Buy Me.

What an awesome game for the GBA. This game excels in just about every area and has a great amount of replay in it. Multiplayer alone will keep you playing for years. Anyway, on to the breakdown.

Gameplay:: Flawless execution. There seems to be a perfect number of units for this game. Any more, and it would make for a more indecisive, and longer battle. Balance seems pretty good (no NOD bikes here), and resource management is handled perfectly by the 'turn' system. You earn money each day (or turn) for each base you have captured. This makes forging ahead a necessity. Bases are just as important to capture as enemies are to destroy. You can't really 'hole up' and play a waiting game. The C.O.s abilities are varied and most seem pretty good, although if there was one area that could be a little unbalanced, it would be here. Some C.O. abilities usefulness pale in comparison to others (think Olaf). The maps are great, and I love the fact that your terrain type can play a good role in your strategy. The campaign is challenging, and not very linear. Nice plot twists here and there to keep you guessing. Difficulty is moderate, and at times, downright easy, but some missions will have you scratching your head. And just wait until you head to the war room. These maps are MUCH more difficult than most campaign missions!

AI:: Can get pretty tough, and at times, you'll see why. Unfortunately, in some instances, patterns will emerge and it makes their next move somewhat obvious. Watch out though as the AI manages their ground units quite effectively when they're on the hunt for property. However, there are some instances when you can exploit some interesting bugs with how they act. For instance, if my tank is sitting on a base, and a ground unit, or any lesser vehicle than my tank is right in front of me, it will never attack. It's as if it looks at the defense of the base, the power of the tank, and decides it has no chance what-so-ever. While you'd think this is smart, as long as I don't attack, I can count on those units not moving and creating a road block of sorts. They won't shuffle them around to let a more powerful unit step-up head on. One way areas (like bridges and mountain passes) can be kept blocked using this flaw.

Control/Interface:: Perfect. The ability to move, see your range from there, then undo is fantastic. The control scheme works perfectly. Everything requires very few button presses to accomplish. The options for the game (like turning off animations) are numerous. The one thing that I would of liked is the ability to check out my units while waiting for my turn in multiplayer. It would speed up the games a bit and give me something to do while I wait for my turn.

Visuals:: It suits the game perfectly. The battle animation sequences are pretty, if not basic, but the battle unit graphics look great. The overhead maps are pretty dull, but are easily understood. The playfield units here are easy to read which is all I care about. Simple 3-step animations accompany them and do the job fine. The graphics in general are not the 'best', but they really are secondary to this game anyway. It's the gameplay that has you playing... all else is highly forgivable.

Sound:: The music is actually pretty decent, and the battle sounds do their job very well. If anything, it would be nice to hear some of the battle sounds pack a bit more 'ommphh' when they hit their targets, or when larger vehicles fire off some bigger rounds.

Replay:: More than I'll probably ever get to. You can buy C.O.s as well as new maps with coins earned from battles. The number of maps is way up there, and there's all sorts of types to buy (war room, vs, 3-player vs, etc...). As if that wasn't enough, you can create, and trade, your own maps (and then, of course, battle your friends). What more can you ask for? A DAMN good deal for $29.99. Multiplayer alone is worth the price.

Conclusion:: Get it. It's weakest point is graphics, but even then, they're so secondary to the game itself that you'll probably not care about them at all once you start playing. Get a friend and grab a seat because some multiplayer battles will have you busy for hours. Getting bored of the stock maps? Create your own then... This is one hell of a game that has me anxious for a sequel already.