One of the most crucial decisions in an Advance War game against a real opponent concerns appointing an appropriate commanding officer. In Advance Wars: Dual Strike, players determined on which map the scuffle ensued, which helped in CO selection. The same can’t be said for Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, where Worldwide WiFi matches occur on random maps and have different conditions. It is essential to know the new COs and their capabilities – which is where this list comes in.

The following is an in-depth review and ranking of eight of the 12 playable COs in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. I’d have liked to have covered all 12, but I have only clocked 23 hours in the game and reached chapter 20 in the campaign so it is impossible. Each of the characters’ pros and cons concerning their abilities are listed in an attempt to help players jump right into WiFi with fair warning. There are absolutely no spoilers for the story mode, but people who like to begin a game with no prior knowledge concerning characters may want to stop reading here.

The new COs are listed from absolutely essential to almost useless. Boosts granted by the COs spheres of influence, known officially as the CO zone, are gaged by stars since that is how the game describes them.

Title: Advance Wars: Days of RuinPrice:$34.99System(s): Nintendo DSRelease Date:1/21/08Publisher (Developer):Nintendo (Intelligent Systems)ESRB Rating: “E10+” for Everyone 10+Pros: Interesting new direction, great story, fantastic new units, WiFi compatible, stylus control actually worksCons: Fewer COs, hard to charge CO powers, overly challenging at timesOverall Score: 9.5/10

I was prepared to despise Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. I had a whole little litany composed in my head, extolling the virtues of Advance Wars: Dual Strike and raining fire down upon Brenner’s Wolves. It was going to be a beautiful symphony of indignation.

Then I played Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. I loved it. I ended up caring about the characters, and loving all of them almost as much as I loved Jake, Sasha, Colin, Hawke and Lash.

It is totally different than the other entries in the series. It has been stripped bare. Literally. There are fewer commanding officers, there are fewer CO powers, there are fewer extra menu options and there are even fewer colors. Instead it is a more realistic representation of warfare.

Despite that, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is incredibly entertaining. The overall message is even very optimistic, despite the dismal tone that accompanies assorted events throughout the game.