Quote:By Vincent Goodwin
Nintendophiles

Wait...why isn't it called Cube Wars?

The Advance Wars series is by far my favorite franchise on the Game Boy Advance. Because of its portable success, rumors had been floating around that a Gamecube version would be coming around sometime in the near future. These proved true, as this morning Nintendo announced Advance Wars: Under Fire for the Gamecube and tonight the N-Philes staff got their hands on a demo of the game.

I would be lying if I said that I was entirely pleased by Advance Wars: Under Fire. The first thing to be noticed is that the turn-based strategy traditional to the series has been abandoned in favor of a real-time battle system. Why the hell did Intelligent Systems choose to do this, you may ask. Funny story. Intelligent Systems isn't making the game. Instead, Kuju Entertainment, developers of Reign of Fire for the Gamecube, have been signed on to make this game.

At the beginning of the E3 demo, I found myself in full control of one small infantry unit in the middle of a large 3-D environment. I hopped inside a tank with the simple push of the B-button (as guided by the ever-so-helpful tutorial lady), called a pair of friendly tanks to my side by pushing X, similar to summoning Pikmin, and made my way down the battlefield. Another battalion joined up, expanding my party to about twelve. From my post in my tank (which can be easily switched to any other unit by pressing Z), I could call upon any of the units with the D-pad and assign them a task with the Y button. It took a while to figure out the controls (as every button is used), but I quickly got the hang of it.

During this level, my troops and I stormed the beaches, Normandy style, as we attempted get the upper hand on the enemy. An allied transport copter flew by, so I took control of it and deployed its cargo, which just happened to be about eight to twelve infantry troopers (far more than any chopper could hold in previous Wars games). Let me tell you, these units are tricked out. My personal favorite is the Flamer. Now, some people may protest to flamers in the military, but personally, I'm for them. I mean, he shoots, a flame-thrower that is rather effective against enemies. Other interesting developments are also starting to show up, such as the fact that multiple units were required to fulfill all the functions of my tank, such as the bazooka on my gun turret.

The demo we played did not feature any way to construct reinforcements, but past Wars titles did not allow players access to any bases, airports, or seaports in many of the early missions. I'm sure that they will all find their way into the completed version though. There is also an entirely new cast of Commanding Officers, but no word on whether or not CO Powers will appear. At this point, I don't know exactly how they would function in a real-time environment. We'll see when it gets released sometime next year.