Battalion Wars (Evolution)

Title: Battalion Wars
Description: Charge!

DJ-Civic - May 12, 2004 03:58 PM (GMT)

One of the best GBA titles is going 3D on the Cube:

QUOTE

During its E3 press conference today, Nintendo revealed it is bringing Advance Wars, one of the more popular and acclaimed Game Boy Advance titles, to the GameCube. Like its forbears, Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, Advance Wars: Under Fire will put players in charge of one of two warring sides.

However, that is where the similarities end.

As one would expect, the console Advance Wars has vastly improved graphics of the simplistic visuals of its handheld cousin. Instead of directing polygons from an overhead view, the game will give players a close-up view of a 3D battlefield brimming with soldiers, aircraft, and armor.

Under Fire's gameplay will also be drastically different. Instead of turn-based strategy, the game will be a hybrid of real-time strategy and third-person shooter. As seen in the trailer, players will direct a squad of soldiers on the battlefield while blasting away at opponents themselves, Freedom Fighters-style.

According to a bare-bones fact sheet provided by Nintendo, Under Fire will allow the soldiers in your squad to become veteran fighters, gaining new abilities with experience.

Given the radically different development demands, it's no surprise Under Fire is not being developed by Intelligent Systems. Those duties will fall to GameCube novice Kuju Entertainment, the UK-based studio behind Lotus Challenge and Fire Warrior.

Gamespot.

E3 Trailer.

Ok, is anyone else interested in the game? Despite shifting from turn based to real time 3rd person shooter, i think it should be just as entertaining as it's GBA cousin. :)

StompBrother - May 12, 2004 04:21 PM (GMT)

I'm interested!!!

It's really nice to see it in full real-time 3D! And I like the comedic edge it will have. Such an irony really. Making war funny. Just like how Worms did it.

Anyway, the gameplay looks like a hybrid of Gotcha Force and Pikmin. I can't wait. I wonder if you can take on the role of any unit on demand or if you play a commander on the field of sorts and can take over controls of vehicles. I really love the somewhat cartoony look of eveything. The official art of some of the characters are great! Looks very western and surprising considering it's a Japanese game. I'm glad it wasn't like the GBA version 'cause if I wanted another tactical turn based game I would just load up the two GBA games.

*looks at release date*

FARK!!! next year!

-Stompy

Manny M - May 13, 2004 01:58 AM (GMT)

I'm not liking the look of this game.

First potential problem being the gameplay change, the second being that its being developed by the dropkicks that created the abismal Firewarrior.

markymark - May 13, 2004 02:43 AM (GMT)

far out, why even call it advance wars if it's going to have tps elements. crazy. tehy may be able to do something interesting and make it work but i'm not feeling to hopeful. a gc advance wars with sweet graphics, more vehicles and deeper gameplay would be better.

Film Guru - May 13, 2004 05:17 AM (GMT)

Oooh! Looks nice! If I want killer turn based Advance Wars, I'll play it on the GBA. I'm glad they're altering the gameplay for the console version, otherwise it would just be more of the same.

This one has great potential! I'm keeping my eye on this... :)

rampaging_geek - May 13, 2004 05:54 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (Film Guru @ May 13 2004, 03:17 PM)

I think the fact that the orignal advance wars ranks in at an average of 93% atgamerankings (making it the seconds highest ranked game on the GBA says that it probably doesn't need a change.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The fact that they decieded to completly change a game formula that is arguebly one of the best ever created puzzles me.

Film Guru - May 13, 2004 06:00 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (rampaging_geek @ May 13 2004, 03:54 PM)

QUOTE (Film Guru @ May 13 2004, 03:17 PM)

But then...it'd be Advance Wars...but you can look around at ground level too. Forgive me if I don't find that any more exciting. :P

In all seriousness though, you can keep it feeling very Advance Wars without the turn based stuff. I can picture it, it can still feel very much like Advance Wars and still be unique in it's own right. If you're gonna make it 3D and throw it on a home console, make it different and take advantage of it's new 3D look!

EDIT: Oh, and for the record, I'm a huge fan of the GBA Advance Wars games. :)

fishonthecarpet - May 13, 2004 07:45 AM (GMT)

Despite the change from a top down RTS, this is looking interesting.

The ghost who walks - May 13, 2004 08:09 AM (GMT)

looks awesome! :P

Cerebral - May 13, 2004 09:06 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (Film Guru @ May 13 2004, 03:17 PM)

Oooh! Looks nice! If I want killer turn based Advance Wars, I'll play it on the GBA. I'm glad they're altering the gameplay for the console version, otherwise it would just be more of the same.

Bang on!

Super Metroid and Super Mario World weren't broke, but when a franchise is brought to a new platform, we can't be playing the same old game with better graphics. Have some faith. If you don't like it, the originals are still there, waiting for you.

markymark - May 13, 2004 09:40 AM (GMT)

yeah, but those games didn't alter the fundamental things that made them what they were. they still felt and funtioned like mario/samus, they were just in 3d. the way this is shaping up, the gameplay will change entirely. in which case, why badge it 'advance wars'?

it's like square making a four player real time beat 'em up and branding it final fantasy.

...wait...

fishonthecarpet - May 13, 2004 10:39 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (markymark @ May 13 2004, 07:40 PM)

Ah, well how many people found Mario 64 similar to Super Mario Brothers :huh:
Mario 64 changed everything from SMB, all that was kept was not gameplay but objects like coins and bombs.

You went from playing a completely linear 2D platformer that followed a generic pattern, to playing fully 3D worlds where you explored and did tasks for stars.

DJ-Civic - May 13, 2004 02:22 PM (GMT)

QUOTE (StompBrother @ May 12 2004, 04:21 PM)

You know, I noticed that too. In the trailer you can hear comical voices for the characters and I guess it suits the game as the AW series has never been about realism.
And was it me or did I hear and see a Pikmin-style whistle and cursor for calling your troops in? :blink: :D
Despite that the game is being handled by a questionable game developer, i'll give them time as the game isn't out 'till next year so things can only go up from here. ;)

Manny M - May 14, 2004 12:27 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (fishonthecarpet @ May 13 2004, 08:39 PM)

QUOTE (markymark @ May 13 2004, 07:40 PM)

But the essence of the game remained the same.

Start of a level, end of a level, jump on monsters along the way, collect coins and stars.

If you want to compare a change in the Mario world, better off doing it with something like Super Mario 3, and Mario and Luigi.

markymark - May 14, 2004 01:50 AM (GMT)

exactly. i guess if they have all the same co's in the game it's advance wars by default... even if they end up making it into medieval rpg.

fishonthecarpet - May 14, 2004 09:13 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (Manny M @ May 14 2004, 10:27 AM)

QUOTE (fishonthecarpet @ May 13 2004, 08:39 PM)

QUOTE (markymark @ May 13 2004, 07:40 PM)

I really don't see many relations between 2D marios and 3D marios other than recurring themes (bowser, coins, stars...) and that was just graphical really :P

Hmmm, I've never played Mario and Luigi, that was a bit like Paper Mario, right?

markymark - May 15, 2004 12:54 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (fishonthecarpet @ May 14 2004, 07:13 PM)

I really don't see many relations between 2D marios and 3D marios other than recurring themes (bowser, coins, stars...) and that was just graphical really :P

ummm... they are both platform games. 2d platform games and 3d platform games. that's a pretty fundamental relation.

what we're talking about with advance wars is a turn based strategy game turning into a real time strategy/shooter.

Iroquois - May 15, 2004 04:03 AM (GMT)

I don't really like the looks of it. Advance Wars is great and all, but like Worms, I can't say I approve of the transition to 3-D. Still, looks nice for a cartoony strategy game. I'll have to keep my eye on it also...

fishonthecarpet - May 15, 2004 05:10 AM (GMT)

Did I see blood in that trailer?
Or am I imagining things?
Nintendo? Blood?
(even though I realise it's not developed by them...)

DJ-Civic - September 3, 2005 02:21 PM (GMT)

Bump & Update;

New hands on impressions from IGN which point to the title being quite fun. :D Good sign.

QUOTE

Well, having played through the majority of the finalized game, we can safely answer both questions: Kuju is an extremely competent development studio and Nintendo did right in letting the studio run with it. Battalion Wars, what we're now calling the sleeper GameCube title of the season, has come together and all of our preformed analyses and all of our so-called process mean absolutely nothing. Not only is the game not broken. It's surprisingly well made and addictively entertaining.

It's War Out There
There's a big oversight with Battalion Wars: it's not Advance Wars. It formerly fell under the Advance Wars brand, but Nintendo decided to remove the moniker for fear that gamers would see it and conceive ill-formed expectations of what the game really is and isn't. For the record, it looks like an Advance Wars break-off. Like with Nintendo's handheld games, players take control of military units and command them through battlefields, devising strategic plans to take down the enemy and advance. The title employs a cartoony style that is also similar to the Advance Wars games right down to the cheerful female mission briefer. But there is one key difference and this is likely the area that Nintendo got itself hung up on: Battalion Wars is not -- and we repeat again, not -- a turn-based strategy game. In that regard, it is completely different from any Advance Wars title. Instead, players move their units around a 3D battlefield in real-time and can even take control of individual infantry, tanks and aircraft for some good old-fashioned shooting.

The game uses both stylized rendered sequences and real-time cut-scenes to tell a story that revolves around inevitable war. Players control the armies of the Western Frontier, led by the short and stocky, buzz-cutted General Herman. The Western Frontier, which is more or less America, is in a stalemate with the Tundran Territories, lead by Tzar Gorgi and Marshal Nova, but of whom just happen to speak with thick and comical Russian accents. When the Tundrans break the peace and decide to attack, gamers must take control of the Frontier Forces and go to war. Battalion Wars features a number of fun story twists as gamers advance through the title's 20 main missions. Later, the Xylvanians, a quasi-German vampire race of military fanatics, wage an attack against both armies and players must devise a way to deal with that, too.

Battalion Wars successfully marries the complicated gameplay mechanics of popular real-time strategy games with a simplified interface and controls. In that main way, the game is not dissimilar from the Pikmin franchise. Players are able to take control of military units and simultaneously give commands to AI squads, intuitively and effectively. The game does not use a dual-analog setup for movement, as readers might suspect. Rather, once players have assumed control of a gunman or vehicle, pressing forward/backward or left/right on the analog stick moves them in the respective directions. The camera stick is utilized for other purposes that we'll detail momentarily.

Gamers manually aim Metroid Prime style by holding down the R button and then tapping or holding A button to fire. Gunfire is handled differently depending upon the weapon or vehicle used, or the situation. For example, holding A button will cause bazooka units to charge their blasts so that they shoot farther, but gamers may not always want to do that. If an enemy is engaged nearby, it is better to tap the button to shoot off quick, short range projectiles. Meanwhile, the L button is used to lock-on to the nearest target and gamers can cycle through multiple enemies simply by repeatedly clicking it. Finally, the B button causes infantry to jump into the air. If the L button is held down and the B button pressed, soldiers will duck and roll. This is especially useful when locked onto a target as gamers can shoot an endless supply of bullets at foes and then simply roll out of the way when enemies return fire.

Gamers use the camera stick for full control over their units and there is a lot of flexibility to the system despite its minimalist design. Pressing the camera stick in any direction activates at the bottom of the play screen a line of icons for each unit. The icons are different during each mission as players do not retain their squads from level to level. Rather, regardless of what happened in the previous stage, when gamers begin a new mission they will start with different units and vehicles that directly relate to the challenges ahead. The icon display shows what type of units are available and how many of each are still functioning. So, if there are six riflemen, the number "6" will be displayed below the riflemen icon. If one of a gamer's two tanks is blown up, the number will drop from "2" to "1." Players scroll between the icons by tapping left or right on the camera stick and then give individual commands to units. Or, they issue commands to the entire squad by scrolling to a star icon located next to the others.

The icon system works hand-in-hand with the command process. Gamers hit the X button to tell a unit or entire squad to follow. They hit it again to tell them to go into sentry mode, which means that they'll stay where they are, but will defend their position from any attackers. Meanwhile, players can order their battalion to attack specific threats by locking onto targets with the L button and then pressing the Y button. The process is extremely intuitive and even more satisfying. If an enemy bomber flies overhead, players can simply look up, lock-on to it, hit Y, and their entire squad will shoot at the thing, blowing it up. It's especially entertaining if gamers have anti-aircraft soldiers in their squad because they'll level a bevy of missiles at the planes.
The icon system offers further flexibility still. Using the camera stick, gamers can assign individual men to tackle specific tasks. Players merely scroll over to the unit type and press up on the camera stick, where they can micromanage single soldiers. This command is useful when gamers want to arm several nearby sentry guns with different grunts.

Players can manually take control of any unit by highlighting it and pressing the Z button. Or by locking onto it and pressing the Z button.

Units and Strategy
Each of Battalion Wars 20 missions features different objectives. In one, players may have to defend a post from the enemy. In another, they might have to disable a series of anti-aircraft units and then fly bombers over the terrain, knocking out tanks. While the first couple of levels in the game can be tackled largely without much strategizing, later missions require that players use their heads and their resources. Those resources include foot soldiers armed with rifles, bazookas, flamethrowers, machine guns, mortars, rocket launchers and anti-aircraft missiles launchers. They also include vehicles such as pilot jeeps, tanks, helicopters, airborne gunships, fighter jets and yes, even battle stations.

There is a balance to the system and players will need to acquaint themselves with it if they are to have any chance of surviving. A gunship is a powerful ally that can take down entire battle stations, but it's as good as useless against anti-aircraft soldiers. A squad armed with flamethrowers, meanwhile, will easily burn alive any ack-acks. A bomber can quickly explode tanks, but it's a sitting duck against gunships. There's a lot of fun to be had in devising battle plans and figuring out ways to advance.

Kuju has done an amazing job of bringing different characteristics and physics to each vehicle in the game. Driving a jeep through a battlefield feels much more responsive, speedy and bouncy than piloting a slow-treading tank. Gamers can use some vehicles to catch air, jumping bridges and bumps in the road. The physics oftentimes feel reminiscent of the Warthog in Halo -- smooth, reactive, and believable, if exaggerated. Merely driving around is therefore entertaining. Oppositely, bombers feel and move like the giant beasts they are, taking forever to turn sluggishly turn around in the air.

Style
The game dishes out huge, epic battlefields filled with dozens of characters on-screen, a truckload of particle explosions and smoke, lighting effects and more. There's even grass and other vegetation in most of the hilly, rounded levels. Characters are stylistically exaggerated to look almost cartoony despite the fact that they are engaging in ruthless war, and somehow the presentation works -- it's actually a refreshing change from the non-stop supply of gritty war games on the market. There are three main world types, including forest levels, desert stages and eventually, Xylvania, a mixture of industrial German design, gothic architecture and toxic wastelands. The game runs for the most part at 30 frames per second and supports both progressive scan and 16x9 widescreen modes.

Multiplayer? Nope
Certainly the biggest disappointment with Battalion Wars is that it doesn't have any multiplayer mode whatsoever, which is almost inconceivable given that it was originally designed as an Advance Wars spin-off. There's no getting around that oversight and as a result fans expecting an Advance Wars for the consoles will undoubtedly be in for a rude awakening. We can only hope that future sequels for Revolution will enable online competitions.

Outlook
Battalion Wars is at its very best when everything comes together, and thankfully it often does. Running through the huge worlds, shooting at enemies and simultaneously issuing commands to soldiers and vehicle units feels great and is unexpectedly addictive. This is partly true because the controls are intuitive -- merely moving infantry units around is fun. But there's a lot more to it. The units and vehicles are so varied. Each gunman has his purpose just as each tank and gunship has theirs. The vehicle physics in the game are well done, if exaggerated. And there is a strong strategic element to the experience: gamers who don't think, plan attacks and manage their units will not win. For all the reasons above and more, Battalion Wars is shaping up to be one hell of a surprise and a worthy branch-out from its Advance Wars beginnings.

I think it's looking great! Reminds me of Battlefield 2 on PC, but a more lighthearted take on it. Looks fun.

Suity - September 3, 2005 11:34 PM (GMT)

Wow it does look pretty awesome and I just realised I had a GCN so I will probably get this :huh:

UltraGekko - September 4, 2005 12:05 AM (GMT)

From the new vids it looks to be a good game. It would be awesome if they continued this franchise on Revolution with online multiplayer.

Civ, you should change the title to 'Battalion Wars'. :P

borgster101 - September 4, 2005 02:04 AM (GMT)

Yeah someone should change the title :)

I had a read of those impressions and yes, the game sounds like it'll be lots of fun, hopefully it will release in Australia before the years end.

kami - September 5, 2005 12:54 PM (GMT)

I don't quite know whether I'll pick it up. The lack of multiplayer probably isn't too much of an issue for me, though I do wonder about the game's lastability.

DJ-Civic - September 5, 2005 02:31 PM (GMT)

QUOTE (UltraGekko @ Sep 4 2005, 12:05 AM)

Civ, you should change the title to 'Battalion Wars'. :P

Done. Tis was a while since we posted in this thread hey? ;)

Gio - September 6, 2005 07:20 AM (GMT)

I wasn't interested in this before, but it seems to be shaping up very nicely. :)

Suity - September 6, 2005 08:30 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (Gio @ Sep 6 2005, 05:20 PM)

I wasn't interested in this before, but it seems to be shaping up very nicely. :)

As am I, what is the release date of this game?

borgster101 - September 6, 2005 10:58 AM (GMT)

Europe - December 2005
Australia - TBA

Hopefully it will make it for 2005 :) . Note; Fire Emblem for GCN is coming out in December, so perhaps Battalion Wars wont be released in the same month, or it might come out weeks later since more games tend to come out in the holidays.

markymark - September 6, 2005 11:47 AM (GMT)

Fire Emblem is December? Well, that's what I'll be doing during the holidays :D

borgster101 - September 7, 2005 01:58 AM (GMT)

Indeed it is according to nintendo.com.au although no exact date yet, but still it's apparantly an awesome game so I'm excited. :D

borgster101 - September 15, 2005 02:09 AM (GMT)

IGN has posted its review! Didnt think it would up so soon :huh:

Nevertheless the game has earned a healthy 8.8 :D looks like this game is indeed a worthwhile purchase, now all that's left is a release date, seems to be TBA Q4 2005 at the moment, I believe it's set for December in Europe.

cd2 - September 15, 2005 02:19 AM (GMT)

might have to import this one if we dont get it by the years end

DJ-Civic - September 15, 2005 01:32 PM (GMT)

Maybe DVDcrave will source some copies from Europe.

That's a pretty good score considering it has no multiplayer mode. Should be good. :)

borgster101 - September 16, 2005 01:13 AM (GMT)

Yeah they may get some Europe copies, although there is still a chance for a local release in time, we'll see.

Manny M - September 16, 2005 01:46 AM (GMT)

No time for this one unfortunately. Do you know that my GCN hasn't been turned on since March!

Crazy!

I was just going to put an order for Res 4 and Donkey Konga 2 over at DVDCrave, but it seems they have sold out all their stock of DK2 since last week, so I decided against it.

borgster101 - September 16, 2005 02:04 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (Manny M @ Sep 16 2005, 11:46 AM)

There always seems to be an excuse for you to get out of buying RE4 doesnt there?

What happened to the Manny who bought every game and only played them once or twice!

Gio - September 16, 2005 02:08 AM (GMT)

I hear Donkey Konga 2 has bad music..?

evO - September 16, 2005 02:08 AM (GMT)

I want a GCN :(

borgster101 - September 16, 2005 02:15 AM (GMT)

QUOTE (evO @ Sep 16 2005, 12:08 PM)

I want a GCN :(

Buy One

evO - September 16, 2005 02:31 AM (GMT)

Can't afford it <_< Maybe i can get a cheaper one at EB...

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