Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 (PS3)

...years ago, developer KOEI (of Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors) was going through a phase to try and bring out new "Warriors" games, slapping on a new design and look to the games, but generally the same basic gameplay mechanics. Now, comes a sequel to one of those games, known as Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2.

Sticking to what they do best, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 doesn't offer anything different to any other "Warriors" ...
...session.

Overall - 5.8/10

The repetitive gameplay and lacklustre design, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 most defiantly doesn't stand out of the pack. But if you're after some mindless mech-fighting, and aren't bothered by the repetitive "Warriors" gameplay, then this will defiantly be for you.  ... more

Difficulty: Very easy.
Learning Curve: Around 10 minutes.

A few years ago, developer KOEI (of Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors) was going through a phase to try and bring out new "Warriors" games, slapping on a new design and look to the games, but generally the same basic gameplay mechanics. Now, comes a sequel to one of those games, known as Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2.

Sticking to what they do best, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 doesn't offer anything different to any other "Warriors" game. The gameplay is identical to the prior game, where you simply string together a few combos to destroy the numerous enemies on the field. Yes that's right, that's all you do.

Though, something KOEI has also gotten into the swing of doing, there is a variety of new game modes for you to play in; the main one being Mission Mode. In Mission Mode, you choose one of the various characters from the many Gundam series universes and go through a large set of different missions, allowing you to level up, find new bits and parts to upgrade your gundams and grow relationships between other pilots throughout the game's universe. The main fault to this is, the missions do not vary when you play through with different characters, each character only gets 4-5 unique missions, and all the rest are the usual generic ones that are shared between the whole cast.

Another new addition is versus mode, which allows two people to face off against each other, or for a first time for KOEI, you can go head to head online with up to 3 other people and face off in a handful of different modes. As usual though, you will still have the very beneficial co-op, which allows you to play battles with a second person, but still there is no online co-op option yet, which is a big shame with today's technology, there is no excuse. The game still offers its usual set story-line for a specific amount of characters in their Official Mode, where you will have the usual offering of cut-scenes, battles and crude dialogue between characters based on their actual relations from the anime series.

There are some new additions to the battles, well, mainly there is a new specific unit you can now fight a giant robot on the battlefield. These giant robots are normally presented as a kind of "boss" of the level and can be extremely tough to take down if you just go in there guns blazing. But if you know the tricks of the trade, which you'll learn very early on, they are way too easy to take down and defeat, though it still looks fairly cool doing so in the process. The main problem however, is when you are facing one of these robots, the camera locks into a position and focuses on the giant robot, while disallowing you to see the 100's of gundams surrounding you during the fight. This is a major flaw as it distorts your fighting, and you can receive some very cheap hits because of it.

Gameplay - 5/10

Nothing special here, you won't see anything different from all other "Warriors" games, but with the new giant robot it brings a slight new look at how the game is played out. But with there being nothing new to the gameplay's core, it just ends up being another disappointment in KOEI's game catalogue.

Design - 6/10

The artworks are very good and true to the anime series, however the game graphics really lets this game down. With today's technology in the current gen consoles, you expect decent textures, detailed environments and smooth frame rates, but as usual, the game offers rough textures, awful looking environments, plastic looking character models and dodgy frame rates that can't keep up with the amount of action going on at the screen.

Sound - 6/10

The voice cast did a fairly impressive job here. They certainly suit the characters personalities. Though too many lines get repeated far too often during battles, which start to get very repetitive. The background music isn't too bad, there are some good moments which make the battles seem epic, but nothing really above average here. The sound effects are all in place here too.

Value - 6/10

There is a lot you can do in this game, there is defiantly several hours of gameplay and story to get through, but the gameplay is so repetitive that you won't want to keep playing through the same thing over and over again to see more of the same. The online mode adds a bit to the replay value, but with hardly anyone playing it, and the lack of modes, it certainly is not anything to draw you back for another session.

Overall - 5.8/10

The repetitive gameplay and lacklustre design, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 most defiantly doesn't stand out of the pack. But if you're after some mindless mech-fighting, and aren't bothered by the repetitive "Warriors" gameplay, then this will defiantly be for you. 

...less