Spoils of War
The story begins in a post-apocalyptic world where meteors have wiped out most of the world’s population. The main protagonist of the story, Will, is discovered and saved by a small faction of troops known as Brenner’s Wolves. From this point on, Will begins to learn that the war between the nations of Rubinelle and Lazuria is still in play even after the desolation of the meteors. Brenner’s Wolves must find a way to rescue any survivors while ending a war that has lasted for decades.
If you aren’t caught up on the basics of Advance Wars it would be far too difficult to run through everything from the basics (you’ll have to look elsewhere for this info). However, the changes/improvements may shed some light on the game’s actual format. First off, CO powers and effects are much less of an emphasis in Days of Ruin than in the previous two installments to the series. This is one improvement that I am quite happy with as in previous games, the CO powers could potentially sway the battle in as little as one turn (Dual Strike powers in Advance Wars: D.S. were the ultimate way to change the battle flow).
In Days of Ruin, CO Powers cannot even be used until late in the campaign and CO effects (passive effects that existed in the previous games) have been replaced with CO zones. CO zones only exist around a unit with a CO inside (you can only have one of these at a time and they cost 1.5 times the price of the actual unit). These zones increase as you attack units within the zone and your CO meter also increases as units are expended in this zone. This format is much more strategic than the previous format where CO meters increased regardless of the location where you attack your enemy.
Another major improvement in the format of Days of Ruin compared to previous Advance Wars titles is the addition/exclusion of units and recalculation of every unit’s price, strength, mobility and skills. Units such as the neotank, black bomb, black boat, piperunner, and stealth bomber have been omitted from the game while units such as the duster (a highly cost effective yet weaker plane), sea plane (highly effective yet difficult to produce), bike (high mobility infantry), anti-tank (indirect unit that can retaliate and is effective against all tanks), and gun boat (highly mobile sea transport) have been added to the game. Units such as the Megatank and Med Tank have much lower prices but are less effective overall while units such as infantry are more expensive and mechs are less expensive. Units can also gain up to 3 levels, one for every enemy they destroy, which make them stronger overall on attack.
The final gameplay improvement (in my opinion) in Days of Ruin is the inclusion of online multiplayer. Intelligent Systems has allowed players to save up to 50 maps on their game cartridge (create your own or trade with other players online) and you can even play matches online. This opens up the game for players who want to test their mettle against others around the world and it also allows friends over great distances to play. The only problem with online multiplayer is that a typical match takes far too long than the amount of time one person would want to spend playing the game (in hot seat multiplayer, matches sometimes took several hours to play and this would be far too lengthy of an experience for players to endure in one online sitting).