he original Battalion Wars for the GameCube was an interesting experiment in adapting Advance Wars into a 3-D real-time game, but many were disappointed by its short campaign mode and complete lack of multiplayer. With this second installment, playfully nicknamed BWii, developer Kuju Entertainment sought to add more variety, as well as Wii controls, to the first title's base gameplay.

This is a game that really benefits from the Wii remote. The point-and-aim mechanism Battalion Wars 2 uses is intuitive, and shooting down planes is especially satisfying. The game's different camera angles allow players to choose a close, action-like perspective or an aerial, top-down view.

The setting for the skirmishes consists of a world of stereotypes. Whether it's the vaguely Asian "Solar Empire," the painfully British "Anglo Isles" or the Cold War Soviet "Tundran Territories," each nation feels like a caricature that's offensive to someone. The voice acting doesn't help - especially for the Solar Empire. Kuju wanted them to sound like a Far East nation, but it feels like they never decided which one, and then they tried it with a British accent. Regardless, the story seems like an afterthought, and should be treated as such.

The campaign mode, while slightly longer than the first game's, is still a bit short. Completionists will be kept busy for a bit longer, but clearing each mission only takes a few hours.

The online multiplayer is fun, but it could have benefited from more options. The three modes are different enough to make them worth playing. Skirmish is a standard mode where kills and captured buildings determine the winner. Assault is much like Capture the Flag, but with only one base that an outnumbered army must defend for a set number of minutes. Co-op is a set of missions that two players must cooperate to complete. There are a few things, though, that hold back the online experience. The scenarios are few in number and simple in strategy, and the low number of players makes it tough to match up with someone.

Though Battalion Wars 2 is, for the most part, an enjoyable game, it suffers from the self-reference to the Advance Wars series. The menus, victory screens and mechanics all echo the popular handheld strategy titles, and BWii plays nothing like them, so the comparison it makes doesn't work in its favor.

Battalion Wars 2 is a solid title that just misses the mark of greatness. Offline multiplayer, a more in-depth campaign mode or more than 2-player online play would have put it over the top. As it is, it's a fun diversion that ends just a bit too soon.

Nov 12, 2007 | 0 comments
Graham Russell