For those who haven't played the Advance Wars series before, the game can best be summed up as 2D, top-down, turn-based strategy. You have air, land and sea units at your disposal and at least one Commanding Officer (CO) who can power-up various special abilities. You move all your units across a map, taking advantage of various types of terrain, and then the AI or opposing player moves all their units. Combat is resolved automatically. A battle is won by capturing the enemy HQ, destroying particular units or by meeting whatever other game ending objectives you're assigned. If you've ever played any kind of turn-based strategy game, you'll know pretty much what you're in for.
Units can be controlled using either the stylus or face and shoulder buttons. Either systems works flawlessly, though you'll most likely come to favour the face/shoulder button method, simply because it's a little bit faster and feels more precise. The whole interface feels snappier than that of Dual Strike - you can get through menus faster, access all the info you need with less bother and generally flit about the game unhindered. Vital information is presented in a clean and clear fashion and we had no problems at all with the interface.
Planes, tanks and automobiles.
Dark Conflict stays true to the Advance Wars habit of presenting a simply massive amount of gameplay. There's a lengthy story-driven campaign that's supplemented with a large number of trial stages that pop up along the way. Free Battle mode offers around 150 maps for you to play on, and you can also download new maps or make your own with the game's map editor. Even if you only play every map once, you've got hundreds of hours of entertainment at your fingertips.
The story lobs you into a post-apocalyptic world and puts you in charge of a growing army that sets about battling the growing forces of evil in the world. The story unfolds through cut scenes and some painfully leaden exchanges of dialogue between various characters. The story does contain some unexpected and occasionally bizarre twists and turns but never feels like anything more than an anime pantomime. There have been claims about Dark Conflict's story being more 'adult' than previous offerings, which is technically true but also somewhat like describing an 8 year old as more 'adult' than a 5 year old. Suffice to say, Dark Conflict's story provides some context to the single-player missions but it's otherwise nothing to get excited about. It's worth noting here that there differences have been reported between Dark Conflict and the US version of the game, known as Days of Ruin. Apparently, Dark Conflict uses different character and place names and might even include subtle plot differences. Either way, we can't imagine it would make a huge amount of difference.
Honestly, though, no-one's going to be playing Dark Conflict for its insights into the human condition. This is all about good, solid strategy gaming and the game delivers in spades. Dark Conflict plays a little bit faster than previous iterations, largely due to the new Motorbike unit that combines fast travel with the ability to capture buildings. There's less tiptoeing across the battlefield, with fast, decisive moves being the order of the day. The game's turn-based nature still rewards thoughtful strategies, and it's easy to see fast, fragile units come unstuck but all things considered, Dark Conflict is one of the more sprightly strategy games around.
Other new units include the Flare, which briefly lifts the fog of war in a designated area, and the anti-tank vehicle that can perform a handy counter-attack against units foolish enough to tackle it directly. These are all fun new toys to play with but while they do open up new ways to play the game, they don't really take things in dramatically new directions. Perhaps the most interesting addition is that all units now gain experience on successfully destroying an enemy unit. A unit can rise through three levels of experience, with each level adding bonuses to attack and defence numbers. This means that there's now some benefit to pulling units off the front line for repairs, rather than just throwing wave after wave of cannon fodder at the bad guys.
The field of battle runs... pink with blood?
Commanding Officers have undergone a significant reworking since Dual Strike. Whereas previously a CO hovered like an omniscient super-being above the battle, drawing power-up points from every one of their units in action, Dark Conflict puts the COs right in the thick of things. They can be situated in a particular vehicle and generate a 'command radius'. Any friendly unit in this radius contributes to the COs slowly growing power gauge. A CO can't be killed outright in battle, but destroying their transport boots them back to the battlefield HQ and resets the power gauge. Effectively, this greatly reduces the influence of CO powers, which is not such a bad thing. They were arguably a little too powerful in Dual Strike, to the extent that a mission could become a simple race to see who could fire off a CO's powers most often. Dark Conflict puts the emphasis firmly back on smart use of units in the field, which is most welcome.
All the usual DS multiplayer options are catered for, with standard single and multi-card play options. Online multiplayer makes its Advance Wars debut in Dark Conflict, with Nintendo Wi-Fi letting you take on friends and strangers around the world, download new maps or upload your own designs. There's even a voice chat system with which you can graciously let your opponent know just how badly they're doing.
Gotta look good before the killing starts.
Dark Conflict tones down the candy-coloured explosion of earlier AW games but doesn't present a hugely different style - it's all immediately identifiable as the Advance Wars universe. The various characters are not quite as wide-eyed and moppety as usual, but still haven't let the apocalypse deter them from working up some seriously high-maintenance hair styles. The music consists largely of repetitive sport-metal and is best turned off as quickly as possible.
While we might not sound wildly enthusiastic about Dark Conflict - it is, after all, fundamentally more of the same - there's no denying that it's a very good game. Compared to Dual Strike, Dark Conflict is a sober affair - if Dual Strike is Risk, then Dark Conflict is a bit more like chess. Dark Conflict loses a lot of the flash and glitter that either delighted or annoyed you in Dual Strike and instead presents rock solid, addictive strategy gaming. We can't help but feel that there was room for something a bit more fresh and innovative in Dark Conflict but will also happily admit that the game doesn't really need any more bells and whistles. Advance Wars: Dark Conflict keeps the series at the very top of the DS strategy pile and is a great place for both newcomers and veterans to keep on fighting the good fight.
). Then I got the reference... touché sir. 
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