banner courtesy of Nsider

[spoiler]My first "official" thread so yeah let me know what you think[/spoiler]

Official Website: http://www.advancewars.com

GameplayTrailer (Youtube)

New Gameplay/Story Trailer (Note: looks like the same as the first link, but its different.)

_____________________________________________________________

General Info:

Published By: Nintendo
Developed By: Intelligent Systems
For: Nintendo DS
Release Dates-
---North America: January 21st 2008
---Europe: January 25th 2008
---Australia: January 25th 2008
---Japan: TBA 2008
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
MSRP: $34.99
Wi-fi Compatiblility: Yes
Players: 1-4 Wi-Fi and Local. Full voice chat
Rating:

Boxart:



_____________________________________________________________




So what's going on with the new Advance Wars?

Advance Wars Days of Ruin is the 4th installment of the Advance Wars series. Fans of the series will see a new style introduced into the game . Out is the old 'cartoonish happy-go-lucky' style of the previous games and in is a new gritty and dark approach to redefine the series and give it a more "war" type feel. Past COs are now gone and a new team of COs will be introduced.

_____________________________________________________________

The Story So Far...

The Days of Ruin story unfolds through the eyes of a weaner new recruit named Will who was stuffing his face in the lunch room when a meteor attack devastated the planet. With enough food to last for months, he was able to survive and dig his way out of the rubble -- only to be attacked by ruthless scavengers. The game begins when he is rescued by a hardened war hero named Captain Brenner that is scouring the land looking for survivors.

_____________________________________________________________

Why should you be excited about this game?

Well, it's Advance Wars. Intelligent Systems first Advance Wars brought to the GBA a perfect formula of Turn-Based Strategy and pure fun. Little has changed through the other Advance Wars game, keeping the game play solid. New units, new maps, campaign, and map editors help keep the game entertaining for a long time and now wi-fi & voice chat will add even more replay value. In addition, there are plans for an online map-sharing database which will allow players around the world to try each other's maps.

_____________________________________________________________

What's New in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin?

Well, first and foremost, out are the old COs. In are the new. A totally new cast of characters will be introduced. The standard turn-based strategy remains and is solid as ever, but CO powers and such have been revamped.

COs still have a "innate" ability that boosts their units, however, COs must be riding with a unit in the field to give units this boost. In addition, this boost has a certain AOE radius. As the unit the CO is riding with kills enemies, your COs special bar increases. This will increase the radius of your COs innate ability. This creates a strategic choice during battles: do you unleash your Special CO ability or keep the increased radius bonus?

Units also have the ability to "level up" as they kill enemies, they advance from no rank to 1st rank, 2nd rank and Ace rank. Units carrying a CO are automatically promoted to Ace rank. This puts a stronger focus on combining units and keeping them alive, whereas before there wasn't as much a bonus to combining units.

Also in, is Wi-Fi play. You can now battle up to 4 people on Wi-Fi. You can also battle friends. The map-maker returns, but now there is a Map Center where you can upload maps and download user-created maps.

_______________________________________________________________

Also, as expected, there are new units of war:

The Bike: A motorcycle mounted infantry unit provides mobile infantry for capturing cities and reconnaissance

The Anti-Tank: A new indirect unit that has the ability to fire after moving, and counter-attack. As it's name suggests, it is probably very effective against tanks of all sorts.


The Flare: New tank that can light up 13-square areas affected by fog of war. Equipped with machine guns.

The Mobile Factory: Possibly also the APC, provides the ability to build temporary properties such as airports, and factories to produce units.

Duster: New air unit, possess the ability to fire upon both ground and air units, providing greater flexibility.



Gunboat: A transport naval unit with the ability to fire once upon an enemy naval ship



Sea Plane: Produced from Carriers, not much is known, only that they make carriers more useful now.


_____________________________________________________________





Media hands on etc.

Links at the bottom!

_____________________________________________________________

Screenshots of Awesomeness







_____________________________________________________________

Screens of COs:

Main Character Will, and CO Lin:

Names unknown:


______________________________________________________________
Links:

IGN DS various hands on and previews

1UP Exclusive AW: DoR Multiplayer hands on and Interview

1UP Screenshots

Kotaku individual CO Artwork Gallery

IGN DS Screens and videos

Gametrailers various vids

IGN vids on new units: The Bike and The Duster
______________________________________________________________

See you on the battlefield!

I was surprised that none of the old COs were back, along with the new dark twist, but it's grown on me. I bet that [spoiler]Sturm[/spoiler] is back, though!