Many critics will call out the
Dynasty Warriors series for not having evolved with the move to
next-generation consoles. It has always been a straight-forward hack-n-slash
title that doesn’t deviate from its formula. This is what attracts fans of the
series to continuously come back to the franchise and plunk down their
hard-earned money – they know what they are getting when they buy a Dynasty
Warriors title. When KOEI and Namco Bandai announced their partnership to
combine the popular Gundam and Dynasty Warriors series, fans of
both were intrigued at what may possibly come from the pairing. Well, in its
second iteration, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 fails to keep up it’s
momentum from the original and proves to be stuck in the mud with moving
forward.
The biggest concern about Gundam
2 is that, while the action is still relatively entertaining, it’s the
environments and battles that fall flat on their face when the action gets
going. Players are still tasked to button-smash their way to the end of the
game, but instead of having beautiful scenery or glorious battles to engage in,
Gundam 2 feels as if it’s running on an empty tank.
Fighting against giant robots set in
a futuristic environment, the Gundam universe is one that should allow
for drastically diverse battles. Instead, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
serves up the same ole’ routine from the original; players fight the same
enemies throughout the course of the campaign, and they should do so in
relatively easy fashion due to the low difficulty level. All of the Gundams
(giant mechs/machines) come equipped with standard attacks and charge attacks –
mixing both up in a variety of combos, the enemies are quickly disposed of.
There shouldn’t be any issues with blowing through the game in record time to
collect all of your achievement points. If you do find it difficult to take down
your opponents, then you should focus on building up your SP attack, the most
powerful attack a Gundam has, to lay waste to anything that stands before you.
Dynasty Warriors 2: Gundam
has an Official Mode, Mission Mode, and Gallery Mode to partake in. Official
Mode borrows from many of the story arcs from the Gundam anime – it’s your
simple linear storyline mode from start to finish. Mission Mode gives players a
chance to pick and choose what mission they’d like to play. During Mission Mode,
players are tasked to collect parts for their suits and continue moving from
zone to zone to finish the levels. Gallery Mode isn’t about the action, but
instead, it details players on character biographies, provides movie clips to
watch and the like. If you’ve played the original or any Dynasty Warriors
title in the past, you know exactly what you are getting yourself into.
Once you move past the repetition,
the game does support a wide variety of Gundam mobile suits to build and collect
parts for. On top of that, there are a handful of bosses to encounter in battle
that are, to my knowledge, from the Gundam continuity. To spell it out, plain
and simple, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 is a title aimed for its fans, and
its fans alone. If you are new to the Gundam universe, it’s highly
advisable that you start in a different medium since the video game isn’t a wise
choice to begin your journey.
For players that are just looking
for action and don’t care about the storyline aspects, Dynasty Warriors:
Gundam 2 isn’t going to wow anyone, but it should be a serviceable rental.
There are offline and online multiplayer options that do their job well enough
to keep players interested. The only problem with the multiplayer is that it’s
similar to the single-player – the only difference is that you are forced to
hack and slash enemies that are controlled by human opponents. So if you’re
looking for more difficulty in your gameplay, and want to play with fans that
enjoy Gundam also, then the online is the best starting point.
What else could be said about
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 that gamers can’t already figure out by the name
and publisher behind the title? The formula is fairly simple, and KOEI rarely
ever breaks tradition with the franchise, so there’s no reason why people would
pick up Gundam 2 expecting to be amazed with glorious visuals or original
gameplay. If you have the original, it’s not even worth upgrading to the sequel
since the differences are diminutive.
Gameplay: 6.7
Even with the faster moving robots – as opposed to the slow moving humans in
traditional Dynasty Warriors titles – the series is in need of an
overhaul.
Graphics: 7.0
If you’ve played the original then you know the Gundam series is much
better in the technical department than other KOEI titles. The framerate is
stable and the robots look and move great. With all of that considered, the
visuals still don’t look “next-gen.”
Sound: 6.0
Get ready to be bored by the American voice-casting.
Difficulty: Easy
Concept: 7.0
Mixing and matching two popular franchises is still looked upon as a smart
decision in my book.
Multiplayer: 6.0
If you’ve played the original or the single-player modes, you should know
how the multiplayer plays out – just more hack-n-slashing to be done.
Overall: 6.6
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 should exclusively be played by its fans.
Newcomers won’t appreciate the storyline or building the mechs as much as a
fanatic would.
