A couple of years ago, Nintendo came out with Battalion Wars for the GameCube, the game itself was similar in many ways to Advance Wars, with a excellent blend of action and strategy. You could command and entire force while blasting away in a helicopter or running along with the troops as a grunt however it didn't quite live up to the potential with lack of multiplayer.
Battalion Wars 2 however delivers a great single player campaign mode as well as adding Nintendo Wi-Fi connection features.
The games context is extremely well thought out, setting a global stage of six fictional factions, of which some are based on the real world. For example the Solar Empire is meant to be Japan. What's really interesting is the games take on the Anglo Isles, which is mean to represent Britain, even more interesting is that in the beginning of the game the Anglo Isles are duped by the game's evil superpower into invading a nation in search of weapons of mass destruction.
Over the course of the game's six campaigns, you'll play through both conflicts as various nations, though the controls and most of the units stay the same. Tanks can kill buildings and infantry, but are vulnerable to rockets and helicopters. Helicopters can kill tanks, infantry, and buildings, but get squashed by antiair units and fighter jets. Fighter jets kill helicopters, but are otherwise mostly useless.
Issuing commands in Battalion Wars 2 is a simple process of selecting a unit type with the directional pad, and then clicking on something for them to attack or defend. Your own movement is controlled with the Nunchuk's control stick.
New in Battalion Wars 2 are naval units, You have your standard battleship, frigates, and submarine, as well as dreadnoughts and transports. The submarines can dive, which makes them invisible to battleships, but can then be spotted by frigates or other subs and subs must also resurface before the oxygen bar runs out of you will take damage.
The online modes include Skirmish which are deathmatches where you and your opponent kill one another until the time runs out. Whoever does the most damage wins. Assault which is like a typical BW2 level, with one player attempting to complete a series of objectives before attacking a base, while the other defends, and then vice versa. You can also play in a Co-Op mode where you and a friend/random person will cooperatively do missions and the like.
Overall Battalion Wars 2 is a gripping tactical/action game with a much better campaign mode than it's predecessor and actually very good online play as well.
Graphics: 8/10 Battalion Wars 2 features pretty smooth cartoony graphics that look really good.
Gameplay: 8/10 The gameplay is much better than the original B Wars and the campaign mode is very gripping, as well as the online play.
Online: 8.5/10 The online play in BW2 is actually pretty neat, the game modes are great, especially the co-op mode however the main drawback was lack of voice chat.
Overall: 8.5/10 Battalion Wars 2 is overall a very good game with it's gripping campaign mode, great online play and nice graphics. A overall great tactical/action game. I do reccommend this game
Battalion Wars 2 [Review]
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