

You can choose to select a large or small bounding box to control how quickly you're able to turn the screen with the Wii remote. To be fair, Kuju has implemented some Wii control advancements, though. If we've learned anything since Wii launched, it's that nunchuk motion controls are seldom reliable or satisfying. Worse, though, are controls mapped to the nunchuk - for instance, gesturing upward to make your individual soldier jump or flicking to the left or right while pressing the analog stick in the same direction to make him dive.

Further, precision deployments are rarely, if ever optional. You will seldom use the Wii remote to manually target enemies because locking on is so much easier. It all works very well, but the IR functionality of the Wii remote - an ideal fit for pinpoint deployments - is ignored. Meanwhile, you select different factions of your army with the Wii remote's D-Pad and send them on their way with the tap of the A button. You move your individual soldier or vehicle through the world with the nunchuk's analog stick, lock-on with the Z-button, and shoot with the B-trigger. While gameplay controls are adequate at worst and intuitive at best, we feel like Kuju has in some cases failed to recognize the potential of the Wii remote or misused the controllers. The sheer selection of military tools at your command is impressive, to say the least, and we're particularly happy with the long-overdue inclusion of naval fleets. And for the first time in the series, you can police the seas, too, using a combination of submarines, frigates, battleships and dreadnoughts. In addition, you'll be able to take to the skies with helicopter gunships, jet fighters, heavy bombers and strato-destroyers. It is at its very best during those "a-ha!" moments when you realize that - oh yeah - you can't fly your gunship in because the base is covered in anti-air weapons you'll need to deploy your bazooka vets instead to take those out first.ĭuring the course of the game, you will take control of everything from foot soldiers armed with rifles, machine guns, mortars, bazookas, flame-throwers ad anti-air missiles to ground vehicles such as jeeps, light tanks, heavy tanks, anti-air vehicles, and artillery battle stations. Kuju's winning formula of strategic planning and balls-out action is still highly compelling and fun, even if most of it feels familiar. The objectives are different in each of the title's 20-something missions, which span several campaigns across the globe, but you will have to be a quick strategist with a quicker trigger-finger if you hope to complete the levels in the second half of the game. You take control of different armies, each featuring different squads, and use your soldiers and vehicles to advance upon or defend against the enemy. The sizes of campaign worlds are huge and fairly wide open to explore, but the fluidity never reaches beyond 30 frames per second and sometimes - particularly during intense battles - falls short of the mark, which is disappointing.īattalion Wars 2 plays like its predecessor.
BATTALION WARS 2 WII ISO PORTAL PLUS
Battalion Wars 2 supports both progressive-scan and 16:9 widescreen displays, which is always a plus for videophiles - hey, some of us Wii owners sweat the little details, too. Indeed, one recon jeep gives the impression of driving the warthog from Halo. Vehicles have a similarly cartoon-ish style, but animate beautifully with realistic physics. For example, the soldiers are anything but brutish - they tend to be short and run alongside landscapes with exaggeratedly bouncy animation. While the battlefield environments usually look gritty and real - you'll see everything from post-apocalyptic wastelands to lush forests with running rivers and beaches - the military squads, vehicles and weapons that inhabit them are designed to be a little cuddlier. Like its predecessor, Wars 2 features a pleasing graphic style that hovers somewhere between realistic and cartoon-ish. All you really need to know is that a long time ago the Solar Empire created a super weapon to defeat the enemy and present-day battles are again being fought over the powerful tool of destruction. If you haven't played Battalion Wars before, the mess of warring nations from different eras may seem convoluted, but if you have, you shouldn't have any trouble following the premise of the advancement of the story.

The title begins with well-rendered and stylized cinematics and follows a tale that begins hundreds of years in the past and eventually travels to the future - and then to the past again in playable flashbacks. We tip our hat to Kuju Entertainment for endeavoring to create a unique storyline and moody atmosphere for Battalion Wars 2.
