Even though no one was asking for a sequel to Battalion Wars, it looks like we received a good one. Kuju Entertainment goes back to the battlefield with Battalion Wars 2, a worthy follow-up to its original GameCube effort.

The single-player campaign opens with a scene that eerily resembles something out of the Lord of the Rings films, albeit with tanks and modern-day weapons. The Solar Empire rushes ahead to deliver one last desperate strike against an invading army bent on dominating the planet. With the help of a satellite-summoning super-weapon, they crush this bothersome enemy resistance and restore peace to the land -- although it's only temporary. Fast-forward a few hundred years later, and war is once again on the rise, thanks to an evil armada bent on world domination. As a commander for the Solar Empire, your job is to shut down the resistance by using strategic thinking to get the job done.

Battalion Wars 2 uses strategy, but in a light manner. This is good news to gamers inexperienced to commanding other members of an army. It's a matter of pointing the Wii remote on-screen at targets, selecting the group of soldiers for the job and giving the order by pressing the A button. For instance, a bamboo wall isn't penetrable by normal grunts. However, flamethrower-carrying soldiers are more than willing to burn it down if you just show them the way. If you're too impatient to let others do your dirty work, you always have the option of running in and shooting at targets yourself by controlling any member of your faction at any time. It's a lot of fun, especially while riding a missile launcher, boat or aircraft.

Although the presentation doesn't look magnificent, Kuju accomplishes what it needs to with Battalion Wars 2. The graphics move smoothly enough at around thirty frames per second, occasionally dipping if too much happens on-screen. As far as audio goes, it doesn't amaze either, but still musters enough strength to get things done. The voicework is spotty, sometimes excellent and sometimes unenergetic. But the music is terrific and the sound effects don't disappoint.