Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
The game's North American box art
Basic info
Developer	Intelligent Systems
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo DS
Ratings
North America:	E 10+
Europe:	12+ (PEGI/USK)
Australia:	M
Japan:	A
Release Dates
North America:	January 21, 2008
Europe:	January 25, 2008
Australia:	February 21, 2008
Japan:	October 30, 2013 (Club Nintendo Platinum Reward, Nintendo 3DS downloadable software)
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin Guide on StrategyWiki

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is a turn-based tactics game developed byIntelligent Systems and published byNintendo. Known asAdvance Wars: Dark Conflict in Europe and Australia and calledFamicom Wars DS: Lost Light in the Japanese version, this latest installment in theAdvance Wars series is preceded byAdvance Wars,Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, andAdvance Wars: Dual Strike. The game has a darker atmosphere than those of the previous installments, and has little in common with its predecessors.

The Japanese version of the game was originally unreleased, but it became available as a 2013 Club Nintendo Platinum Reward downloadable on the Nintendo 3DS's Nintendo eShop. It was released on November 30, 2013.^[1]

Background

Set in a somber, post-apocalyptic world, the game followsRubinelle's12th Battalion, a remnant of the country's military. Rubinelle and its rival nation,Lazuria, have been fighting a century-long war, but were interrupted when a global meteor shower bombarded the planet. In the aftermath, the 12th Battalion, also known as Brenner's Wolves, attempts to aid all survivors they encounter, despite the fact that the two battered nations have returned to war. To make matters worse, an incurable disease runs rampant throughout both nations. With everyone distracted by war, a shadowy faction uses the destruction to further its own agenda.

Plot

Almost 90% of humanity has been wiped out by a cluster of catastrophic meteor showers. These strikes have left much of civilization destroyed, and have stirred up an enormous dust cloud into the atmosphere, blotting out the sun. Survivors across the globe pick through the ruins and wreckage, while the surviving remnants of military superpowers rove the wastelands — some factions aiming to aid the innocent, while others hunt them like wolves.

The meteor strikes have annihilated much of the two warring nations,Rubinelle andLazuria.Will, a young cadet from Rubinelle's military academy, is able to escape the ruins of the academy's mess hall and encountersThe Beast, a former Rubinelle sergeant gone rogue. Before his band of raiders can attack, Will is rescued byBrenner andLin, who lead Rubinelle's12th Battalion (known as "Brenner's Wolves"). The group aims to rescue as many survivors as they can from the twisted wastelands. During a mission, Will finds a girl with amnesia in a ruined building. She cannot remember her own name, but has knowledge of detailed military information. Will takes to calling herIsabella, and she helps the group toward their goal.

A year after the meteors hit,Brenner's Wolves encounters theNew Rubinelle Army, and learns of the war between the NRA and theLazurian Army.Brenner reluctantly allies the group withGreyfield, the NRA's leader, and eventually defeats the Lazurians at Fort Lazuria. However, Brenner cannot accept the ruthless execution ofForsythe, the Lazurian commander, and leads his group to break the Lazurian prisoners out of an NRA camp. The Wolves make their escape, but Brenner hides out in an abandoned city to buy them some time. Greyfield, enraged at the events, uses a new weapon to obliterate the entire city, killing Brenner and the NRA troops looking for him. Later on, Lin leads the group to prevent the launch of a wave of Caulder missiles, defeating the NRA for good. In the aftermath, Lin searches for Greyfield, and shoots him dead, avenging her fallen friend.

Soon after, the12th Battalion is suddenly attacked byIntelligent Defense Systems, a military contractor that had secretly supplied weapons first to theLazurians, then to theNew Rubinelle Army. The leader of IDS,Caulder, used the global state of anarchy to conduct biological and psychological experiments that he could not do normally. This included intentionally creating a biological threat, a disease known as the Creeper, merely to study the victim's reactions.Lin and the rest ofBrenner's Wolves eventually chase Caulder to his fortress and laboratory, The Nest. He is killed here when the building is destroyed, putting an end to the war. A year later, the village of New Hope, founded by the 12th Battalion after the war, blossoms in the new age of peace. For the first time since the meteors hit, the sun is finally seen rising above the hills nearby.

Gameplay

Like the otherAdvance Wars games, the main objective for each mission is to defeat all enemy forces. There are two methods to reach this goal — either eliminate every enemy unit, or capture the enemy headquarters. The warring factions take turns building their forces and sending their units into the fray, where conditions likeFog of War and the various weather patterns may help or hinder the player's progress.

Changes from previousAdvance Wars titles

WhileDays of Ruin shares theAdvance Wars title, there is very little similarity to promote the connection. The previously-known nations of Wars World —Orange Star,Blue Moon,Green Earth,Yellow Comet, andBlack Hole — are not present. Consequently, the familiarCommanding Officers hailing from those nations do not make an appearance either. In their place areRubinelle's12th Battalion,Lazuria, theNew Rubinelle Army, andIntelligent Defense Systems.

CO Powers have lost much of their significance, and no longer have the ability to alter the flow of battle. The player does not gain access to CO Powers until late in the campaign, leaving them to utilize the new "CO Zone" instead. When a unit is stationed on the HQ or other non-city property, the CO can arrive on the battlefield to join with that unit, granting nearby forces a slight attack or defence boost. These effects are active for as long as the officer is on the field. Battles fought inside this zone slowly fill the officer's power meter, which in turn widens the zone's range. When the meter is full, the CO is free to activate their CO Power, which affects the entire battlefield. If the unit carrying the CO is destroyed, the power meter is drained, and the officer returns to the HQ, and may then be re-deployed with another unit.

New features

Some units have been renamed, and some unit prices have been changed. New ground forces include theMotorbike, theAnti-Tank, theFlare, and theWar Tank (formerly known as theMega Tank). Aerial units include theDuster and theSeaplane, and the single new naval unit is theGunboat.

New properties include theRadar property, which partly dispels theFog of War, and two temporary properties that can be constructed by theRig unit. These temporary properties, theTemporary Port and theTemporary Airport, do not have the means to produce new vehicles, but can resupply and provide defensive cover for ailing units.

A handful of new terrain types have been added, as well. TheWasteland impedes a ground unit's mobility; theRough Sea hinders the movement of naval units.Ruins provide minor defensive cover and act as a hiding place for ground units;Mist is its naval equivalent, hiding naval units and offering light defensive cover;Fire illuminates the nearby area inFog of War.Meteors andPlasma combine to form a blockade, but destroying a Meteor will eliminate any Plasma in contact with it, allowing units to pass by.

Campaign

Main article:List of Missions in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

The campaign consists of 26 missions, with scenes from the story scattered throughout. There are also 38 training missions unlocked as the game progresses; these missions are typically more challenging than those of the campaign. Like the otherAdvance Wars games, the player is awarded a rank upon completion of a mission, ranging from C to S. These ratings are based on three categories,Power,Speed, andTechnique.

Nomenclature

Gallery

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  Logo (North America)

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  Logo (Europe and Australia)

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  Key art

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  Box art forAdvance Wars: Dark Conflict (PAL)

Videos

References

External links

• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin manual

• Games