Battalion Wars II, Nintendo Wii. Rating: 3.5/5
LACE up those boots soldier, it’s time to hit the ground running in Battalion Wars II on the Nintendo Wii. The sequel to the Gamecube hit continues its legacy of being a real-time, 3D take on the Advance Wars series that has appeared on the Nintendo DS.
The goal is to lead a global faction into war and prevail by proving victorious in a series of battles.
A single battle can contain units based on the ground, air and at sea.
Unlike most real-time strategy games that force you to control units from a top-down perspective, Battalion Wars II places you in the thick of the action, with the ability to assume control of any of your units, as well as direct non-player controlled units in battle.
The goal is often to destroy your opponent’s base, usually by completing a series of objectives in the process. It sounds complex, but Battalion Wars II is easy to control thanks to the Wii remote’s pointer, which helps you aim at both friendly and enemy units with great precision.
Gameplay is not mind-blowing, but it is fun, and it won’t take long before you find yourself wanting to have ‘just one more go’ at Battalion Wars II.
The game is easy to learn, thanks to the first few levels that serve more as a tutorial than serious battles.
After playing your way through the various campaigns, it’s then time to take your honed battle skills online thanks to Nintendo’s WiFi multiplayer mode. You can play with friends, or against random opponents from around the world, and not only was it easy finding an opponent, but the games I played were lag-free.
Online play is different to the single player variant, with human opponents proving to be a lot smarter, and therefore more difficult to beat, than the computer. If you can’t play online, you may find the single player campaign too short. Also, the graphics appear to be beneath the Wii’s capabilities, with textures often looking washed out, and the widescreen picture not wide enough – thick black bars appeared at either side of the television screen.
It is otherwise hard to fault Battalion Wars and anyone who enjoys strategy and action games will want to consider this title.
