Advance Wars 2

I was just thumbing through the new EGM yesterday, and noticed that they had reviewed Advance Wars 2 (due out June 26) and had given it the following scores: 8.0, 8.0, 8.5. Basically, they said that the variety in the single player move was heavily increased (there are many, many different mission types now as opposed to the original game), that the commanders now have two super powers instead of just one, that about halfway through the game it gets VERY hard, the graphics engine was exactly the same (I'm not complaining), and that there are barely any new units (walking tanks are one of the few new additions). Overall, the review was positive and made me look forward to the game even more, as I love Strategy games, and the original AW is one of my all-time favorite GBA games. I wish the developers had let their imaginations take off and had included all sorts of wacky new units and vehicles in Advance Wars 2, but it's still Advance Wars- I'll take it any way I can get it. Anyone else looking forward to this game?

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Originally posted by Dolemite
Anyone else looking forward to this game?

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god, yes.

by the way, didn't egm give the first game a 6?

I'm not sure. I think they gave the original Advance Wars something in the 9's. Anyone know for sure?

I'm sorta ashamed that I don't own Advance Wars, I've played it but I don't have my own copy.

My main deterant was I was always concerned that I wouldn't have anyone to play against and for me that's the whole fun of any strategy game.

But...I think I'm gonna finally get my shit together and pick up AW2 as soon as I can.

Here's an interesting question, there's been a Wars game on practically every Nintendo system (cept VirtualBoy but he barely counts).

Where's one on the Cube? That I would enjoy.

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Originally posted by Blaine
(cept VirtualBoy but he barely counts).

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Is that a typo or did you actually refer to the Virtual Boy as "he"? :)

The original AW surprised me alot. I picked it up couple month ago after hearing endless raves about how good it is from many TNL members, and indeed the game was a BLAST to play. I love strategy games, so it fitted perfectly with me.

I read the review for AW2, and I dont think some of the whining, reviewers did about it looking and playing the same are irrevelant, since I love the look and gameplay of it. Sure I would have loved to see more new units, but even few new additions sound pretty cool, and I'm eager to try them out. Also good to hear that Campaign mode will have much more variety then before.

One of few recent Nintendo games that I actually ENJOYED to play. Maybe its not all lost for big N yet :p

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Originally posted by Despair
The original AW surprised me alot. I picked it up couple month ago after hearing endless raves about how good it is from many TNL members, and indeed the game was a BLAST to play.

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Yeah, it was about time you bought that game. Have you finished it yet? I'm up to the mission where you and Eagle fight the clone Andy's army for the first time.

Yeah, I finished up Campaign mode a while back, and almost done with all missions you buy in the War Map room. Last mission in Campaign mode is pretty cool and can be challenging, especially with the cheap special whats his name does(dropping friggin meteor to destroy groups of your units). Some of the missions you buy are hard too, and there are not much room for errors, especially when playing against the sniper/long range unit guy. I really hate him, since his damn, artillery/missiles always can hit you from far away, and hit hard, plus they always start with monetary/base/unit advantage over you.

I tried some of multiplayer maps too, but its more fun to play those against other players than CPU, and since we only have 1 GBA and 1 game, plus DJ wasnt that keen on this game, I passed those on.

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Here's an interesting question, there's been a Wars game on practically every Nintendo system (cept VirtualBoy but he barely counts).

Where's one on the Cube? That I would enjoy.

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Beats me! Probably whenever Intelligent System feels ready to make GameCube games. Suprisingly enough, they still haven't released either of the Advance Wars game in Japan.

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Originally posted by Johnny Undaunted
Suprisingly enough, they still haven't released either of the Advance Wars game in Japan.

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You know, I read that in the EGM review and thought it was a mistake. They really haven't? Why the hell not?

Wow, for once we get treated better than the Japanese... :)

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Originally posted by Johnny Undaunted
Beats me! Probably whenever Intelligent System feels ready to make GameCube games. Suprisingly enough, they still haven't released either of the Advance Wars game in Japan.

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?
the only wars game that japan didn't get is advance wars. aw2 will be released there sometime this year.

there wasn't a wars 64, was there?

Know what's funny? The CPU hates transports with a passion. In the last mission, if you make a pair of them and send them away from your troops, there's chance he'll drop the meteor on the transport instead of your troops.

LOLZ!

True that. Every time CPU saw one of my transports, it would sent its units after if, even if that ment abandoning more important targets :lol:

I never picked up Advance Wars because I didn't have enough time to give it a proper play through, but now that college is over I'm itching to play it.
I think I'm just going to grab AW2 instead at this point. Sounds like AW1 but with improvements all around.

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Originally posted by Dolemite
Is that a typo or did you actually refer to the Virtual Boy as "he"? :)

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What, you want I should call him a 'she'? It says "boy" right in his name. :).

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They really haven't? Why the hell not?

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Because of 9/11. AFAIK, the second game hasn't been officially scheluded for Japan either, but since it's been awhile since 9/11, I'm guessing they'll release it eventually this year.

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Originally posted by epmode
there wasn't a wars 64, was there?

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There was one (developed by Hudson, which created Game Boy Wars 2-3 and Turbo), but it was never released.

64 Wars screenshot.
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/spacew...4/n64ko_13.gif

I think the first game is great, but somewhat unbalanced (the ranged turrets seem way too powerful). I would get this, but $30 is too much money. Ill get it if I could get it for like $15-$20 or something. And before you start with the smug "well it's not gonna be like that for a while"... Im willing to wait.

This is weird, there are two games I want to purchase (Rise of Nations and Advance Wars 2).

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Originally posted by Johnny Undaunted
Because of 9/11. AFAIK, the second game hasn't been officially scheluded for Japan either, but since it's been awhile since 9/11, I'm guessing they'll release it eventually this year.

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What did 9/11 have to do with releasing Advance Wars 1 & 2 in Japan? I mean, it's a Japanese-developed game...

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Originally posted by Dolemite
What did 9/11 have to do with releasing Advance Wars 1 & 2 in Japan? I mean, it's a Japanese-developed game...

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Just because it happened only in America, doesn't mean that the rest of the world didn't care. :p

Although, I do find Nintendo's cancellation of GB Wars Advance in Japan to be rather absurd.

I loved the first Advance Wars. I think it may be my favourite portable game of all time (though Sonic Advance 2 and a few others are not far behind) and it's definitly my favourite Nintendo-made game of all time. I am not too concerned that the sequel is more of the same because I could not get enough of the first game. It was *that good* and so wonderfully polished.

I only played the multiplayer game once - when a friend with a GBA was visiting. It was a lot of fun but the main problem with that was that it was boring as hell when it was not your turn. They should have let you manage resources or do something while you waited. Maybe that does not make sense... I have not thought it through. :p Also, it seemed too easy to stalemate with other humans.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to playing AW2. :)

I was so glad to see Nintendo finally release one of it's Wars titles in the U.S. Especially one as good as Advance Wars. I'm sad to say that I lost my copy and don't feel like getting annother :(. Too lazy to play through it again. But AW2 will make it's way to my GBA shortly after it's release.

I still haven't finished the first one! :(

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Originally posted by Hero
I still haven't finished the first one! :(

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Ditto, I've got about 6 or 7 maps to finish in the Battle Map area. I've been playing it a lot latly getting ready for AW2.

Most anticipated game of 2003 for me.

VBA, here I come. (after a token purchase, of course)

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Originally posted by Mzo
Know what's funny? The CPU hates transports with a passion. In the last mission, if you make a pair of them and send them away from your troops, there's chance he'll drop the meteor on the transport instead of your troops.

LOLZ!

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Well, that's the bug.

The AI always attacks APC's. If you build them 1:4 against your usual units and send them to the front, you'll buy a lot of time.

I've won maps with just APC spamming, some artillery and 3 guys.

The only exception is if you use the APC to move guys to their command center and have the guys capture them. That will take precidence over APC attacking.

Still, Sami and 3 APC's with 3 sets of same infantry/mech's equals victory in 4 days.

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Originally posted by Dolemite
I'm not sure. I think they gave the original Advance Wars something in the 9's. Anyone know for sure?

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No 9's thats for sure. It was something like low 7's and 8's(May have been a ^ in there, I've forgotten). The game became a big hit out of nowhere and so EGM decided to throw it in their all time 100 soon after. :rolleyes: So scores truly do mean nothing.

Advance Wars even surpasses Nectaris and Neo-Nectaris as far as I'm concerned (sorry, Haoh).

It seems quite ironic that after all these years of JP-only Wars games, North America gets one and Japan does not.

cool

Wait, is this shit out? I want to get it. :)

Man...loving this so far.

CO's now have 2 specials each.

Must play more, serious candidate for GOTY.

And, they fixed the APC bug, which is good news.

Wait a sec, I thought this wasn't out until the 26th...

arr, etc.

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Originally posted by Dolemite
Wait a sec, I thought this wasn't out until the 26th...

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Cmon now, you answered the question yourself.

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Originally posted by Roufuss
Cmon now, you answered the question yourself.

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Go back and read MVS's post. It sounds like he's playing it now.

the rom was leaked a few days ago.

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Originally posted by epmode
the rom was leaked a few days ago.

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This is what I meant Dolemite :p

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Originally posted by Roufuss
This is what I meant Dolemite :p

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Well, excuse me for thinking like a nice, law-abiding consumer and not like a software pirate. :p

Hmmm...I hope there is an advanced campaign, the standard one is pretty easy.

Ah. AW2. I've already got it preordered, but I hope that Gamestop is right and it comes out on the 23rd. I'm already ready to get my hands on it now so I wouldn't like having to wait a few more days.

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Originally posted by MVS
Hmmm...I hope there is an advanced campaign, the standard one is pretty easy.

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there is. incidentally, the egm review mentioned that the campaign gets very difficult around the halfway point. i don't know if it's true, as i stopped playing after the 3rd mission (waiting for the official release..)

Well, the first 16 were cake.

17 on seem a bit tougher, and make you work for it.

There are 4 continents, each with an army from the first.
Sam, Max and Andy return, but the other 3 all have one new CO.

There are 2 levels of specials now, and the 2nd level ones are pretty brutal.

Still, it's great so far.

I'm a little disappointed. I'm almost done with Green Earth, but I haven't lost a battle yet. Gotten decent scores, too. I hope the difficulty gets ramped up at the end. Still, for console strategy games, it doesn't get any sweeter than this.

Detailed Impressions:

Every Mode Returns, meaning: Campaign, Versus, Design Room, Link, Battle Maps and War Room are all there.

Campaign: This time around, there is no tutorial mode, instead, it tells you what to do in the first 8-10 missions. Easily skipped via start.

There are 4 continents, each for an army: Orange Star, Blue Moon, Green Earth and Yellow Comet. You select a mission to do on each island and have at least 3 CO's to choose from (which means a new Co for Blue, Green and Yellow). Each continent also has one map, where, if you find a map in by capturing a certain mission, you can find a new weapon that's pretty much the best armored vehicle in the game. There is a heavy focus not only on your opponents (who are tough and have some crazy Specials/Supers, but also the land based things around.

The first 16 missions are easy, then it gets tougher, and this time you've got land based things to worry about, such as lasers that will cut you from 10 to 5 and 5 to 1 (but won't put you past 1), Cannons that will do the same and have massive ranges of fire (and lesser mini-cannons) as well as 1 time use missle silos that any infantry can fire.

Instead of coins, you just get points, rated on a scale of 300 for perfect, seems as though anything about 280+- is an S ranking.

Beat that mode, and you can buy a hard setting, which, the first 3 missions in, is completely different maps than the first, which is totally cool.

The War Room Mode has all the maps from the first game to start with, and a shitload more to buy, so there's no need to get the first game if you don't have it. 2 pretty much has all of 1 and more.

Pros: Good challenge, new units, more CO's and Hidden CO's to get, You can change the color setting of CO's to 1 of 8 varaities, better maps and a new special system (now you have 2 levels, where the first is generally decent, the level 2's are brutal. Eagles 2 turn super is level 2 and Sami's level 2 allows her to use any infantry unit--I did it with a 2 health one--and capture a building instantly).

The APC bug is gone, so the AI is better and won't automatically attack an APC first if you keep sending them to the front, but cannons will attack the most powerful unit so decoy's can be used to an extent.

Cons: The other 2 bugs are still around, meaning the AI will create a unit next to a building if you are standing on it and they have no open factories (weak) and they will create a unit and attack with it on that turn (complete bullshit), but these are the only 2 inconsistent things.

Better than the first, I give it a 9.5/10 at least. Great game.

Okay...this game just went completely bullshit.

Now, not only do you have the bug where the Enemy can cheat by deploying a unit on a day and using it on that day, but it's even worse in AW2.

In addition to that, they can deploy 3-4 units at a time out of a Factory (not the normal factory but a enemy only building) and money has no effect on it.

When I get close, and there are no units that I can't handle, 3 fucking octopuss tanks suddenly appear and kill me before I can move.

Fuck you, Intelligent Systems, you suck monkey balls.

Well, not really, but it's a 8/10 now.

well, that sucks. how often does this seem to happen? in the few missions that i played, i didn't see either glitch.

The original one (From AW), occurs rarely, and seems like most often with Naval Bases and with Factories to a lesser degree.

If you have one of your units on that NB or F, the computer will simply create a unit one space away. That's minor.

In games that are against a tough opponent, for whatever reason, they will (again, rarely, maybe 1 time out of 20), create a unit and move/attack with it on that turn. That is bigger.

In the Hard Setting of Campaign, the occurance goes way up, and it happens almost every time.

This is a picture of a new factory, which has 3 doors, and on almost every single turn, the computer will put units outside of the factory and then move and attack with them on that turn.

It would not be so bad if the computer moved the units from outside the new factory, and then waited a turn to use them, but moving them outside and attacking on that turn pretty much nullifies the idea of a turn based game and allows the AI to use what would be 2 turns in one day.

When you add the fact that units that come out of this factory don't cost any money for the AI, you can see why suddenly spawning, and attacking with 3 MD tanks or something is a completely bullshit thing.

Picked up my copy at lunch today. So far I've just played through the first mission. Nice so far. I liked the intro. I still wish that they had training mode separate as I was ready to get to the "real missions" so to speak. I'll post some more after I play it a bit after work.

Matt, are the factories really that big of a problem?

Granted I'm only on stage 10 of the regular campaign, but all you apparently have to do is disable the pipes. Is this just extremely difficult to do in Advance campaign?

Shame about that flaw. Everything else is 150% better than the original. The missile silos are great fun especially.

Well, it's not an every map type of thing, which is cool.

Yes, all you have to do is disable hit the pipe (starts at 99 one Art strike and a MD Tank attack is usually enough), but getting to the pipe isn't that easy.

The main point is, why allow the computer to create units for 0 money and attack with them on that day in a turn based game?

What's next? The laws of gravity don't apply to AI cars in a racing game?

The silo's are good, but on most maps it just becomes placement and a race to get to the silo's first. Adding the benifit of capturing it as a standard building after you fire, would make it more worth while (since a 1-shot 3 damage spread isn't too deadly...though 2-3 are brutal).

Hard Campaign is touch and go, some are viciously tough (the ones with Pipe Factories) and others are very forgiving. I think it took me 33 days or something to defeat the 3rd map (a Max map) and I still got an 'S' ranking. A little too forgiving.

I am starting to like Colin as a CO, though. You can literally spam units all the time with his price (sometimes 20% cheaper than the other CO's) and his special which give's you 1.5 times the money you have is brutal.

I'm getting the feeling that AW2 is really geared toward multiplayer, especially with the new COs.

Colin and Sensei look like they'd be hella fun, especially in capture races vs. Sami. And it looks like they really increased Drake's usefulness this time 'round, with his 2nd level power that affects unit fuel.

Colin is good, but he can't hang with Sami.

Sami:
10 Infantry captures a building down to 5 left, she can be shot down to 3 and still make the capture on turn 2.

Colin: Captures down to 10, if he's shot down to 3, he can capture to 13 on day 2. If he can put another infantry unit on that buliding to make 10, he's must have at least 7 survive to capture a buliding on day 3.

He's not going to win a Rush and Capture race with her at all.

Never mind her Super which allows any infantry with any life to capture a building in one turn.

Eagle's Lightning Strike is a Super, not a Special, which is a massive de-tuning for him.

Sensei is interesting, and I like the good choppers (they will tear up Octopuss Tanks), but I've never had use for his specials beyond the better choppers.

If you are in a seige situation, where the enemy is coming in your area, then sure, the fleet of 9's airborne is good, but otherwise it's going to take a lot of APC's and T-Choppers to move them.

He's decent though.

God Damn GameStop is charging $36 for this game !!!! I did still get it though, and cant wait to try it out later today.

The first half was pretty easy, but now I'm getting to the tougher levels. The first factory wasn't that hard, but the one at Blue moons area is bothersome.

There are a few small things I miss in the game. There are no animations for the characters during battle now, you aren't the advisor anymore (so you no longer get acknowledged in the game), and the metal rankings are gone.

I can live without them, but with them the game would be that much better.

I didn't include the ones I think are kind of worthless...like Colin.

Jess isn't worthless.

Neither is Sensei.

Hell, Colin isn't either.

You should make one for 'Other'.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/s...threadid=20996

Wooh!!! Go Andy, no really I like the other co's, but I always play as Andy anyway.

Jess, Max, and Colin.

I'm a direct combat kind of guy.

Andy, Colin, and Kanbei, probably.

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Though only on certain maps. I loved Max in AW1 but he's been toned down.

Colin, Jess and Sensei are much better than Drake IMO.

Same as Burg, I liked Max the most. I havent gotten too far into AW2 yet, to judge on all COs yet, but so far Andy and Grit my faves now.

I like playing as Andy, but Sonja is cute... :D

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Originally posted by burgundy
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I loved Max in AW1 but he's been toned down.

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That's an understatement, Max was beaten down by an army of nerf-wielding timmys. While, Grit who was good in 1, got even better.
As for the topic, where is Hawke? Of those listed I vote for Kanbei.

Hawke is almost cheating.

Sturm, on the other hand, is totally cheating.

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Originally posted by Tigana
That's an understatement, Max was beaten down by an army of nerf-wielding timmys.

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I don't feel like his direct bonuses cancel out his crippled artillery anymore. I like Max better if he can build some choppers and bombers. On a strict ground map, Jess has a lot more tools.

I prefer Jess, she seems to pack that little extra punch that totally destroys a unit in one hit. Sensei, because his CO power is just both extreamly useful and funny to use on a human opponant. And finally Colin, theres a huge array of tactics you can use with him since you can build units quicker/cheaper.

Sonya got toned down the most.

Her specials are near useless now.

Just thought I'd put everyone on notice of the competition currently going on in the High Score board:

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/s...threadid=21052

This week it's Spann Island. So far it's just my own mediocre score up there, so get to posting!

I think we'll start it on Saturday night, Sleeve, and give a week.

Provided there is enough interest, I mean. Right now, it's only you and I.

I been playing this on and off for a while. Since I got released from the hospital I've been playing it more then anything, sans Esprade.

I'm on the mission called Mirror Darkly. Aggrivation is not good for my wounds and right now my aggrivation is at its peak. Any help with this mission might just save my life.

I've attempted it five times and I'm not even coming close. Please, I know MVS and Sleeveboy are practically generals. Any help guys?

regular campaign? or advance?

I was about to ask how a Poll suddenly ended up in a thread that I made, but I assume someone merged some threads.

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Originally Posted by epmode

regular campaign? or advance?

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Right after I typed up the post I went and played and finished it. Ain't that always the way?

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Originally Posted by BEBOPlover

Right after I typed up the post I went and played and finished it. Ain't that always the way?

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Yeah, you're at the point in the game where you'll probably have to restart and restart and restart until you get everything right. I think in that mission you just finished, the key was moving all your missles north to cover the HQ, and blow the enemies to pieces when they bottleneck near the top. That's how I won it, anyway.

I'm currently stuck on "Sea of Hope", the secret mission in Yellow Comet. It's just nasty, I hate the missions with time limits. I even consulted AW Revival's site, but an enemy always does something other than what the walkthrough shows (like a bomber nuking my infantry unit capturing a city :mad: ), which throws everything off. Those walkthroughs are a waste of time, don't bother with them.

I dislike the timed missions as well. I don't like to rush through the battles. Much of the enjoyment comes from relaxing and looking over the whole battlefield.

I refuse to begin FFTactics until I finish this. I finished another couple of missions last night and I just got in the mood to play right now.

Off topic, but doesn't some of the music just kick ass?

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Originally Posted by BEBOPlover

Off topic, but doesn't some of the music just kick ass?

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Yes, I agree. I love the sound of sampled electric guitars on 16-bit systems (like this game and FFMQ). That said, my favorite tracks are the ally Super Power BGM, and some of the pre-battle music when the BH CO's talk amongst themselves.

The bad guy's get some of the stand out sound. Except for the little girl with the afro.

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Originally Posted by OmegaFlareX

...and some of the pre-battle music when the BH CO's talk amongst themselves.

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the orage star pre-battle theme is my favorite song in the game. have you unlocked the sound test yet?

Sorry for resurecting a dead thread, but I just got the game and thought it'd be nice if there were actually a few people to talk about it with.

In keeping with the spirit of the thread, I'd have to say that Olaf is presently my favorite CO. Winter Fury (his super power) is freaking great.

That said, does anyone have any tips for beating his second missin? The one where you have to convert the eight cities surrounding the giant missle silo? It's only a three star mission, but it's eating me for breakfast.

This is a pretty straightforward mission. Just bomb your way out of the upper left corner with Andy, and blow up the two entry points with Olaf's tanks. It's pretty much a war of attrition after that. Just remember that Olaf's power will slow down Andy's planes.

But I only have fifteen days to capture eight cities, no bases from which to produce infantry, on three infantry units to speak of . . . and Flak just has way too many units. He clogs up the middle of the level. Every time one of my tanks gets a leg up and destroys a unit, his just rolls another one right in. This is all not to mention his ranged game. I know he might suck a indirect combat, but that doesn't matter when he's got four artilleries and two missle launchers pointed at me, all from a safe distance.

I know I'm just being whiney, and that I should bear down and kick his lilly ass, but I'm frustrated.

Thanks for replying, by the way. :)

I have another question. Do I have to achieve certain ranks on certain levels to make new things available in the shop, or do they just eventually appear?

You don't need any bases, dude. Just send up two troops in the APCs and bait him as best you can. The key is choking him off. Get your rockets and Md tanks into position so they have to move into your zone of death to proceed. Pick off the stragglers with Andy's bombers.

Re: the shop, all you have to do is finish the levels for a particular country to unlock that country's COs. Finish the Blue Moon missions to unlock Colin, Olaf, and Grit, etc.

Oh, and if you still need help, just go here:

http://awrevival.netfirms.com/aw2index_baek.htm

Awesome site! Thanks, man. You've been a huge help. :D

I tried, time and time again, to beat the last mission in the game, but it was just too much for me. I couldn't get anywhere, since Sturm's troops had every available path well-covered. Actually, I know I'd be able to do it if it weren't for the fucking time limit. My girlfriend was bugging me to start her own campaign, so I gave up and let her.

Even though I didn't beat it, I came away with great appreciation for this awesome game. The difficulty is nasty, though (specifically on the timed missions). If I ever play through it again, I'll have to remember to save my game before every turn.

This thread is resurrected the same day I started playing it again after a long time. Weird. I've yet to beat the last mission as well. I just beat the last single opponent mission in the war room, though.

I have not played in a while. I got the game in the summer and enjoyed it enough. It's is a very good game but I found it to be a bit of a letdown after the first, which I really really really enjoyed.

Technically speaking it's surely better than the first... but it seems like a rather lazy sequel. There were not enough additions or changes to the game, even though the >small additions< like missles, pipes, and more COs were nice. I also grew tired of the very momentum-based gameplay. My final nitpick is that the first game was fun in a quirky/kitschy way but the dialogue/"plot" in this sequel was just flat out corny and annoying. :\

It's still a very very good game... I was just slightly disappointed. I do need to go back and finish it eventually. I estimate I am 80%+ through.