Warbits review
:: WAR NEVER CHANGESPrice: $3.99
Version: 1.0.0
App Reviewed on: iPad Air 2
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Have you ever wanted to play Advance Wars on your phone or tablet? If so, Warbits has got your back.
This turn-based strategy wears its inspiration proudly on its sleeve but, impressively, manages to be more than just a simple knockoff.
War inspiration
When drawing comparisons to Advance Wars, Warbits has more similarities than differences. Both are cartoony military war games set in a colorful universe, provide the challenge of wiping out your opponent or capture their HQ, and have a rock-paper-scissors dynamic between the different unit types.
The list could go on, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Advance Wars games are quite good.
Breaking formation
The best thing about Warbits is that it lifts the systems and mechanics from Advance Wars without trying to be a carbon copy. All too often, there are mobile titles that take a beloved game and make slight cosmetic changes, switch around some names and call it a day. That is not happening here.
Warbits has its own universe and characters. It's universe also happens to be creative and downright charming.
Some of the systems present in Warbits also operate a bit differently, like the use of special powers, which help keep it feeling different from Advance Wars too.
Taking flak
Sometimes when taking inspiration from something, you can adhere so closely to its construction that you replicate its flaws. Sadly, this can certainly be said of Warbits.
For example,Warbits has the same kind of unfriendly AI as Advance Wars. Unless you are used to these kinds of games, it can be pretty difficult to make it through the campaign without consulting a walkthrough on a few levels.
Also, online play requires Game Center, so anyone experiencing the prevalent the Game Center bug can't duke it out online until either Apple or Risky Lab makes a fix.
The bottom line
There's a lot of great things to like about Warbits, primarily because it borrows heavily from a great series of games. More than that, Warbits manages to inject its own personality to keep the experience from feeling like a pure rip-off.