Great Little War Game HD: Advance Wars on the iPad
Turn based strategy is a genre that (in my opinion) has always been lead by Advance Wars, a game series for something as small as the Nintendo Game Boy Advance (and later DS). The cartoony look and feel of the game with great balance and overall gameplay made it one of my favorite games back when the GBA was the hot thing in town. Great Little War Game HD is the bext best thing, and it’s on the iPad.
I vaguely remember reading about this game before it came out, but then forgot about it. Then today Touch Arcade posted a review, and I immediately ran to the App Store to get it. A few missions into the campaign the best way I can describe it is somewhere in between Advance Wars and Worms.
Turn based strategy is a lot like real time strategy, but has more of a Chess element to it. You don’t need to panic to react to sudden attacks, but can take as long as you want to move your troops and attack, based on how far they can travel and attack range per round.
GLWG HD is designed to look very cartoony, and has a lot of elements that shows it doesn’t take itself too seriously (the part that reminds me of Worms). As an example, you can download voice packs to replace the voices that your units talk with when you move them or they get attacked. Phrases you might hear include “Are you happy? I’m dead!” and will provide you with a few laughs before it gets repetitive.
The graphics are great (and according to Touch Arcade they will get even better in a couple of weeks with a new update) and the game looks very polished and high quality. It’s clear that this game is built from scratch by people who know what they’re doing, and the game fits the iPad perfectly. It’s fun and casual, but at the same time not childish. I suggest you take a look at the short gameplay video above to get a bit of a feel for how the game works, and if you decide to buy the game afterwards it’s only $2.99 and well worth it. Map packs and voice packs cost extra, but even if you buy everything currently available you won’t break $10 IIRC.
