WarTech Senko no Ronde – 360 – Review

Ubisoft, as of late, has been trying
to bolster their Xbox 360 lineup with titles from overseas that weren’t slated
to reach our shores. The first objective on their list was to bring over the
Japanese launch title Enchanted Arms. After that, Ubisoft saw fit for
Over G Fighters and Import Tuner Challenge to be released in our
market. They all performed so-so but that hasn’t stopped Ubisoft from further
attempts with similar titles. Ubisoft’s future plans include heavily influenced
Japanese titles such as Naruto: Rise of a Ninja and Exit. The
former is being developed internally while the latter is a PSP title making its
way to the Xbox Live Arcade.

Has Ubisoft’s strategy of
strengthening their catalogue of Xbox 360 games with localization of Japanese
titles worked? Well, in one way it has – namely the hardcore Japanese fanatics
no longer have to import the titles over to the U.S. Coming from another
perspective, with games such as WarTech: Senko no Ronde, the localization
process doesn’t always feel complete. WarTech is a prime example of a rushed
product.

Make no mistake about it; WarTech is
a niche title that only the devoted shooter fans will enjoy. It has many factors
that could possibly draw someone’s interest. First of all it has mechs – mechs
are somewhat of a cult phenomenon in Japan and in the U.S. A recent example
is the inclusion of mechs in Capcom’s Lost Planet: Extreme Condition.
Another factor that could play into a purchase of WarTech is the similarities it
shares with SEGA’s popular one-on-one arcade-brawler, Virtual On. Both
aspects could perhaps draw a gamer to rent WarTech for a weekend to give it a
trial run.

The biggest problem, and what may
hold back many from ever enjoying WarTech, is the storyline. The story is an all-out oddity. It serves no purpose but to pit fighters against each other with no
satisfying conclusion to any of the eight storylines. I wish I had an answer for
what happened in the story, but truly I don’t. The subtitles on the Japanese voicework are horrendous and offer no aid in comprehension. I have never felt so
helpless with recapping a story than I have with Wartech. I completed the
storyline for one of the characters within thirty minutes and sat there confused
on what just happened between the end and the rolling credits.

As stated previously, there are
eight characters to use within the storyline, but none present anything
rewarding enough to give a sense of what the heck is going on in the story. To
the developer’s credit, each character looks unique. The character’s come
equipped with special upgrades. The special upgrades of the characters are an
incentive to try them out in a test run to see which fits the player’s style of
play. Whether or not the upgrades are sufficient to pull the gamer into hours of
play remains to be seen – I personally became bored after about fourty or so
minutes of trying each character out and picking my preferred choice.

In terms of how the game plays,
there are a few attacks offered to mix it up in the battles. The most successful
attacks came from melee combat. When I entered the enemies “no-fly zone.” I
unleashed several attacks that depleted half of the enemy’s health bar. Though,
when I cut the distance between the enemy and myself, my firing attacks
automatically turned into hand-to-hand combat functions. Outside of the firing
attacks and melee combat, there are of course the special upgrades where players
call in for an upgrade to their mechs. Sounds cool right? Nope, not even close.
They feel weak and powerless compared to the ability to just pound away at the
enemy in close perimeter. 

The controls have players viewing
from above the battlefield as they zoom around blasting away the opponent. The
attacks are generic and come with a few bells and whistles. Many of the games
grand effects come into play with the special upgrades, but the upgrades serve
no purpose but filling the screen with bigger mechs. Lastly, players will be
able to apply defense with blocking shots with shields. Of course, blocking
shots will assist in reducing damage, but players should expect a combination of
attacks to be unleashed if they stick to defending for the majority of the time.

On the topic of longevity, WarTech
can be completed in less than six hours if the players kept at it and are
skilled. What I find humorous is that there is an achievement for playing this
title for over 100 hours. This achievement is sick and twisted – some poor soul
playing WarTech for that long is bound to have the feeling of torture after
playing that long.

Other game modes are included
outside of the story mode. There is a training mode included, but don’t mistake
it for a tutorial mode. It’s a session with an android that sits there lifeless
as I bombed away on the opponent. I was looking to develop a method of attack
for the harder opponents in the storyline, but the training mode offers none.
The best thing training mode offers is the ability to test run all the mechs to
determine a favorite. There’s also a score attack mode that warrants a purpose
of finishing it with a high score. There are only a few lives granted, but for
some odd reason the developer gave the player unlimited continues to complete
the stages.

There are online games to take part
in, but finding a game is difficult. Since WarTech is a niche game, I am
expecting that the height of the game’s popularity is going to be at its highest
during these summer months and will wane once September hits for obvious reasons
(Halo 3). The sad thing is that there is no popularity to speak of and I’d give
anyone a dollar to play online with me.

With the audio, the voicework had me
in terror. My first time though, I sat their befuddled with a puzzled look on my
face wondering what in the world was going on. Of course, I can’t speak Japanese
but the subtitles did little to explain the storyline. Sure the Japanese
voice-acting is better than American voice-actors trying their best to emphasize
emotion, but I am sickened by what is placed within WarTech. For the soundtrack,
the developers incorporated the best elevator music in recent memory.

What’s left to say about WarTech:
Senke no Ronde? Rent it – you’ll be saving your hard earned money.

Gameplay: 4.8
The controls are below average and don’t feel genuine. Essentially, the
mechs, which comes powered with technological achievements of giant weapons,
feel weak and powerless when put in comparison to other games in the same genre.

Graphics: 4.5
The graphics are on par with what I expected. The bar certainly isn’t being raised
with WarTech.

Sound: 5.1
Sure the Japanese language fits, but the subtitles do no justice for
supplying any type of a storyline.

Difficulty: Medium
The controls provide the players no choice in the aim of their shot. Trying
to hit a moving target has never been more difficult.

Multiplayer: 6.0
Good luck finding anyone online to play with. I suggest having inviting a
friend over to get the best experience with WarTech. At least the multiplayer is
available offline since in most cases the developers nowadays don’t feel
inclined to include it anymore (i.e. Shadowrun).

Concept: 6.5
I support publishers seeking a more diverse catalogue. I support developers
trying their hand at different genres on the Xbox 360. But I don’t support
either when it’s at the expense of quality.

Overall: 5.0
WarTech left me with my chin on the ground. There’s a lot to be learned from
Wartech. Not all Japanese Xbox 360 releases fit well with the U.S. market,
especially when the localization crew feels that if they just added subtitles
that all the problems would be solved with the storyline. Like I said, I had
high hopes. It might have been because of my adoration with the Japanese
culture. It might have been because of wanting a diverse group of games to play
on my 360. Whatever the reason of my blind faith in the Japanese market, WarTech
let me down and it’s an utter shame.