Battalion Wars, known as Assault!! Famicom Wars in Japan, is a 2005 real-time tactics game created by Kuju London and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. Players control many different types of units, including infantry, armored vehicles, and aircraft, by managing these units and planning strategies to complete missions. The game’s story follows a player who acts as a battalion commander. The commander first joins a conflict between two nations, which ends with the two nations forming an alliance after a sudden attack by a third nation.
The game received mostly positive reviews when it was released and inspired the creation of a sequel called Battalion Wars 2, which was released for the Wii in 2007.
Gameplay
The game includes a single-player campaign that is played from a third-person viewpoint. Players control different units that form a battalion to complete a series of missions. The gameplay combines elements from third-person shooters and real-time tactics games. Each mission has primary and secondary objectives. Players earn a rank based on their final score, which is determined by three categories: Power, Technique, and Speed. Power is based on how many enemy units are destroyed. Technique depends on how many of the player’s units survive. Speed is measured by how quickly the mission is completed compared to a set time limit called "Par time." While the main missions focus on controlling forces from one of the game’s four factions, bonus missions become available if the player achieves an average score in a group of missions. These bonus missions allow control of troops from one of the other factions.
For each mission, players are given a selection of units, such as infantry, armored vehicles, and aircraft (except air transports). The number and types of units available vary between missions. Additional troops can be earned as reinforcements based on the player’s progress or by capturing POW camps and helipads. One unit is controlled directly by the player, with the camera focused on it. Other units follow orders given by the player, such as moving to a location, holding ground, guarding another unit, or attacking enemy units and structures. Orders can be given to the entire battalion, a group of the same units (a company), or individual units. This allows players to plan strategies based on the situation, such as defending a location. The camera can switch between an over-the-shoulder view and a battlefield overview. The in-game HUD includes a mini-radar that shows the location of objectives and units (friendly, allies, and enemies), as well as a battalion bar at the bottom that lists the units and numbers in a company. Players can pause the game to review mission logs, objectives, and view a map of the battlefield to locate units and current goals.
Units in the game are based on those from the Advance Wars series, but Battalion Wars includes unique units, such as light and heavy recon units, a variety of infantry units (including basic riflemen and units specialized against specific enemies, like anti-air units), long-range mortar companies, "battlestation" tanks, and "stratodestroyer" aircraft. These units function similarly to their counterparts in Advance Wars but have some differences. Infantry units can use cover to avoid enemy fire, man mounted gun emplacements, and be healed individually by collecting first aid kits dropped by defeated enemy infantry. Some objectives require players to capture flags, which can only be done by infantry. Vehicle and air units have manned machine guns that automatically target enemy units and can be repaired by picking up jerry cans dropped by destroyed enemy vehicles. Except for ground vehicles, players have extra controls when directly controlling an infantry unit, such as jumping over obstacles and rolling to dodge enemy fire. When controlling an air unit, players can adjust its altitude to avoid enemy fire.
Plot
The game’s world includes five nations located across two large continents and several islands and groups of islands. The western continent has rugged canyons in the west, wide plains and forests, and frozen tundra and snowy mountains in the east. This continent is divided between the Western Frontier in the west, based on the United States, and the Tundran Territories in the east, based on Russia. The eastern continent has a desert region called the Dune Sea in the west and a large, gothic-themed area in the east, home to Xylvania, a nation inspired by pre-World War I Germany, modern Romania, and vampire themes. The southern seas include islands, such as a large group of islands south of the western continent, home to the Solar Empire, a nation based on Japan with traditional and futuristic themes.
The main characters include General Herman, the leader of the Western Frontier; Colonel Austin, a skilled officer; and Brigadier Betty, a young officer with a uniform similar to a cheerleader’s outfit. The Tundran Territories are led by Tsar Gorgi, a former ruler who values strength; Marshall Nova, Gorgi’s son and successor who supports peace and progress; and Major Nelly, an experienced officer. The Solar Empire is ruled by Empress Lei-Qo, a wise leader with mystical powers. The main enemies are the leaders of Xylvania: Kaiser Vlad, the ruler; Kommandant Ubel, a large, strong man; and Countess Ingrid, a veteran pilot.
After a previous war between the Western Frontier and Tundran Territories, both sides maintain a tense truce, watching each other closely near their shared border. General Herman agrees to a military exercise suggested by Brigadier Betty to keep troops ready. During the exercise, a scout discovers Tundran forces invading the Western Frontier under Tsar Gorgi’s command. Gorgi, who dislikes peace, secretly attacks to end the truce. His son, Marshall Nova, stops him and takes charge of the Tundran forces.
As the Western Frontier wins battles against the Tundran Territories, Gorgi seeks help from Xylvania, a country damaged by the conflict. However, Xylvania’s leader, Kaiser Vlad, betrays Gorgi by attacking both armies with bombers led by Countess Ingrid. Gorgi is forced into exile after this betrayal. After Xylvania’s attack weakens both sides, General Herman and Marshall Nova agree to a ceasefire. The two nations then form the Alliance of Nations to fight Xylvania together.
To weaken Xylvania, the Alliance attacks the Dune Sea to stop enemy forces from extracting nerocite, a fuel used for vehicles. Despite challenges, the Alliance is helped by Gorgi, who returns from exile to fight in his own plane. Although the Alliance defeats Xylvania, Gorgi is killed by Kommandant Ubel. Before dying, Gorgi apologizes to Nova, who vows to seek revenge. When Xylvania plans to attack the Solar Empire, Colonel Austin helps the Alliance contact Empress Lei-Qo for support in defending the Solar Empire and invading Xylvania.
As the Alliance invades Xylvania, Countess Ingrid steals an ancient sword from Vlad to awaken the Iron Legion, an ancient army. The power of the Legion drives Ingrid insane, causing her to attack both Alliance and Xylvanian forces. The Alliance fights to destroy the Legion’s power source, the Cenotaph, and Lei-Qo kills Ingrid, ending the threat. The Alliance then captures Vlad’s capital, Vladstag, and defeats the remaining Xylvanian forces. Vlad escapes, but Kommandant Ubel is captured. After Xylvania’s defeat, the Alliance celebrates the end of the war. Nova reminds Betty that his father’s lesson was that peace requires being ready for war.
Development
The game was first called Advance Wars: Under Fire while it was being made and was planned to be part of the Advance Wars series of games. However, the game's idea was not meant to be connected to the Advance Wars series. Because the game had different types of gameplay and a story that was not related, the title was changed in the end for the Western release to avoid linking it to the Advance Wars brand. The Japanese version was instead released with the title Famicom Wars.
Reception
The game received "positive reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, the magazine Famitsu gave it scores of 8, 8, 8, and 7, for a total of 31 out of 40.
X-Play praised the game's focus on strategy and third-person shooting, as well as its colorful and cartoon-like art style. However, it noted that the controls were sometimes difficult to use and that the game did not include a multiplayer mode.
Sequel
There is a follow-up game to Battalion Wars called Battalion Wars 2, which was released for the Nintendo Wii. The story continues right after the events of the original Battalion Wars. The sequel explores more of the story, includes additional areas, and introduces new land, air, and sea vehicles for players to use.