Introduction
Basic information
Developer: Wayforward
Full name: Advance Wars 2 Re-boot Camp
Release date: 2023
Released on: Nintendo
Cross play: No
Genre: Turn-based strategy
Additional information: Advance Wars 1 and 2 Re-boot Camp come on the same cartridge and cannot be bought separately. This is a remake and I will not use the full name throughout the review.
Initial thoughts
I enjoyed the remake of Advance Wars 1 a lot, the way you have three main characters to choose from, battling against all kinds of opponents. It allowed for a lot of freedom while still giving you a great experience. Now comes the kicker, I was not sure if it was Advance Wars 2 or 3 I loved, and the other I hated. There was only one way to find out, by playing this game. Was this game I loved, or was it the one I hated as a kid?
Story and setting
Plot overview
The story starts in a different country, this place is called Macro Land, and for some reason, it has different rules in battle compared to another country. Yeah, I am not sure how this works either. In the previous game, the Black Hole army was deterred but Sturm managed to escape, and he is now planning a full on assault. It is your task to take command and face him in battle.
World building and immersion
Here is where things go wrong, Advance Wars 2 starts out great, it has you taking control of the Orange Star Co’s again. But after a few missions, it switches to the Blue Moon nation, and you will have to take control of their Co’s. There is no room for selecting your favorite character anymore. This completely breaks the awesome immersion that Advance Wars 1 created by using the same team throughout the whole game.
Character development
While the character development is good for the Orange Star army, it breaks that off to check on the other characters by excluding them from the story. This is indeed the Advance Wars I disliked for multiple reason. You need to play with other Co’s, while this is not bad, I see how they could have done this a lot better while keeping the character development steady and progressive.
Emotional impact
There is not much emotional impact since you keep switching the view from which the conflict takes place. When you are just getting invested into a character, it switches to another character without adding the previous character. This gets confusing and annoying very early in Advance Wars 2.
Rating for story and setting
I have visited multiple aspects of the story and after some thought and objective thinking, I rated the story and setting with a 5.5
Everything they did right in Advance Wars 1, they did wrong in Advance Wars 2.
Gameplay and mechanics
Core gameplay mechanics
The core gameplay mechanics are almost the same as in the Advance Wars 1 remake. You will have battles to fight that you can win by destroying the enemy units or capturing their headquarters. However, Advance Wars 2 shakes up some core gameplay mechanics that you have used and mastered in Advance Wars 1. For example, the CO powers now have a super variant which is ridiculously overpowered, this also counts for your opponents.
In Advance Wars 1, you could choose between three of the Orange Star army Co’s, this time around you are forced to use whatever character they give you. This is extremely annoying for a few good reasons, which I will dive into in the next section. While Advance Wars 1 loved to cuddle you with a few units as you started out, Advance Wars 2 will only give you some bases. While this is fine on some levels, it also means every battle will play out nearly the same.
There are some other factors, like new units that can be unlocked by raiding secret labs, cannons that you need to disable. Or winning a battle by disabling a factory that breaks game rules. When an opponent spawns up to three units from a factory, they may move and attack that same turn. This is not a fair gameplay mechanic.
Difficulty and balance
Boy, do I have something to say about difficulty and balance! Whereas the Advance Wars 1 remake loved to challenge you, it felt fair in each battle. In Advance Wars 2, you get forced to use a certain CO, yes, this means you get stuck with a CO that might be horrible for a battle. Or you start with one base while the opponent has a whole army ready to crush you. You have a few infantry units, a small tank, while the opponent has bombers, neon tanks, medium tanks, recon units and more. Yeah, not fair at all, you can win with many attempts, since this certain level has fog of war, but this is only one of the unfair levels.
Pacing of the game
The pacing of Advance Wars 1 remake was great, it had you travelling through the nations, getting more intel on what is going on. Advance Wars 2 throws you in the mix, switches point of view many times, does not follow up on previous characters and has you all over the place. This is very annoying and makes the pacing stutter all over the place.
Innovation and uniqueness
Did Advance Wars 2 innovate? Yes, it offered new units, new Co’s, and some new battle mechanics. While the story may suffer and the gameplay as well, if you were to pick the rules of Advance Wars 2 rules for a fair battle, it would do well. Sadly for the main story I am now rating, it means that simple was better compared to adding more stuff to the game. This is a remake, they are allowed to change stuff, innovate, fix things that were wrong with the original.
Controls and user interface
I used the Nintendo Switch pro controller and the controls were a tad complicated. But after a few battles, you will know the most important buttons. For example, checking how far and opponent can walk or shoot. Or for example, looking up what units the CO that is forced upon you is good at. There is nothing majorly wrong with the user interface, and it allows for smooth transitions between being in a battle and exploring the world map.
Microtransactions
Microtransactions available: No
Rating
After combing through many of the mechanics, the pacing and other factors of this game, I rated the gameplay and mechanics with a 5.0.
The biggest problem is the pacing, the forced switching of CO’s, how many of the battles are going to play out the same with the same start-up. This game is also unbalanced and unfair.
Graphics and art style
Quality of graphics and art direction
The graphics are much better compared to the original game. It adapts the same style as in Advance Wars 1, except for the fantastic anime cutscenes. There are different maps this time around, along with new items like factories, missiles to launch, cannons that will attack you and more. The new units are great, but, if you unlock them with the Orange Star Army, you cannot use them with the Blue Moon army, which makes this game one big pile of messed up graphical assets.
Technical performances
While playing this game, I did not encounter any big frame drops or technical glitches. All in all, this game is very stable in the technical department.
Environment and design uniqueness
Most of the maps do look the same, there is not much variety. This game does have some unique designs going on with the factory and their pipelines. But all in all, it looks too much like Advance Wars 1. I dislike how you are forced to use a CO and how that affects what unit design you will get.
Rating
It took me some time to give the graphics and art style an objective rating. There are many things to consider, but ultimately, I rated this section with a 5.0.
While most of the units and maps look very good, there are too many repetitive battles going on. Luckily, this game has no technical problems!
Sound and music
Music score and how it contributed to the game
The music in this game is pretty intense and invigorates the battles you are having with the Black Hole army. Many of the battles do have different soundtracks and I enjoyed them. This is something that Advance Wars 2 did right!
Sound effects quality
There are many sound effects as you move your troops over land, water, and air. Do battles with your opponent and crush them as you move to their headquarters! The sound effects remain effective and do not get bad after hearing them countless times. It is time to crush them with your tanks!
Voice Acting
This is something I was bothered by immensely, there is indeed voice acting, but for some reason, most of the voice acting is only part of the sentence. Not only that, the text and the voice acting do not match most of the time. Besides being annoyed by the partly done voice acting, the voices do fit the characters but some of them sound a bit hollow. The switching of the point of view does not help with developing the characters.
Rating
After a lot of consideration, I rated the sound and music section with a 6.5.
While I would have loved to give this game a better rating, the voice acting dragged down the rating by quite a lot!
Multiplayer components
Online gameplay experience
While you can connect with others to battle if they are on your friend list, this is not something I am going to rate. You can also play locally.
Replayability
Game Length and content volume
The game is not very long, and you can easily cruise through the main campaign, that is if you can beat some of the unfair missions. If you want to expand your gameplay time, you might play on a harder difficulty. Expect to play this game for about twenty hours, unless you have inside knowledge of this game. Then you might be able to cut it in half!
Extra Content
This game had been delayed for a long time before it finally released, which might explain the voice acting. I am not convinced that DLC or major updates will happen. As of writing this review, this game sold about 700k units, which is a lot for this niche genre. If we do receive new content, it will most likely be a reboot of Days of ruin and Dual Strike.
Replay value
There is actually quite some replay value here if you want to get each mission to an S rank. There are also random battles to enjoy if that floats your boat! Thus, there is a lot to do in this game, considering this was originally a GBA game, that is saying a lot!
Rating
After thoughtful consideration, I decided to rate the replayability of Advance Wars 2 with an 8.
There are many battles in stock for you if you are interested!
Suggestions and comparisons
Suggestions and feedback
There are some major issues I would like to have changed for Advance Wars 2. For example, it would have been great if you beat a mission, you could choose that CO for every next mission. This way you would get plenty of playable characters, and you can pick a different play style for every battle or what is needed. I was really bummed out I could not keep playing as the Orange Star Army.
Another suggestion is adding clear indicators on how to unlock the new secret units. To stay on the subject of the Black Hole army, the factories should not be able to pump out units and act on the same turn. I am also not allowed to build a unit and move right away, why would they be able to do that? That is just an unfair gameplay mechanic.
Comparisons
Of course, I have not found many of these games since strategical games like this are very niche and not many people play games like this. It has been a long time since a new Wars game has been released. Let alone a new entry, I was psyched to see these remakes, now I just need a remake of the other parts. It is easiest to compare it to Advance Wars 1, it also got a remake and follows the same trend. Advance Wars 1 was simpler, and that simplicity also made it a better game.
Personal experiences and anecdotes
As soon as I realized this was the Wars game, I did not like, I feared that one mission. The unfair mission where you start with nothing and the enemy with a whole army. I remembered how long it took me to beat. Luckily, I also remembered some fun missions, like the first factory mission!
Rating
Taking in all the personal experiences with Advance Wars 2, I give this game a personal rating of 6.5.
I had hoped this would be the other Advance Wars!
Last words
Pros
- Fans of the original Advance Wars will appreciate the core gameplay mechanics, which remain largely unchanged and offer a nostalgic experience
- The game runs smoothly without major technical issues, ensuring a seamless gaming experience
- The soundtrack enhances the gaming experience with intense music that complements the battles against the Black Hole army
- With multiple missions to achieve S ranks on and random battles to enjoy, there's plenty of replay value, extending the longevity of the game
Cons
- The narrative suffers from frequent switches in perspective and lack of character development, causing confusion and hindering emotional engagement
- Some missions feature unfair starting conditions, such as being forced to use a certain CO or starting with limited resources compared to the opponent, leading to frustration and difficulty spikes
- Players are restricted to using predetermined COs for each mission, limiting strategic flexibility and potentially dampening the enjoyment for those who prefer specific characters
- Many battles feel repetitive due to similar map designs and lack of variety, detracting from the overall experience and making progression less engaging
- Partial voice acting and discrepancies between voiceovers and text dialogue detract from the immersion and quality of the storytelling.
- The game lacks clear indicators on how to unlock secret units, potentially leading to frustration and confusion for players seeking to unlock all content
All in all, this can be a fun game if you don’t mind some of the unbalanced battles. You can still win all of them, you just have to be very smart. This is a very niche genre, but despite the lower rating compared to Advance Wars 1, you can still enjoy this game a lot!
Final Rating
6
Please let me know what you think of Advance Wars 2 Re-boot Camp in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
If you liked reading this review, maybe you would like to share this review with your friends.
Not my cup of tea
I don’t think I’d enjoy playing that genre of game to be fair. I like the new style of review though, it works much better and is easier to digest in separate distinct sections.
I am glad you liked the review, and that is what they are for, so you don’t waste your cash on games you will not like otherwise!
Looks like fun despite all the cons.
I’m in love with the characters expressiveness and personality, it’s great to see them all come to life.
It is indeed amazing!
great memories with this game
Good review! Game looks fun.
It was indeed fun, but I expected more out of the sequel.
not for me but looks ok
Your reviews are getting more and more detailed. Also I like the new layout. The game sounds nice and casual. I’ll take a deeper Look.
I am glad you like the new style, I think you would enjoy the first game in this series!
not terrible, maybe not great but it is interesting game, i don’t have this platform anyway but thx for review.
I input the game’s name with “:” and did not get the points on the screenshot challenge 🙁