Field Commander review

If you're already itching to get your bloodthirsty hands on the turn-based war machine that is Field Commander, you’re likely familiar with Nintendo's Advance Wars series. Though they both share many traits, there's enough grim-and-gritty action to make this title stand apart from its Saturday-morning-saturated competitor - glitches and all.

Each mission begins on a tiled map, decked out with cities, mountains and various weather effects. Your goal, most of the time, is to wipe out the enemy's forces by capturing cities (for the income) and mowing down all resistance (for the free trip to Hell). Some units are strong against others, so movement, placement and resource management are absolutely crucial. Think "murder chess" and you're on the right track, except here more than one unit can occupy a tile at a time.

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You'll take control of tanks, bombers and boats of all sizes, but what really matters is who's sitting in the cockpit. There are 15 divisions to choose from, each with its own areas of expertise - the Clean Kills, for example, can move swiftly but burn fuel faster and need more cash to build new units. Each division also has two special powers that enhance their already outstanding attributes. The Clean Kills, for example,have a special attack that canautomatically damage every enemy unit within 4 squares.

The entire you-go-I-go experience is shown through fairly realistic graphics, a sharp contrast to the eccentric caricatures of Advance Wars. Most everything else, from the way you capture cities to the 10 hit points per unit, is straight from the Game Boy/Nintendo DS series. It's all a matter of personal preference - blood and guts or super-quick off-the-wall mayhem.