Boy, has this been a long time coming. After previously slated for an early 2022 launch and then receiving a delay for releasing a game called Advance Wars, Nintendo decided now was the perfect opportunity to get the frankly frustratingly over-punctuated title Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re -Boot Camp comes to fans later this April. While you’ll have to wait until April 21st to start your strategic military campaign, I’m already flipping through the story, and while it’s undeniably charming, there’s no denying that Father Time isn’t the series’ kindest.
I say this because Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp feels like a game from 20 years ago. Admittedly, this is a remake of a 20 year old game, but when you compare what EA Motive and Capcom have done recently with Dead Space and Resident Evil 4 (which themselves are 15-20 years old history), the difference in remake quality is night and day.
The concept of the story requires you to complete different levels on the campaign map, where you have to overcome different scenarios, defeat different commanders, use different unit types, and fight on various terrain types, but all of these in practice It all feels very dated. The game mechanics are very crude, without much depth, and it feels like Advance Wars’ solution is to throw more enemy units at you. There’s no real skill curve, just how best to burn the loss of your own troops until the enemy AI figures out how to do the same, which admittedly doesn’t usually do because the AI is pretty dumb and seems to have a strategic mind: Blow up everything – that is, they’ll do whatever it takes to reduce your troops to ashes, and don’t even think about capturing your base.
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While the AI and combat suite don’t really grab me after 16 levels (which seems to be about half the way through the first game’s campaign), I’ll applaud the different unit types and how they interact with each other. Advance Wars is at its best when you have a mix of ground, airborne and naval units on the battlefield, as this is where you can really start pitting against each other to set up some serious tactical action. Let scouts clear the fog of war while medium tanks occupy bridges, destroyers fire from the sea, attack helicopters shoot down enemy artillery, and submarines destroy enemy landing craft to protect your flanks. When it’s running at its best, it flows nicely. Enemies will try to do some of the same, but they’re always on the back foot when you’re always going first, making it hard to lure you in with smart strategic decisions.
However, the problem isn’t the variety of troops, it’s the way the level design works that you’re either stuck in an extremely long, choke point stalemate with seemingly no end in sight (since the AI refuses to win any other way, destroying your entire army, which is usually impossible since barracks, docks and airfields can generate new troop units), or the best way to win is to lose, remember enemy formations and positions, then be ruthless when restarting the level Crack down on AI. It’s far from engaging gameplay, but given the really steady pace, you’ll have to find a way to get ahead, or you might find yourself locked into one level for half an hour at a time.
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There are ways to increase the pace of the game, including a dreaded integrated fast-forward button, but that doesn’t change the fact that you have to sit and watch the dialogue, cutscenes, attacks, etc. when the commanders use their special abilities Wait, that means a good portion of the Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp experience doesn’t see you do anything. Also, the fact that there’s no back button to reset the action if you accidentally put the device in the wrong place is definitely an irony. The best the game offers is the option to reset the entire round, which isn’t a solution anyone would ask for.
While I can’t really tell you much about the plot, since Advance Wars barely exists outside of individual levels, I will say that the characters seem to be well-created and full of personality. Their lighthearted and cute way of fighting might not be the best looks out there today, but once you get in touch with them, you do recognize the cast because each one stands out and feels unique.
Likewise, the graphics and art style are a big plus, mixing 3D combat unit models and level designs to match 2D character models and animations. It’s a delightful combination that works effortlessly.
But none of that changes the fact that, so far, Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp hasn’t exactly blown my mind. It’s not the most compelling or engaging strategy experience I’ve played, and unless there’s a major leap in quality over the rest of the first game’s campaign or the second game, I think it’s going to be a difficult game to really engage and entertain A game for many except hardcore fans of the original game from the early 2000s.