Dynasty Warriors:GUNDAM

Long has the battlefield been filled with legendary Chinese warriors in an era when the dynasties were at war in the long-running Dynasty Warriors series that Koei would release quite often. It’s something, really, to watch these warlords clash swords in battle as massive armies surround you. Almost just as long as that, giant mechanized suits would clash in space in a futuristic struggle seen in past Gundam games as well as a much-loved Japanese anime series. Taking several pages from the Dynasty Warriors franchise and a few more from the Gundam series, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam for the PlayStation 3 is a game that could have been a fan’s dream come true but just falls flat in most departments.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam takes out the Chinese warriors and just keeps things in the Gundam universe in the Universal Century timeline. The game is broken up into three different game modes: Official Mode, Original Mode and Versus Mode. Official Mode takes you through a number of missions based on the anime series so much of what you’ll experience will be familiar to those who know the situations and characters revolving around key battles. All the familiar characters are accounted for such as Amaru Ray, Heero Yuy and Apolly Bay just to name a few of the characters that will be taking their armored Mobile Suits into enemy territory.

Then there’s Original Mode, a game mode that takes your favorite characters through a new and original storyline that’s actually quite entertaining enough that the story could have come from the anime series itself. It is here that you take control of returning favorites and their Mobile Suits, completing a number of objective-based missions. There are timed missions such as one where you have to be in one specific area of a map before the timer runs out and another where you’re trying to reach a lone friend who is taken on a large number of enemy forces. Basically, this mode takes you beyond the recognizable story elements contained in Official Mode.

Like Dynasty Warriors, there’s a huge playing map filled with a large number of enemies broken up into units. Each unit, of course, has a Guard and a few of them will have a boss. In the Dynasty Warrior series, the bosses or top lieutenants are distinguishable in the sea of cloned underlings and the same can be said about this Gundam edition. You’ll know you’re in the presence of a Guard or Boss because their Mobile Suits are different. This, of course, means you’ll have to plow through a number of enemy Mobile Suits that basically wait around for you to rip into them. Even with Guards and several bosses to defeat, the action is repetitive. Thankfully, the objectives add some variety to the gameplay but this is merely a game where you meet the enemy in combat, jump into the fray and smash your way to victory … over and over again. Anyone who has played a Dynasty Warriors game will certainly know what I’m talking about and if you’re a fan of the series, it might feel good to do the same only with enemies that aren’t ancient Chinese warriors. For others, this gameplay style just seems tired and pretty tame considering this game has giant robotic suits.

If you’re like me and fancy the anime series, Gundam does feature upgradeable Mobile Suits (each pilot actually receives their own distinct enhancement part upgrade) and sometimes combat can take on a more personal approach such as the times you go into Close Combat situations and your Mobile Suit’s lightsword locks with your enemy’s lightsword. You’ll even have to bring down whole battleships in some maps and this gives the game its challenging aspects both Dynasty Warriors and Gundam fans will appreciate. There’s even a multiplayer mode called Versus Mode that allows gamers to challenge a friend to a normal one-on-one match (called Normal Match), a one-on-one match with a number of AI-controlled enemies that allow you to power up or upgrade your Mobile Suit before facing off against your friend (called Warriors Match). Finally, there’s Shotdown Contest where you compete against a friend to keep the number of enemies below a set number and the player who reaches the 50 mark wins the contest.

As far as the controls are concerned, the game has a solid control scheme that works well enough whether you’re shooting down enemies or striking them down with melee attacks. Each Mobile Suit comes with it own skills such as the Elite Boost or the Shockwave that is released during an SP attack (each Mobile Suit has it’s own unique Special Attack or SP attack). One of the game’s biggest annoyances, however, comes in the form of the camera. It will often conceal enemies when the camera swings in when you’re trashing multiple enemies and it will often be the reason you are hit quite often.

When it comes to the graphics, the game is also a major disappointment. Much of the game’s overall art design as well as backgrounds feel like quality PS2 graphics and it certainly does not do justice to the PS3. There are a number of ground battlefields and a number of maps that take place in space but these backgrounds look extremely dull. What the game does right, however, are the Mobile Suit models that look sharp against the dull backgrounds and the cut scenes, while awkward, look pretty good. There are also some decent visual effects and it’s great to see so many enemies on the field at once.

The game’s sound fares better and it’s thanks to the game’s score that picks up nicely at all the right moments and it never gets old or annoying. What does get annoying is the English voice acting and it simply comes too grating that you’ll be happy that there’s an option to change the voices to it’s original Japanese voice work that’s actually far better. There are some decent sound effects and explosions throughout the game and anyone who has ever played a Gundam game will feel right at home with the sound Moblie Suits make when they clash up close and personal.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam for the PlayStation 3 attempts to bring two distinct flavors in one package but the result is an uninspiring game that becomes way too repetitive to be fun even for those who love the Dynasty Warriors brand or the anime goodness of the Gundam franchise. While there’s multiplayer mode that’s somewhat fun and a story set in the familiar universe, this game is a lesson in repetition, poor graphics and so-so battles will not be enough to draw fans of both genres to this lackluster title. This one is better off being a weekend rental for the hardcore fans.

Gameplay: 5.5
Taking out hundreds of enemies at once is nothing new to the Dynasty Warriors franchise but doing it in space is something else. Unfortunately, the novelty wears out quickly and despite a story in Original mode, the action gets a wee bit too repetitive.

Graphics: 4.9
The PS3 could do a lot better than this but while the backgrounds are considerably dull and the visual effects not as impressive as they should have been the Mobile Suits look beautifully detailed.

Sound: 7.0
When it comes the music, the soundtrack just sounds epic and it picks up nicely during the action and cut scenes. The English voice acting is really quite irritating and it would drive anyone to go for the mute button if it wasn’t for the Japanese dub that sounds just as good as any anime feature.

Difficulty: Medium
You will find yourself surrounded by the enemy and outgunned with the odds against you but like most Dynasty Warriors game each characters (and this time different Mobile Suits) have different strengths and you can always upgrade your Mobile Suit. The boss battles are brutal but it’s nothing that Dynasty Warriors fans can’t handle.

Concept: 5.5
You can upgrade your Mobile Suit and the game’s story mode allows you to taste a variety of different suits and characters Gundam fans will recognize. There’s multiplayer but it’s weak and the repetitive action of the single-player mode will mean you will probably be playing this once and forget about it quickly.

Multiplayer: 5.0
The game misses a big opportunity in putting you up against more than just a friend but the three Versus Battle game types are short burst of fun that doesn’t last very long. Warriors Match is actually a pretty inventive game mode … it’s just too bad you cannot take it online.

Overall: 5.5
Someone put Gundam in my Dynasty Warriors and sadly the two just don’t quite come together nicely enough to make this an action game fans of both worlds will love. There is really very little to like about this even if you’re a true Gundam fan or like a game that offers an anime-styled story. This is certainly a game you will seriously want to skip.