Mobile Suit
Gundam SEED: Never Ending Tomorrow marks the zillionth time a Gundam show
(which there are a zillion of) has been turned into a video game. Being a fan
of the series I think it’s great that they haven’t stopped trying to turn it
into the ultimate interactive experience. The thrill of mobile suits clashing,
the insanity of trying to stop a million man and/or computer-controlled
Gundams with one, all-powerful suit – it’s the number-one reason viewers tune
in. The intriguing, semi-controversial storylines are very enjoyable to watch.
Never Ending
Tomorrow is another tale of war, questioning what’s right and what’s wrong,
and determining when and when not to fight. There are no clear-cut answers to
these questions. It isn’t as simple as asking, "Is this the Gundam game to end
all Gundam games?"
Driven by
the show’s story, NET comes to gamers with good anime sequences and a
sorrowful soundtrack. Missions are short and may end in just a few minutes;
movie sequences are fairly long for a game and occur before and after almost
every mission.
The game
industry is slowly moving in this direction, hoping to capture the best of
movies and TV, and mix it with the best of a game. There are bits and pieces
of that goal that NET gets right. The shortness of the missions aid in
blending the story together because you rarely have much time to think of
something else. Forget about gameplay ponderings – you don’t have much time to
think about it anyway. Battles are fast and sporadic, two qualities that don’t
work well together. The unattractive backgrounds deceive hungry eyes by making
them believe we’re stuck in the 90s. On the contrary, the gameplay is fairly
quick for an action title starring giant mechs. The frame rate stays
consistent even when the camera doesn’t.
Ever
wondered what it would be like to float off into space and have little control
over your actions? Now’s your chance. NET’s mobile suits are beyond sensitive.
The default controls let you ascend and descend with the right shoulder
buttons. Not a bad idea, but all it takes is one light press and the camera
goes crazy, jerking up or down, distracting the player from the task at hand.
"And what would that be?" Destroy all offensive mobile suits. What else would
an action game ask the player to do?
Upon
descending you realize you have to ascend to reach the enemy flying above, or
vice versa. A common occurrence, followed by frustration and confusion as the
camera jerks into the opposite position. Within seconds of performing an
action (anything but a jet boost), the camera jerks so much that it begins to
place itself in the weirdest positions. It snaps back into place (partially)
by locking onto the nearest opponent, but do you know what a game of
lock-and-kill amounts to? One of immense repetition. Lock-on, fly in, attack –
boom, he’s dead. Or at least his suit will be severely damaged. Knowing Gundam
the first fight with a villain will not be your last.
The most
interesting concept is also the most frustrating. When mobile suits battle on
the show, they charge toward each other, usually from behind-the-suit view.
The camera shifts to one of several possible side views (angled, under or
above the suits, etc.) as the Gundams collide. They strike, and often times
jump back and lunge forward again, causing a number of shifts from the camera.
It looks
good on TV because the camera transitions are hardly noticeable. In the game
world, however, pulling off this kind of a technique is much more difficult.
Nonetheless that’s what the developers were trying to do, and by all accounts
they nailed it. The downside is that the constant camera changes is very
disorienting. And for some it could be nauseating.
Mobile Suit
Gundam SEED: Never Ending Tomorrow lacks everything but a good soundtrack and
an intriguing story. You get those from the show. You don’t get anything here
but disappointment. I’ve been a fan of the series for many years now and Never
Ending Tomorrow is by far one of the more daring Gundam games to come around.
It does not, however, succeed in what it attempts, turning what could have
been perceived as innovation into the reason this game doesn’t work.
|
|
Gameplay: 5.5
When someone asks
you how a game plays and the first thing that comes to mind is its camera
system you know you have a problem. NET’s camera is as antsy as a child
sitting in a dentist’s office waiting room. Stand still for a minute? No, this
game is on sugar, caffeine, and anything else that could affect its ability to
sit still. Maybe the game just wants attention – who could say for sure? I’m
not its parent, I can’t be expected to raise it.
If the
camera was perfect players would still have to deal with the limited combat
system. Simple attacks, easy kills, and missions that are over faster than a
Mobile Suit Gundam commercial break.
Graphics: 4.5
The suits are
almost acceptable, but the backgrounds are much too dated for PlayStation 2.
There’s hardly any detail to them. Very few things will catch your eye.
Absolutely nothing will stand out long enough to get your attention.
Sound: 7.5
Top-tier Gundam
music; generic English voice-overs. They’re better than most anime dubs, but
the voices are a bit too whiny.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Never Ending
Tomorrow can be easy or it can be really easy. By purchasing and using
Beginner’s Tickets in between battles, players can drastically decrease the
difficulty. Is it necessary? Only if you want the experience to be over that
much faster. The game is easy enough as is.
Concept: 8.0
Good concept,
poor execution. I can’t control what I can’t keep track of, and I can’t
control what I can’t see. The jerky camera is enough to make you reach for an
air sickness bag. It’s sad that no one realized this before the game shipped –
a little tweaking could’ve gone a long way.
Multiplayer: 4.5
An unstable
camera system for two. Button-mashing just isn’t the same when visibility
drops.
Overall: 5.5
A near rental for
anyone who loves the series – better still for diehard SEED fans. The clunky
gameplay, repetitive battles, and the lack of a lengthy quest and hardly any
replay value guarantee that Never Ending Tomorrow will never achieve the
success it could (possibly … maybe) have. Gamers will leave the game feeling
like they got gypped again. This is the umpteenth Gundam game that hasn’t
gotten it right. Will it ever? Is it even possible? We’ll wonder until the day
it happens. At this rate that day may never come.
