Every time I think my DS has had its day, something wonderful renews my passion in it once more.  This time it’s Advance Wars: Dark Conflict, and in my opinion it’s the best in the series yet - high praise indeed.

For those of you who may have had Advance Wars slip under the radar, it actually all began way back in 1988.  Famicon Wars was a turn-based, tactical military game, and little recognised outside of Japan.  Further instalments appeared on the Game Boy, Game Boy Colour and SNES before finally making its way onto the DS in 2005 with Advance Wars: Dual Strike.

Dark Conflict starts off with a brand new story unconnected to the previous instalments – great if you’re like me and are a little sketchy in keeping up with past storylines.  90% of mankind has been destroyed by devastating meteor strikes, and it’s up to a young lad named Ed (with a standard Final Fantasy hairstyle, obviously) and army commander O’Brian to save the day from warring factions, killer diseases and the constant threat of starvation.  If you hadn’t guessed by the plot description already, Dark Conflict has taken on a darker, post-apocalyptic edge compared to its earlier counterparts.  Gone are the bright colours, the oranges, the yellows, now replaced with shades of grey and an absolutely whoop arse, rockin’ soundtrack that’ll get the angst in your blood pumping. 

Of course, at the end of the day it’s all about positioning your troops over land, sea and air, to annihilate the enemy or capture their main base with as little blood shed on your side as possible.  Choosing where to place your units, what to build, and who to target is a delicate, time-deliberating practice.  A battle can go on for five minutes or over an hour, depending on the landscape and how you wish to tackle it.  I liken it to a rubix cube –constantly twisting and turning your options in the vain hope it’ll all match and fit before your fingers cramp up.

The hard rock, doom-laden new style may not be to everyone’s pleasing.  Personally, I’m happy they made the move to something a little different.  It’s a great way of enticing back bored players, and welcoming new ones.  You can also team up with your buddies and annihilate the crap out of each via Wi-Fi, as well as being able to create your own maps.  There are a couple of other new tweaks, but the important thing is that the tactical series with an extremely high calibre has just upped its game – so go play it!