Originally enlisted in Nintendo's Gamecube library as Advance Wars: Under Fire, Battalion Wars, as it so happens to turn out, doesn't have much to do with the GBA's Advance Wars series, beyond superficial similarities and inspirations. Developed by Kuju Entertainment, Battalion Wars would probably be best considered an AW spin-off of sorts. There is absolutely no denying that the game's colorful and cartoony aesthetics are directly influenced by Intelligent System's classic portable strategy series, as is the overall strategic gameplay orientation. However, in the case of Battalion Wars, the strategy plays out in real-time, with a mix of run-and-gun third-person action that provides a completely unique experience from its turn-based cousin. And quite frankly, it is easily one of the best Gamecube titles to come out in a long while.

The Advance Wars games have always put a less brutal, more whimsical plot spin on the whole war genre, and that's clearly what Kuju has done with Battalion Wars. At the start of this storyline, the Western Frontier armies and the forces of the Tundran Territories are at odds with one another over border control issues, which eventually boils over into all out war. After battling it out for a while, the two factions reach a stalemate, only to have the nefarious Kaiser Vlad and his Xylvanian faction strut in to take control of the two war-weakened nations. Led by the quirky trio of General Herman, Colonel Austin and Brigadier Betty, you take control of the Western Frontier troops and form an unexpected alliance with the Tundrans, and even later with another faction called the Solar Empire, to take the evil Kaiser down for good. Rarely does Battalion wars take itself seriously, with its quirky characters and cartoon-stylized take on the ugly topic of war, and honestly it is just a refreshing thing to see a game of this type not go down the well-trodden path of realistic wargaming. If you're expecting some masterful epic then you're simply looking in the wrong place.

In general, real-time strategy games and their PC-based control schemes have never translated that impressively to the realm of console gaming, but Battalion Wars finally changes all that by combining fast-paced third-person shooting unbelievably well with basic RTS mechanics and an accessible control scheme that requires only a small learning curve to get to grips with. In Battalion Wars you control one unit of a massive army at any given time, and like a squad-based shooter you can order the rest of your troops around at the push of a button. When directly controlling your one character, you can perform the usual third-person shooter actions, such as shooting, crouching, jumping, rolling and strafing; however, when managing the rest of you AI-controlled squad you can give orders to follow, hold position, attack and advance to target, all at the simple tap of the X and Y buttons.

Where Battalion Wars shows its RTS mettle is in its further depth of unit control. By flicking the C-stick, a menu pops up at the bottom of the screen that enables you to micromanage your army with much more detailed instructions. The various unit and vehicle types are each divided into their own squads, and by using the C-stick menu, these squads can be controlled individually or collectively. Going even deeper, individual units under each squad type can additionally be singled out and ordered around, so there's a ton of army control provided here and it's all intuitively designed. You can even hit the D-pad to pull the camera out from its standard third-person view Local view to an RTS-style isometric Global view, in order to see what lies ahead and command units more strategically.

In the thick of some of the crazier battles, managing so many units can get pretty chaotic and even a bit confusing at first, but for the most part the interface is a cinch to work with, and after a few missions of practice you shouldn't have too much of a problem. It's also worth pointing out that even without giving specific commands to each individual unit (in case you find that easier than taking the time to learn the command system), your AI teammates hold their own intelligently on the battlefield without the hassle of constantly babysitting them to make sure they get in on the action properly. When in huge clusters some occasionally get stuck on one another for a second or two, but it isn't anything detrimental to the gameplay.

The true beauty of Battalion Wars lies in the freedom it grants you to complete missions in multiple ways. If you are akin to taking it slowly and using brains over brawn, the RTS command system and detailed pause screen satellite map provide every tool you need to plan your attack tactics according to which enemy installations are in the way of your destination. On the other hand, if full-on action is your style of choice then you can easily focus on running and gunning, while only utilizing the bare minimum of micromanagement options. I would certainly say that going the strategic route gives you an advantage, but both methods work, so feel free to play in whichever way floats your boat, or switch between the two as the mood takes you. As both a strategy and action game, Battalion Wars succeeds with superb results, no matter what style it's played in.

Another source of freedom comes in the ability to switch between any units currently under your control at any given moment. By using the C-stick to cycle through the command menu as already explained, you can select individual units and press the Z button to instantaneously switch to the chosen target. Combine that with the extensive roster of unit types, which includes rifle grunts, flamethrowers, bazooka infantry, mortar veterans, tanks, recon vehicles, artillery, gunships, fighter jets and more, and you're looking at nearly limitless variety in playing however you want. Being able to jump from the boots of a lowly rifle grunt straight to the cockpit of a fighter jet is just beautiful, and it always provides you with the opportunity to try new things and play differently with each mission.

Speaking of missions, Battalion Wars is a mission-based game spanning twenty campaign missions in addition to four unlockable bonus missions. Over this campaign, missions are broken into main objectives that must be completed for success, which usually comes through capturing or defending bases and destroying certain targets, with optional secondary objectives, such as freeing captive units, proving to make finishing the job a simpler task. After each mission you're also rated on your performance based on how much damage you dished out, how long it took to compete the mission and how well you used strategy to keep your units from dying. While this ranking system is merely a feature for game perfectionists out there to work on fully completing, the game's four bonus missions do require high mission performance before they become available to play.

As I eluded to earlier, Battalion Wars draws most of its influence from the Advance Wars series in its use of a cartoonish graphic style, instead of the typical realistic and gritty visuals games like this normally have. And honestly, I love the unique appeal of this style, and the fact that it looks incredible anyways only makes it that much more of a visual treat. While nothing is likely to jump out and have you foaming at the mouth, the overall presentation and production quality is top-notch; every graphical detail, from the quirky and fluidly animated caricature-esque character models to the detailed vehicular units, the open environments, the varied terrains and the special effects like explosions and gunfire, is all pumping out of the understatedly powerful Gamecube at a constant rate.

The audio, to a slightly lesser extent, is also quite impressive. Battle ambiance is pulled off beautifully with explosions, gunfire, unit chatter and airborne vehicles all pounding through the speakers to provide an intense war zone experience, while the background music, though subtle, is a great compliment to the lighthearted style. For the most part, the voiceover work is also well performed, matching the cartoonish nature of the story. Of course, a few of the characters border on annoying at times (mainly Betty and her squeaky voice), but the overall acting quality is fantastic.

The only noteworthy flaw holding Battalion Wars back ever so slightly is its lack of content. Everything the game has to offer is strictly tied to the campaign, which only lasts about five hours in clock time. That time is misleading, though, since most missions will require multiple tries to complete (this game is quite a challenge), which doesn't count towards the saved time data, so the ultimate completion time is actually more around ten hours or more. Thankfully, there are those bonus missions to unlock that extend the lifespan a little further, and the game does lend itself very well to replaying finished missions as well. Multiplayer, which would've been so unbelievably amazing here, is nowhere to be found, and generally speaking it's just a letdown that there isn't more to do with the fantastic gameplay being offered. In a way that is a testament to the quality of the game; when a title leaves you wanting more like that, you know it's a superb effort, and for all intents and purposes Battalion Wars is definitely that.

With Twilight Princess still not out yet, triple-A games sure are needed to fill the void for Gamecube owners until it finally arrives, and for my money you aren't likely to find many games for the Cube better than Battalion Wars. Yes, the relatively short-lived campaign that's lacking some type of multiplayer feature hurts a little, but once you sit down, play the game and see just how much fun it is, you'll easily be able to forgive this shortcoming.

Reviewed by Matt Litten for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).