Afternoons Enhanced by ‘Days of Ruin’

We at Tech-Gaming remember Wargames. Predating the 1980’s
Mathew Broderick, global-thermal nuclear war film, these games were sold at
outlets that dabbled in twenty-sided dice and lead figurines. War games were
sold in cellophane zip-loc baggies, with photocopies instructions, and were a
cottage industry. Some early games were board/computerized hybrids; players
moved pieces on a map, while our faithful Commodores, and Atari maintained the
statistical workload.

Fast forward about twenty-five years and you’ll still catch
us playing a very similar game. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for the Nintendo DS
may lack the budget ear-markings of game of old, but the game does contain a
multitude of complexity. After a meteor storm destroys 90% of Earth’s
population, a diverse band of heroes’ battles enemies in a turn-based affair.
The story ranges from the truly bizarre (a virus that turns people into flowers) to the usual post-apocalyptic clichés. Still one doesn’t play a game
like this for the dialogue or story.

Advance Wars: DoR is all about the strategic battle. Gamers
have over twenty units at their disposal that develop experience through
battles. Terrain factors heavily in the game, as units funnel through bridges
and mountains passes. Players must capture bases to collect income, which is
used to purchase your tool of annihilation. Beside the story based game, there
are 100 maps for players to battle the AI on. Additionally, players can create
and trade their own maps, and play via Wi-Fi.  

Days of Ruin is a near perfect DS game. We have already put many
hours into the cartridge, and fatigue has yet to set in. Players who enjoyed
previous incarnations of the game will find a new challenge with the game, and
may enjoy the game’s darker tone. Imagine what wargamers will be able to enjoy
in another quarter century.