Nobody loves the Nintendo DS more than n•Revolution but even we have to agree that the handheld is only suited to certain types of games.

Mini-game compilations, party games, platformers and puzzlers, all these are the sorts of game the DS has in abundance. But war games?

Big, loud and exciting war games with bombs falling everywhere and tanks roaming across hills and crushing everything under their tracks? The Nintendo DS isn’t powerful enough to do that kind of game justice, surely?

That’s what we thought until Brothers in Arms came along. This amazing war game has completely changed the way we think about the DS. It’s like having a full-sized console game in the palm of your hands. Ok, so the graphics aren’t quite as nice, but the game does everything you would expect a big screen version to do. There are soldiers running everywhere; all the tanks, planes and other war machines you’d find in a Brothers in Arms game; and even huge buildings that fall to the ground when you fire a rocket at them. As far as its visuals are concerned, it’s a masterpiece that does far more than anyone ever thought possible with the relatively modest power of Nintendo’s handheld.

But what about the way it plays? Surely, with all these polygons onscreen, the game will run at a snail’s pace and be completely unplayable? Well, no, there’s a little bit of pop-up but that’s it. The framerate is nice and smooth and, just as importantly, the controls work like a dream. Using the D-pad to strafe, shoulder button to fire, and stylus to aim works naturally and provides the sort of accuracy we’re used to experiencing with a mouse and keyboard. Throwing grenades works especially well. You just drag the grenade icon along the bottom screen and watch the aiming reticule move on the top screen, then just let go and watch as your soldier lobs the grenade exactly where you intended it to go.

It feels as though Gameloft has left no stone unturned in ensuring that Brothers in Arms works perfectly on the DS. Not only are the controls fantastic but the design choices also show that a lot of thought has been put into the way people play handheld games. Each level is just the right length, for example. Handy icons always remind the player exactly where they should be going and what they should be shooting at so that the pace never slows down. Hugging walls and crouching into cover is all completely automatic too, so the player never has to fiddle with complicated button schemes just to avoid enemy fire. It’s all geared towards quick bursts of effortless play.

There’s really nothing bad that can be said about Brothers in Arms on the DS. Some people might be put off by the war setting, of course, but even they should give the game a try at least once. The graphics are so impressive, the interface so slick and the experience so much fun that this really is a game that every Nintendo DS owner should experience. And if you still aren’t convinced, we’d even go as far as to say it’s better than Metroid Prime Hunters. It really is that good.