Battalion Wars 2

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Battalion Wars 2
Developer(s)	Kuju Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Battalion Wars Famicom Wars (Japan only)
Platform(s)	Wii
Release date(s)	NA October 29, 2007 EU February 15, 2008[1][2] AUS March 20, 2008[3]
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter, Strategy (Real-time tactics)[citation needed]
Mode(s)	Single Player, Online[4]
Rating(s)	ESRB: T (Teen) OFLC: M PEGI: 12+[5] USK: 16[6]
Media/distribution	Wii Optical Disc

Battalion Wars 2 is a video game for the Wii console.^[7] It is a sequel to the Nintendo GameCube title Battalion Wars. The game was officially announced August 23, 2006 at the Leipzig Games Convention.^[4] It was developed by Kuju Entertainment,^[8] which also developed the GameCube predecessor, and was published by Nintendo. Battalion Wars 2 was released on October 29, 2007 in North America and on February 15, 2008 in Europe. In Japan it is known as Totsugeki!! Famicom Wars VS where it is considered part of the Famicom Wars series.

Gameplay

Battalion Wars 2 gameplay combines land, sea, and air combat. Unlike the first game, which did not feature naval combat, the sequel has several new sea-faring units: Battleship, Frigate, Submarine, Dreadnought and Naval Transport (landing craft).^[4] Also, the Light and Heavy Recon units from the last game have been replaced by merely the Recon unit which has the Heavy Recon's defense and extra gun and the Light Recon's speed. Including the prologue, there are 20 playable missions, and six factions in the game, including the Western Frontier, Tundran Territories, Solar Empire, Xylvania, and Iron Legion from the last game, and a new nation called the Anglo Isles. The game also allows troops to capture facilities for higher respawn rates, and benefits (such as HeadQuarters, Barracks, Factories, Air Bases, and Docks) that can be used to generate more units.^[4]

Battalion Wars 2 also features three separate online multiplayer modes, including skirmish, assault and cooperative. In skirmish, both sides start out with a pre-deployed force with facilities to replace units that are lost. The objective of the game is to earn as many points as possible by destroying enemy units within a specified time limit. In assault mode, one player is given a siege battalion to destroy the opposing player's assets.^[9] The third mode is co-op in which two players join forces to tackle a much larger computer. They are given certain units, forcing them to heavily rely on the other.^[10][11] The lack of multiplayer was among the more commonly cited shortcomings of the first game, but this was addressed in the development of the second,^[12][13][14] although the game still lacks a splitscreen multiplayer mode.

Plot

Prologue

200 years ago, the Iron Legion, ruled by the fearsome Lord Ferrok, were on the brink of total conquest. Ferrok, believing victory was at hand, gathered his armies at his stronghold, the Iron Tower, to prepare for a final onslaught. But at the last moment, the Solar Empire, the last nation still standing after the Lightning Wars, invaded Old Xlyvania and began a last-ditch attempt to destroy the Legion. After a series of battles, Empress Qa-len, monarch of the Solar Empire, dropped a strike battalion equipped with a powerful staff deep into Legion territory. The strike battalion were to take the staff to the top of the Iron Tower to activate a satellite super weapon which would destroy the Legion. Unfortunately, Lord Ferrok's bombers found and eliminated them. However, a lone Solar Empire rifle grunt (the player) found the staff just as it was about to fall into enemy hands before proceeding towards the tower! The grunt's rifle was supercharged by the staff, also creating a shield around the grunt. The Staff Bearer defeated Legion infantry, heavy tanks and gunships before destroying Ferrok's precious Battlestation. The explosion from the Battlestation destroyed the protective wall around the tower making the path clear for the Staff Bearer now accompanied by three Solar grunts. After defeating the grunts guarding the tower, the four Solar warriors infiltrated the tower and activated the satellite's superweapon. After the huge blast from the satellite which destroyed the Iron Tower and the Iron Legion, Qa-Len found the staff in the Solar Crater and proceeded to an icy wasteland, where she threw it into a chasm in hopes that it may never be used for evil purposes. But little did she know that 200 years later, the search for the staff would put the nations of the world at war.

Solar Empire Campaign

Colonel Windsor and Commander Pierce of the Anglo Isles launch a preemptive strike on the Solar Empire, believing rumours that they are constructing a superweapon. An invasion force including a squadron of fighters and bombers led by Commander Pierce and a battleship fleet led by Colonel Windsor attack the Western Frontier Naval base situated on one of the Solar Islands. At the Imperial Palace, Admiral A-Qira interrupts Empress Lei-Qo to inform her of the Anglo attacks, but the Empress already knows and says that "history has come full circle, just as she had foreseen". After a series of losing battles, the Anglo Isles finally withdraw their troops and return to their home country. They realize that the Solar Empire has no superweapon, but Admiral A-Qira says that "honor demands that we launch a subsequent attack immediately", and prepares for a counterstrike even if Empress Lei-Qo forbids it.

Western Frontier Campaign

In the Western Frontier War Room, General Herman tells Brigadier Betty about the Frontier's early hostilities with the Tundran Territories back when Tsar Gorgi, Marshall Nova's father, was still in charge of the Tundran Territories. Tundra invaded the Frontier believing they had created a superweapon, just like what was occurring in the present day Solar Empire and Anglo Isles. Herman tells Betty about the war that went on between Tundra and Frontier forces, and then afterwards when the two finally made a peace treaty. He also mentions that he saw Xylvanian troops in Western territory, but never found out what they were doing or why.

Anglo Isles Campaign

After A-Qira is done organizing his forces, the Solar Empire, with the help of the Tundran Territories, invade the Anglo Isles. Colonel Windsor and Commander Pierce take on the might of the two nations. Although initially doing well, A-Qira is eventually pushed out of the Anglo Isles. As A-Qira is on a ship witnessing the Anglo bombers attacking his naval fleet, he drinks from his canteen, upset that he is losing the war. A few seconds later, Kaiser Vlad appears on his boat, surprising A-Qira and reintroducing the Xylvanians from the original Battalion Wars game. He then suddenly realizes that Kaiser Vlad has tricked both the nations into starting the war against each other. Then he starts coughing and turns pale, realizing that Vlad has poisoned his drink. Seconds later, A-Qira dies, and Vlad takes over, radioing his troops to see how the invasion of the Tundran Territories is coming along.

Iron Legion Campaign

While Xylvanian and Tundran forces engage each other in Northern Tundra, Vlad frees Ubel from his gulag by gassing the two Tundran grunts who were guarding it. Vlad then proceeds to tell Ubel that he has "discovered the key to vengeance upon the enemies of Xylvania", thanks to the Iron Legion's defeat. He then goes on to tell Ubel of the many battles which took place in Old Xylvania during the final days of the Lightning Wars, when the Solar Empire made a final attempt to annihilate the Iron Legion before they took control of the world, taking the player back before the prologue of the game.

Tundran Territories Campaign

After telling Ubel of how the Solar Empire defeated the Iron Legion with the Staff of Qa-Len, as it is later called, Kaiser Vlad finally proclaims that he knows that the staff is buried deep in an icy chasm located in the Northern Tundran Territories, and he will stop at nothing to find it, even if it means completely destroying the Tundrans themselves. In the final campaign, the player takes control of the Tundran Territories' forces (though forces from the Western Frontier, Solar Empire, and the Anglo Isles all become available at some point in this campaign) in an attempt to repel Vlad's expedition for the staff. The Alliance of Nations fights its way through Tundra and destroys Vlad's Mining Spider, a gigantic vehicle that he is using to dig up the staff. Vlad and Ubel escape from the spider as it is being destroyed. At last, Vlad finds the Staff of Qa-Len and uses it at the last possible second. It causes massive destruction, and all of the Alliance of Nations' CO's narrowly escape with their lives. Vlad and Ubel are trapped in the ice and they get out .

Online play

On this game, you can go online(Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection)and play this game with anyone online. There are three modes: skirmish, assault, and co-op. In skirmish, you go against the other person and the person with the most points when the timer ends wins. In assault, you go against the other player and complete the objectives to win if you are the attacker. If you are the defender, don't let them finish the last objective. In co-op, you and the other player work together and defeat the other army.

Rated

This game is rated T for teen by the ESRB.

Reception

IGN rated the game an 8.0 out of 10, citing an impressive story mode, addition of naval units, mostly intuitive controls, and fun online modes. Sticking points included that Kuju failed to capitalize on or misused Wii's control enhancements, the inability to play through the single-player campaign in online cooperative mode, and the lack of voice chat. GameSpot gave it a 7.5 out of 10 for drastically improved pacing in campaign, a decent attempt at online play, and excellent production values. Its downsides were the strategy is still "lite", is overly simple, and the artificial intelligence and story are rather modest.^[15] Official Nintendo Magazine (UK) gave the game 90%, criticizing the lack of a "retreat" command and the occasionally fiddly controls, but commending the graphics and strong online mode.^[16] Game Informer gave the game a 7.25.^[7] Hyper's Dylan Burns commends the game for its "heaps of units and high production values". However, he criticises it for its "iffy motion control and being a bit too cutesy".^[17] Xplay gave Battalion Wars 2 a 4 out of 5 stars commenting on the better pacing and addition of Naval units.

References

External links

• Battalion Wars 2 at GameSpot
• Battalion Wars Wiki at Wikia
• www.warscentral.com