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You know a company has watered down a series when the slogan on the back of the box says “The greater the enemy. The greater the war.”, not a very good starting place for a game that had dried out about three or four titles preceding the release of Gundam.
When announcement came of the first sub series of the original Dynasty Warriors there had been some enthusiasm and hope – at least from a few – that Koei would produce these games for some of the other audiences who play as well as than the hardcore/traditional fans, you know, maybe making them a little more practical combat wise, and introducing a new and updated graphics engine. Unfortunately, we’re still yet to see this, instead we’re given new contexts of which to try the same hack ’n’ slash combat mechanics in, the latest being Gundam 2.
Gameplay:
To start from the beginning, Gundam 2’s opening movie definitely sets the scene for another Dynasty Warriors game; they relate more to a violent musical than a war game of any sorts, you have several of the main characters jump about with outrageous manoeuvres, destroy a load of set Gundams, then end it all with a finale against a flashy titled background screen. So that’s fairly familiar. Then upon the first menu screen you’re reminded of the great set of options you have and the overly convoluted sub-screens. With Gundam 2 though, it follows the same layout style, but the options are streamlined somewhat in comparison to most of the previous Dynasty Warriors’ and Dynasty Warriors adaptations, it may have been an improvement from Gundam here, but there are only really three major modes to choose from, and only two of which are completely playable from the offset.
You have the “Official Mode”, this is the equivalent of the major campaign of the series and where you’ll be following one of several Gundam Wing characters. Then you have the “Mission Mode”, and this is where a lot of new characters get introduced, but you have to unlock the mission types via the “Free Missions” within this section. And lastly, there’s the “Multiplayer Mode”, and probably the mode I was most disappointed by due to the simple fact that it was entirely ineffective at offering anything significant to the rest of the game.
For the players who aren’t familiar with the Gundam series, then the Official Mode will be the hardest to follow story wise. The majority of the characters – if not all of them – seem to start their stories in the middle of a saga, like we should have been following the animated series beforehand, so when playing this, be ready to be completely bemused. If you’re not playing the Official Mode, then you’ll be likely having a shot at the Mission Mode, and this is where you’ll get the freedom and customisation. You’ll start off by choosing a single character – which you’ll have to choose carefully, as if you don’t like them then you’ll have to start the campaign again – then you’ll be forced to play the Free Mission section, which is the starting point for unlocking all the extra mission types that will further you on to unlocking new gundams, parts and so on. And this is interesting, as it almost constantly has you working towards something special, and you’ll be constantly building upon your character. Multiplayer obviously allows you to pitch yourself up against other people, and there is the co-op option, however only having three modes, all of which are trivial face off type modes that don’t even suit this type of game, really lets the experience down.
One of the modes is called War Mode, and this would imply to nearly everyone that we could expect some large fights here, this isn’t exactly the case. Anticipating an all out Vs battle with my co-op partner, I was gravely disappointed we were instead pitched against each other by being thrown random tasks such as “receive a combo of 20”, or even more boringly “kill 10 enemies”. Then you have the cat and mouse multiplayer type (officially called “Hunting Mode”) where there are a total of four players, two that are the “Targets” the other two “Hunters” and you simply have to kill the targets to become a target, and then gain points. This kind of scenario might be partially interesting if it was set in a reasonable sized level, but unfortunately you have a choice of two levels, both incredibly small that have you taking on the cheap tactic of running in circles to avoid attacks.
It’s sadly unfortunate and unforgiving to say that the biggest difference to Gundam 2 and its counterparts are the lack of compelling multiplayer modes, but this really is the biggest change you’ll find. And the Xbox LIVE addition is solely a clone of the offline multiplayer.
It could be understandable that the hack ’n’ slash combat mechanics of Dynasty Warriors – even in its subseries titles – stay the same, as arguably by some it wouldn’t or shouldn’t be called Dynasty warriors without it, but the fact that there has been next no innovation for the fact that you’re in a mechanical suit, I’d at least expect when you hit something that there would be some heavy impact, but instead it’s almost exactly like you’re fighting dozens of Chinese warriors on an ancient Chinese battleground. If I had to mention one welcoming feature, out of the very little that has been brought to the table, then it would have to be the fact that you can customise your mobile suit with different parts as you fight your battles. So like you could get weapon upgrades in Dynasty Warriors, here you have gun, armour, and just general part upgrades making your controllable character that little bit more modifiable, but even this could have been developed further.
Other non-beneficial features to Gundam 2 are the setting changes. You can now fight in space; however, this is only welcoming when you’re bored of looking at the ground or just the walking animation of your Gundam, as there is next to no difference here then when you’re fighting on a planet. In space you’re on a set plain of which you float on, imagining complete freedom of movement when in space would be very complex, but maybe introducing a couple of extra plains for the player to jump up to could give the game the edge it desperately needs.
Other than the familiar characters from the actual Gundam series, the continuous sagas that follow them and the fact that you can upgrade parts of your Gundam, are probably the only majorly noteworthy new features that you’ll find in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2. The Mission Mode is fun to get into, but it’s nothing new, and in the end you’re really only going to be playing the same old Dynasty rehash of ‘move to this destination’, ‘save that person’, ‘retreat to that position’ while fighting countless waves of drones.
Graphics:
I think there is a certain reluctance and stubbornness in the Dynasty Warriors’ attitude to changing, and I’m pretty sure the engine has been used since Dynasty Warriors 2. Dynasty Warriors has never been about its visuals, and I know a lot of people – myself including – wouldn’t swap customisation and gameplay for just a great looking game, but a new engine at this point is really required to refresh the series in a way that’s needed. This should have been done on one of the earlier titles when this generation was still referred to as ‘next’.
Although Gundam 2 obviously still uses the same engine, there have been some adaptations made to suit the context it’s following. The game’s chosen style definitely makes the most of HD, strong bold colours and some sharp textures to compliment the animated them, which is at least some eye candy.
Sound:
A great use of pop and paced techno rock sounds are thumping throughout Gundam 2, it is matched with the constant urgency of the gameplay , and this isn’t quite as upbeat or ‘in your face’ as I remember with any of the predecessors in the series. This may just be of preference, but the grave music of the game does give it a more serious tone, which I felt it needed.
Other than the music, there are a lot of eccentric characters in Gundam 2, and one of their ways of getting a point across is to repeat the same sentence to you over, and over again. Dare do anything well in this game and you will be awarded with “You’re an amazing Newtype!” or along the lines of “I wish I had skills that matched yours!”. It might just drive you nuts after a while.
But Gundam 2 does also have some of the best quotes in any game, ever. I’m unsure if they’re deliberate, but nothing beats “Kamille’s a man’s name, and I’m a man!”, and what makes it better is that he looks like girl, sets the scene for some sort of false sense of security.
Longevity:
If you still have the patience for the combat, unlocking extra content, and the love for the Gundam Wing storylines, then this game will likely last you a good few months, if you’re a little bored of hack’n’slash, and have no idea about Gundam Wing, then I really don’t see you playing this for any more than a couple of weeks. The longevity in this game is really up to the player’s endurance for constant action and seeking upgrades.
Overall:
Even for the hardcore fans I’m sure re-iterations start to grind, and although Gundam 2 is a step out the Chinese and Japanese historical fantasy books, it’s still feeling rather stale. There are signs of evolution to the series; I definitely respect the Gundam parts customisation – brings back fond memories of Armoured Core – and I know that players will also welcome this new element, but without more risks along the lines of some innovated combat mechanics, or at least a new graphics engine, then the Dynasty Warriors series will continue to fall behind a more satisfying collection of advanced titles.
| Review By: Lee Burton - Overall Rating 5 (out of 10) |
| Gameplay: |
4 |
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| Graphics: |
4.5 |
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| Sound: |
6 |
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| Longevity: |
5 |
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| Overall: |
5 |
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