Advance Wars: Dual Strike

All of the COs from the previous two games in the series, aside from Sturm, return in Dual Strike. In addition, nine new COs make an appearance; two for Orange Star, one each for Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, and Green Earth, and four for Black Hole, resulting in a total of 27 COs.[8]

The namesake of Dual Strike is the ability to use two COs in a battle to command a single army. By using two COs, the weaknesses of each CO can effectively be covered by switching COs mid-battle. In addition, when using two COs, a new CO power named "Tag Power" or "Dual Strike" can be used. It allows players to use both COs' Super CO powers consecutively in the same turn, and effectively allows the player to have two turns.[6]

Finally, COs in Dual Strike gain experience and can be promoted after each victorious battle in the War Room or Campaign. Higher ranked COs have access to different skills to tune and enhance their fighting styles.[6] Abilities vary in type and benefit; some improve attack or defense, others increase the benefits of certain units or terrain types, while others affect the player's money flow. The star ranked skills must be unlocked by completing the Campaign modes. Each CO can use a maximum of four skills at once. Abilities can be changed around as many times as needed, but cannot be changed during a mission.[5]

This campaign mission has two fronts. A different CO commands each army on each front.

The DS's two screens provide new ways of presenting a round of battle in Dual Strike. The bottom screen is where the main battle takes place, while the top screen is used to display the terrain and unit intelligence. However, in some missions, the top screen shows a second front. The second front is a second battle that is waged simultaneously with the battle on the lower screen, which is integral to some missions. The player can change the top screen back to the intel screen and vice versa, and units in the first front can be sent to the second.[3] Units sent to the second front cannot be sent back to the first front.[5]

When battling on two fronts, one CO on each team takes control of one front. The CO on the second front can either be controlled by a computer or by the player. If the battle on the second front ends before the battle on the first front, the winning CO will join their teammate on the first front or other advantages will be given to the victor. Any remaining units on the second front are then added to the victor's CO power meter.[6]

There are seven new units. Three units operate on land: the Megatank, a Green Earth-developed tank that is the most powerful direct attack unit but has severely limited ammunition for its main cannon and a small movement range;[6] the Piperunner, an indirect-fire vehicle which can only travel on pipelines or bases, but has a large movement and firing range;[9] and the Oozium, a gelatinous blob which can only move one space per turn, but it can destroy any enemy it comes into contact with instantly.[5]

There are two new naval units: the "Black Boat", which can repair and resupply any allied unit next to it, while capable of transporting two infantry/mech units;[10] and the aircraft carrier, which can house two air units and is armed with surface-to-air missiles.[11] In addition, the cruiser's missiles are now able to damage all naval units, making it more versatile.[5]

A new air unit, the stealth fighter, has the ability to use stealth and turn invisible to all but adjacent enemy units. Similar to the submarine, the stealth bomber uses more fuel when stealth is activated, but it can only be attacked by certain units.[6] The other new air unit is the Black Bomb, which can self-destruct, damaging units around it.[11]

Other new features include the Com Tower, a new property that, when captured, increases the firepower of all allied units, although it provides no funds and cannot perform repairs.[8] Black Crystals heal Black Hole units surrounding them. The Black Obelisk, which has the approximate look of a Black Cannon, also functions like a Black Crystal. The Rain weather effect now triggers Fog of War.[5] Lastly, a new weather effect called the Sandstorm decreases both visibility and the attack range of all indirect fire units.[9]

The 28 missions (including an integrated tutorial[8] and several secret lab missions unlocked by capturing a certain property in another mission) in Campaign mode that make up the game's storyline are objective-based, with most requiring the player to capture an enemy property. Some missions in Dual Strike's campaign make use of the Dual Fronts system.[7]

Upon completing a mission, the player is awarded a rank, from C (lowest) to S (highest). The ranks are based on three categories: Power, Technique, and Speed. Power is determined by the number of enemy units destroyed in one turn, Technique by how many of the player's units are destroyed, and Speed by how fast the mission is completed. All three categories are rated on a scale from 0–100, and added together to form a numerical ranking from 0–300, in addition to the letter ranking.[12] These are converted to points and are added to the player's overall points, which can be used to purchase War Room maps, Versus maps, and COs. Bonus points can also be earned by destroying certain items, such as Oozium or Black Obelisks in certain missions.[5]

Hard Campaign can be unlocked, which is a more difficult version of the standard campaign.[8] All unlocked COs can be used in Hard Campaign, including those unavailable in Normal Campaign. Three save slots are available for Campaign Mode.[5]

Several new modes were added to the modes from Black Hole Rising and the original Advance Wars in Dual Strike. In addition to the old War Room, Versus, and Link modes, two new modes, named Survival and Combat, have been added.[13]

The new Survival mode is a nonstop war of attrition. Depending on the mode, players are either given limited money, turns, or time to complete a series of maps.[14] However, victory often can be achieved by reaching preset requirements instead of satisfying the normal victory conditions.[15] The ranking received depends on the amount of the given resource remaining at the end of the maps.[5]

Combat, the other new mode, is an entirely new real-time rendition of the game. While the victory conditions for Combat are identical to any other battle, where the goal is to capture the opponent's HQ or defeat all enemies, players do not take turns. Instead, players fight in real time, controlling one of four different types of units, Mech, Recon, Tank, and Artillery, at a time with the touchpad.[14][16] Each has strengths and weaknesses when graded in the four categories of firepower, rate of fire, movement speed, and capture speed, and their respective strengths and weaknesses resemble those of the units in the main game. Players must fight through six levels, each on a different map against a different CO. Units are bought before the first game of each set and must last through all six levels, as extra units cannot be purchased and can only be gained when a factory is captured. Multiplayer for this mode is supported, unlike Survival. Up to eight players on up to four teams can battle. Computer-controlled units, which take on a gray color, may also be added into a match. A demo of Dual Strike, containing the Combat mode, can be sent wirelessly to other DS units.[5]

Dual Strike fields extensive multiplayer modes that come in two forms: Versus mode and Link mode. In Versus mode, only one DS system is used, and the single DS is passed from player to player. These matches can be set up with any combination of human players and computer-controlled armies. Link mode is the same game as Versus mode gameplay-wise, but each player has a separate console and copy of Dual Strike. Two to eight people can participate in wireless multiplayer games.[7] Maps created by players by the Map Editor can also be traded wirelessly to other players.