Handheld
(DS) Drone Tactics
By Matthew Williamson
Jul 1, 2008, 7 :32 am

At first blush, it would seem there’s nothing to separate Drone Tactics from any other tactical role-playing game. I’m guessing that most people would even overlook the game in favor of more well-known, better-rated games in the genre like Front Mission, Advance Wars, Super Robot Wars or Final Fantasy Tactics. One shouldn’t judge a book by the cover, however. The game is cookie-cutter kiddy fare only briefly before it reveals itself to be much more interesting.

Starting much like a Saturday morning cartoon, the story establishes itself as paper-thin and only worthwhile in advancing the game. That’s fine, however, as it streamlines the experience for those who are uninterested in such things. The premise, such as it is, rests on a pair of childhood friends -- Yamato and Tsubasa -- who are interested in bugs and decide to visit their favorite place one day after school.  Soon, some of the bugs start talking to them; it turns out these bugs are in need of help at their homeworld and seek people who can hear their cry for help. The kids are then taken to the insect world of Cimexus where they help avert an impending disaster by stopping the enemy insects of the Black Swarm army.

The storyline takes the player through the war from the eyes of the good guys who are attempting to restore peace and unlock a secret past. As the story progresses, many friends and foes are introduced. Some enemies even turn to the side of good as they see the error of their ways through the punishment they receive from the player. If this seems a bit too kiddy for you, I should remind you that most of the narrative can be skipped, so it never overstays its welcome.

The pace of the game is fairly brisk. Drone Tactics breaks up what would normally have been a fairly linear path into three sections, using a great deal of dialogue to slow it down. First up are the main storyline battles, which start with a short amount of exposition. If this isn’t enough information for you, there’s a way to talk to all the other characters in the game in the Talk section between the main battles. Then, to make sure that the characters are at a high enough level, there’s the Badlands where you only fight enemies -- no exposition required. While the talking and the Badlands are technically optional, you need to complete about three Badlands maps between each story battle lest you risk encountering unbeatable opponents later on.

Combat operates fairly simply: the player gets their turn to move their characters, then the enemy gets to strike. The levels are laid out in grids with distance and attacks determined by the type of bug and their equipment. If you’ve played any other tactical RPG, you’ll fall right into place with Drone Tactics.

The intricacies of the combat are in its balance. Understanding and properly using the different types of bugs at your disposal is the key to success. After the player has targeted an enemy, there are four attack options: Melee, Gun, Cannon, or using a Card. Knowing your bugs and how best to utilize them makes all the difference in this game. A strong ground bug like the rhino beetle will probably strike with a melee attack, while a faster air insect like the butterfly usually attacks with their guns or cannon. The cannon attacks are used exclusively for distance attacks.

When defending, the player can either Counter, Defend, Evade, or use a Card. This is where the balance and insect comprehension comes into play. If a faster air-based bug is being attacked by a strong melee-based opponent then it’s best to evade their attack using its fast movement speed to avoid damage, rather than attempt to absorb it with weak armor. A word of caution: if the player selects Counter from the menu, they can only retaliate in the same way that the enemy is attacking. In other words, if they choose melee, you must answer with melee to follow suit. If you are a stronger character than the enemy and they’re most likely using your strongest attack form, be it melee or guns, then it would be wise to counter and do more damage to them than they did to you. On the other hand, if your main attack is your guns and the enemy will most likely use a melee attack, it’s ill-advised to counter, even if you out-level them.

Understanding how all the insects work (and there aren’t that many) while making educated guesses on how they’ll attack is interesting, but in the end it’s essentially a more complicated game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. It’s the addition of the aforementioned cards which makes the game much more interesting. While many card games and tactical RPGs exist, Drone Tactics combines them in a way that keeps the game interesting and unique.

At your disposal to help throughout the quest are cards which only the main characters can use, and they’re collected after each battle, if you’ve earned any. The cards are a fairly basic affair. They improve your defense or attack, perform specific attacks outside of combat, allow you to place barricades, and heal the selected insect or others close by. When a card is put into play, the player must perform a specific task on the touchscreen in the form of a mini-game. Some are simple enough that you can successfully perform them every time, while others are a bit more challenging. Some of the challenge comes from poor instructions, though once you learn how they work it can still be challenging to complete said task. This brings a small amount of risk to the game, in that you’re not necessarily always guaranteed to succeed and thus earn the associated reward.

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