Battalion Wars 2 (or BWII), has received above average reviews from the professional gaming media, and all in all i think they've got it right this time (miracle, i know). The game is hard to describe, because its not your typical war game, its not really a deep RTS, and its not turn-based. The basic play of the game is to either reach a certain area (with or without a specific unit), destroy a specific enemy unit, or destroy a certain...thing. Each mission is pretty much described above, with slight variations of course. The story is actually really lame, the same goes for the VO (although i don't think its as bad as everyone says it is). Where the game actually hook you is the overall gameplay.



You control a battalion of soldiers at any given moment, hence the namesake. What makes this game unique is that unlike your conventional RTS game, you take direct command over a specific unit, all the time. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. The good-you actually feel as if your doing a part of action, and its fun to do so. The bad-it limits control over your other units, and could potentially cost you quite a bit (i mean victory/loss).



As you command your unit, you can lock onto a specific unit (be that enemy or otherwise), as do a variety of things. You yourself can directly attack it, send others from your battalion to attack it, or capture it (again, either directly or with other units). The overall mash-up of game ideas and gameplay styles means your not going to get bored easily. It does, however, make everything feel a lit loss, and as if it could have been better.



One of the most important aspects of the game is online play. You can play either with/without a buddy, and the matches play out incredibly smooth (very little lag time). There are 3 modes. Assault (conventional 'kill everything' mode), Co-Op (play through missions with a friend), or Skirmish. The game has a neat little way of keeping track of your online progress (something i wasn't expecting from an early Wii online game) by scoring you for every match. After several matches, you can earn a score (out of stars), and everyone you play will see it. I don't know if the game matches random players through rank, but i don't think so. Another cool online feature is the unlocking aspect. After playing a certain number of matches for a certain mode, you can unlock additional maps/missions.



However, all of the neat online features don't stand out if the game isn't enjoyable, and its a hard game to enjoy. BWII requires you to multi-task beyond belief, and when it works its great fun. Sometimes, however, the game will draw you in, and it becomes insanely difficult to command your entire battalion.



The camera is another faulty aspect of the game. You move it be moving the IR reticle, but it tends to get our of control whenever locking on to fast moving enemies. Sometimes it will simply refuse to obey your commands. For the most part the camera works fine, but the occasional mis-step will cost you dearly, specially since it is practical useless for targeting airborne enemies in close range.



All in this game is just as most reviews have called it: above average. It doesn't hold much to make it stand out of the pack for long though. The game can be found at varying price points in the US, making it a difficult game to recommend. I purchased the game at $20(USD), and at that price i fully advise any strategy fan to pick it up. At $50(USD), eh, not so much.