Another division in BWii is the mode of play. You can enjoy the storyline (Campaign) or you can go online (Nintendo WFC). In storyline mode, you play through the Nations at War: Western Frontier, Tundran Territories, Xylvania, Solar Empire, Iron Legion and Anglo Isles. Each faction has a unique look and theme. Although, that’s what’s somewhat annoying about the game.
After the Prologue, your first true campaign is to defend the Solar Empire against the Anglo aggressors. After a while, I didn’t like this idea. The Anglos are stereotypical Western Europeans. Think British Imperialists. The Solar Empire is comprised of honorable Asians. Nope, that’s too close to World War II for me. Racism in any form should not be tolerated. While BWii does have a good storyline and strong lore, too much of it is based upon cliche ideology.
You’ll see how that gets annoying when an NPC starts yelling at you in broken English… do this… do that… for the honor of our nation. Shut up already. I get it. Use the Flame Units against infantry and the Bazooka Units against tanks. It’s this forced dialog that hurts the game. Sometimes I’m just not interested in what the game has to say. You can skip cutscenes – THE SECOND TIME AROUND. That means be careful about your saved game files. I deleted my saved game because I didn’t like my 2-5 record in Online Skirmish battles. When I recreated my saved file, I had to play through the tutorial… all… over… again.
As you play though the game, bonuses can be unlocked. Depending upon how many enemies you defeated, how quickly you beat the mission and how many of your troops were left alive, you are graded on each mission. I always find striving for absolute perfection to be frustrating, but the option is there. If you want to see things like concept artwork or unit dossiers, you’ll try to get as many “S” grades as possible. (An “S” grade is better than an “A” grade.)
There are bonuses to unlock in online mode. There’s no easy way to say this, but Online Play just wasn’t that great. Skirmish and Assault is a watered down, almost lifeless version, of Player-vs-Player. While parents can feel good about the nearly pristine playing environment, gaming veterans may find BWii Online mode to be stale and dull. There is next to no communication with the other player. While I don’t have to hear the other player call me a noob, there’s nothing exciting about this match. There is nearly zero chance to make new friends.
There is a communication system in co-op; check the manual and loading screen for that mode.
There’s a way to send basic command messages to your co-op player. However, that’s no where near enough communication. The article states, “There is next to no communication with the other player.” The reason for the exception is because of cooperative mode. The co-op “Assist This Unit” or “Affirmative” doesn’t really count to me. There’s no way to have a true conversation.
If you’re playing with a new player in Co-op, you can’t answer basic questions… How do I jump? How do I capture the flag? You’re a great player, but do you want to try a different map?
The best is when someone declines a rematch. The game actually states, “Don’t take it personally.”
I like your review and especially I like your site design. Nice and clean.
I hope you have more polls and game reviews regularly
Be sure to post on the IGN Wii board when you have new reviews up. At least until you have some kind of email newsletter thing going.
I hope you do one for Fire Emblem which is coming out next week. Would also be nice if you could include some screenshots with some captions.