SO this game was just released today, and I happened to be in the store when they delivered it, so I picked up a copy. I'm about 6 missions into it, and it's definitely darker than any of the previous titles.
The new troops I've seen so far have added little to the game. In fact, it seems it'll end up being very simple and a lot less complex than the previous DS title. Now for some, this may be a good thing, but to me, it took away a lot of the versatility so far. It's still a great Advance Wars game, and the story is definitely one of the better ones, with a real sense of tragedy and purpose to the main character. I'm not sure how I feel about this one overall, but it's definitely the same Advanced Wars. If you liked the previous titles, there's certainly no reason you won't enjoy this one. Just not sure I'll be playing it for as long as I played the previous one.
The newer troops have done nothing for me... especially the antitank. Rockets are stronger, and are Artillery is almost as strong as it. Artillery is 6k, while Antitank is 11k, and rockets are 15k. I'm either going to buy two artillery to get more damage done, or save up for a rocket. It's not a bad unit, but feels obsolete. I do like getting rid of the Neo/Mega tank and making it just one tank. It got to the point that Neo tanks were obsolete. The new moto-infantry is good too, as well as the flare tank in the fog of war maps. Haven't reached any air or sea battles yet however. While the moto infantry is good, I only build cheap infantry to capture anyways, and I doubt I'd make more than 1 or 2 flare tanks in a fog of war map.
THE JACKEL