insectwars
Latest
Metareview: Drone Tactics
Drone Tactics launched a few days ago in the U.S., introducing a novel combination of insects and strategy to our DSes. The game already appeared as one of our suggested alternatives to Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, so how does it stack up against Intelligent Systems' gem? Look! Some people answered that question for us:Game Informer -- 70%: Game Informer's Adam Biessener served up a second opinion on Joe Juba's review, remarking how Atlus' game isn't what it first appears to be: "At first glance, this seems to be yet another piece of kid-friendly shovelware, but there's actually a decent game hiding under the sub-Saturday morning cartoon presentation. The RPG elements in this grid-based battler are thin but well thought out, and the combat itself features several reasonably balanced rock-paper-scissors relationships that make for interesting tactical decisions."Nintendo Power -- 70%: Nintendo Power follows a similar tune, snickering at the story, but praising the core gameplay: "The result is a storyline that will elicit nothing but eye-rolls and nasal snorts from anyone over 12, but the game at the core of Drone Tactics is surprisingly well-made." [June 2008, p.87 -- excerpt found at Metacritic]Games Radar -- 80%: Meanwhile, Games Radar gave Drone Tactics its best review to date, singling out the title's lifespan and customization options as the best bits: "Another high point is the high level of customization the game allows. You choose the paint jobs and decorative emblems. You choose the bugs that go into each battle. You decide the weapons and armor that each bug carries into battle. You even get to put together your own deck of preferred battle cards. The further you go in the story mode, the more your insect army starts to feel uniquely "yours." [...] It'll take you 40-plus hours to finish the story mode. Longer if you try to complete all of the optional badlands missions. That's 40-plus hours worth of awesome battles and addictive customizing."%Gallery-14982%
More creepy crawler machines introduced in Drone Tactics
In the latest batch of Drone Tactics screens, we get to see some new insect mecha. These drones, which are part of the "Black Swarm," include a centipede, cockroach, moth, and spider. From the amount of different units available and their varying strengths and weaknesses, this title is looking just as deep and challenging as Advance Wars. It's still another month before we'll be able to get our hands on this game, but you can bet we're looking forward to it. Which drone do you guys find to be the coolest looking so far?%Gallery-14982%[Via press release]
We think Drone Tactics is still okay
At first, we were excited about Drone Tactics for obvious reasons: insect mecha. What's not to love about skinny, metallic antenna waving around in the middle of battle? But lately, the pithy one-liners we've seen in the screenshots are starting to win us over. On the face, these short lines of dialogue don't seem too important, but the "Booyas" and fools' deaths, we're finding the characters charming, if a little clichéd. Who knew we would look beyond the bugs? Check out the latest screens in our already-packed gallery and perhaps you'll agree.%Gallery-14982%[Via press release]
Check out more of the units in Drone Tactics
Atlus sent us some new media on their upcoming game Drone Tactics, focusing on some of the units that will be in the title. When this game hits store shelves come April, you can bet we'll be there to get our copy. Each time we see it, the game looks better and better.We've got some nice in-game screens, as well as some rendered art, all available in our gallery below. So dive in and get that notebook out. Knowing is half the battle, after all.%Gallery-14982%
The latest buzz on Drone Tactics
While the DS may be flush with strategy games lately, what it really needs is one that's all about bugs. Luckily, that need is set to be filled this May with Drone Tactics. Yes, that's right, May 13 -- pushed back from April, as rumored -- but from everything we've seen, it will be so worth the drudgery of waiting. Atlus isn't holding back on the media, either; they seem to want us to get an eyeful of the mecha insecta, and we're okay with that! Check out our updated gallery below for the latest.%Gallery-14982%[Via press release]
Collecting new Drone Tactics screens
Atlus released a few new images for March's Drone Tactics, the English-language version of Konchuu Wars (Insect Wars) that has us so very excited. This past year has been very strong for strategy on the DS, and it looks like 2008 is shaping up similarly. We're certainly not complaining; commanding an army of badass mech insects sounds just as much fun as, say, an army of pink squirrels. Maybe we just like armies. When it comes to this army, you can see some of the specific units on the Drone Tactics site, and for the new screens, head on past the break.
Drone Tactics buzzing our way
It may have a new name, but we still burn to get our hands on a little buggy strategy, so it's a good thing Atlus has decided to localize Success Corp's Insect Wars -- now Drone Tactics -- and bring it to the U.S. in late March. So why should you be excited? Because Drone Tactics has it all: RPG and strategy elements, 100+ weapons, 50+ maps, and what's more? Mecha bugs. Sign us up for two copies, so that we may force friends to play with us. Sadly, Drone Tactics does not feature Wi-Fi play, but that's okay. One can't can't have everything, or we'd never buy anything else.Zip on past the break to check out a couple of screenshots from the title, and you might want to check out the website as well, though it's a bit slim on content at the moment.
Bus-y bees advertise Insect Wars' release
We grew up terrified of bees, our fear multiplied tenfold after witnessing Macaulay Culkin's demise in My Girl, so we never imagined just how rippin' rad they could be when militarized. Seriously, guys, wouldn't a huge robot bee with a metal spike stinger and two gatling guns be awesome? You don't need to answer that question; we already know it would be. Nothing could convince us otherwise.The bee image we've featured comes from a bus that Success Corp. decorated to promote this week's release of Konchuu Wars (Insect Wars) in Japan. It's unlikely that North America will ever receive this niche title, an SRPG filled with war machines fashioned after bugs, but we have dreams of someone being tricked into publishing it here someday. A 50-inch plasma television has been installed on the side of the transport, playing battle scenes from the game during the bus' route through Tokyo's Odaiba and Shinjuku districts. The bus will be in operation starting today until August 12th. You can check out a few more photos and see what the buzz is all about after the post break. Success Corp. also added a developer's blog and new description pages for three units to its site over the weekend, one of which is the winged terror pictured above, the other two being an armored pillbug and a blades-for-arms mantis. It's like they're lifting ideas right out of our fifth grade composition notebooks!
Insect Wars preorder papercraft
Now that Kanji Dragon's release is behind us, it's time for us to set our sights on the next Success Corp. release that we plan to obsess over: Insect Wars (Konchuu Wars). The latest update on the tactical RPG's site shows off a papercraft model of a horned beetle -- just one of the dozens of customizable units in your army of mechanized bugs -- equipped with an intimidating cannon on its back. This will presumably be offered as a limited gift to gamers who preorder Insect Wars in Japan. Scurry past the post break for a better look at the paper replica.
Insect Wars is the bee's knees
We shooed Insect Wars (Konchuu Wars) away when the game's beetle-filled screenshots first flew into our periphery, believing the bug to be an uninspired pest. "Go away," we said, "and bother us no more." In our defense, language barriers kept us from understanding what the Success Corp. title was trying to communicate with its antennae and movement patterns. Having studied its habits, we found that the game isn't a Mushiking clone as we'd originally assumed, but a tactical RPG where you command an army of customizable, mechanized insects. Our mouths were agape, monocles falling from our faces when the truth was revealed. Below is a sampling of Insect Wars' creepy crawlers: a rifle-mounted praying mantis with buzzsaws -- my god, buzzsaws! -- for arms a lightning bug that terrorizes foes with its beam cannon tail a heavily-armored, treaded snail (pictured above) which acts as a transport for other units while healing them Not since Puzzle Quest have our loins ached for such a game. Insect Wars swarms into Japanese stores this August 2nd. Head past the post break for a minute-long trailer.
