Tom Clancy's End War for Nintendo DS Reviews by Gamers

I tried out Endwar on the DS because of the review of the console version I listened to, and I was curious to see how it would be executed on the DS. I was surprised to find it was completely different, but not entirely in a bad way, as I love turn based strategy games.

As far as TBS games go, it's very comparable to Advance Wars, especially in general mechanics and vehicle types. The similarities mostly end there, with the differences ranging from good to bad. The overall graphic quality doesn't compare to Advance Wars. The map and unit art is average, but the 3D battle scenes are rather lackluster and could have used some personality to them. I do like the hex grid over the box grid, it's too bad there aren't more TBS games that use it. I also like the positioning mechanics of jamming, where you can get an bonus/penalty based on allied/opposing units surrounding you or your target, and blocking, where your units have an "area of influence" and enemy units can't just freely march around you. It adds a layer of strategy I feel has always lacked in Advance Wars and other similar TBS games. The other difference I really like is how there are move phases and action phases. In most TBS games, each unit moves and attacks individually. In End War, you input all your units' moves, then your opponent does the same. Next, you input your attacks, and your opponent follows suit. It makes for some interesting decision making, and further deepens the strategic experience.

Where the game loses out the most is it's lack of multiplayer options. It only has local multicard. There should at least be a hotseat mode for local, as well as wi-fi play and wi-fi map sharing (since it has map creation) like Days of Ruin has.

Otherwise it seems to be a solid single player games so far, with 3 factions (each a different difficulty), 3 theaters and 10 missions per theater (at least from what I've seen). Definitely for the TBS fan.