Review | Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2

Format: PS3, Xbox360 | Genre: Action-strategy | Publisher: Koei | Developer: Omega Force | Out now: £39.99

By Paige Barclay

Playstation and anime fans will be familiar with the Dynasty Warriors series, and also perhaps the newer Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series. Arguably the most notable difference between the two series is the robotic, futuristic theme which defines the Gundam collection.

Even so, both Dynasty Warriors series have a huge following in Japan and this has slowly made its way towards the West. Fans can see by the familiar sight of massive armies of enemy units bundled together over each battlefield that this is a Dynasty Warriors game. Plus another prominent feature of the game that seems to appeal to so many fans is the hack-and-slash combat system, just straight-forward button-mashing. And the latest to join the fans’ catalogue of instalments is Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2, the second of Koei’s Gundam games to be based around the distinctive action strategy that followers have become so very familiar with.

//Quantified
Upon an initial glance through the game, I could immediately see it offered an abundance of different options. The game was already throwing various modes of play at me, evident just from the title screen. On further inspection, I discovered that the four characters playable from the word ‘go’ also had their own selection of missions taken straight from the popular anime series. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, the positive impressions don’t continue. Even when a game offers truck-loads of playable missions, characters and unlockables, that doesn’t make it worth your time to complete every aspect. The saying “quality over quantity” really seems to have been overlooked in Gundam 2, and multiplayer, although fine, offers next-to-nothing different to the single-player experience. Every mission features the same form of objective – this being to capture certain ‘fields’ and aid your allies in doing so. To secure these fields, you’ll have to defeat a set amount of enemies to bring the field’s power down, and eventually capture it. Occasionally, more powerful enemy robots will appear to defend these areas, meaning you then have to defeat them in order to progress. A particular annoyance of this is that the fields are usually spread out all over the map, which seems too large for the objectives at hand. Although each Gundam robot has a boost ability to make travelling around each map easier, the engine over-heats terribly quickly, which is frustrating if the need to travel a large distance arises.

//Testing your patience
Combat is no doubt the focus of the game, and sadly it offers very little diversity. There are a few combos available by pressing buttons in a certain sequence, but these are neither rewarding nor encouraged. Throughout battles there will be a fair amount of times when you’ll be able to unleash your character’s unique SP Attack, the most damaging of all available to you. During battles with the larger robots, however, the player will encounter a form of short mini-game. This seems to have been implemented to offer a different look at the combat, but really only proves to be an annoyance at the best of times.

So basically, in short, the majority of the time playing this game you’ll be button-bashing against hordes of enemies. Plus, while doing so, there’s nothing particularly nice about the background environments to look at. Each seems hollow, repetitive and empty, and everything looks the same – including the enemy robots, which rarely seem to change in appearance.

//Following the threads
An essential for a game so focused on a specific story is for said story to be understandable for even a newcomer. Gundam 2 throws the player right into the action without any meaning or obvious purpose to them. Unless you happen to be a hardcore fan of the anime series, you’re unlikely to fully understand what’s going on.

It’s worn away further by its delivery via droning, repetitive voice work. Leaving out the fact that the English cast’s acting regularly made me cringe, each character only seems to have a small collection of phrases to say in battle. These can quickly get irritating and, in fact, may even drive you to put the TV on mute.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 feels like more of a chore than a joy at various points, and there’s nothing new or innovative over the previous game. Despite the commendable amount of missions on offer, the quality gameplay is just not there. This is obviously one game intended only for the most loyal of fans.

4/10