA games had a sprite-based cartoonish aesthetic, which both looked charming and made units more distinguishable. WayForward’s given maps and units a 3D makeover, but they have an unnatural, plastic sheen that clashes with the various biomes you’ll be fighting in. If you’ve had no prior experience with the Advance Wars series, you’d be forgiven for looking at screenshots of this remake and thinking it’s primarily aimed at small children. The remake never penalizes or shames you for opting into the casual mode, and if you’re breezing through stages, you can switch back to classic difficulty from the campaign map. It’s definitely the setting I’d recommend for players getting boots on the ground for the first time. Here, WayForward has done a fine job of dialing back on the madness while still encouraging you to utilize your army to the fullest. The new casual difficulty setting makes enemy AI more surmountable, but it is by no means a cakewalk. That’s something I felt even in the early stages of the game where I misjudged the placement of an enemy missile unit, which then destroyed one of my tanks, causing a domino effect of misfortune that handed the win to the boisterously smug enemy C.O. It’s particularly refreshing if you’ve found sister strategy series Fire Emblem’s recent entries to err on the easier side. I also love the commitment to keeping the series’ nauseating difficulty intact. The remake never penalizes or shames you for opting into the casual mode
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |