Here’s a great idea: combine the Dynasty Warriors series -- a consistent fan favorite -- with an immensely popular anime license, Gundam. The question is whether or not this will actually work. The short answer; no, not really.
To be a bit more specific, what should have combined the best elements of both worlds, ends up relying too heavily on the Gundam series, and really watering down the Dynasty Warriors end of the equation. The Dynasty Warriors series is often scrutinized as being far too mindless and repetitive. Instead of trying to disprove the stereotype, Dynasty Warriors Gundam plays right into it.
This is truly hack and slash at its most monotonous. There’s your basic melee (X) attack, and your shoot/charge (Y) attack. You can try different variations between the 2 buttons, and even toss in the occasional dash (A) into the mix. The thing you’ll soon find out is you have very little need to press anything but the X button, aside from when you feel you the need to use up your special attacks. Don’t forget jumping! Of course, you may find yourself needing to do it once, maybe twice the whole time you play.
As this title carries the Dynasty Warriors name, I feel it is only fair to compare it to the latest release from Koei, Warriors Orochi. Unlike this game, Orichi encourages mixing up the combos and using timing as an actual part of getting through levels.
Even more annoying is the fact that whatever character you choose to play, it is pretty much the same as using the next guy, a big robot suit with a sword. Sure the moves are different, but you are not pressing different chains of buttons for different characters - they are all basically set up to use the same moves list, leaving little for individuality or the imagination. At best, the mobile suits are different skins with stat variations. It should be noted that one of the characters, Domon Kassu, is a fan of duking it out ala fisticuffs. This is attributed to his special moves in the series, notably his Erupting Burning Finger, which he really loves to talk about.
This brings us to the voice acting in the game. For the English side, it seems rather in line with the series as far as the talent involved goes. This, however, does not excuse the fact that a good portion of the acting sounds like an overly excited pre-teen girl on school picture day, while a fair bit of the rest sounds like the suburban middle class emo kid that wants you to believe he’s a rebel, while secretly all he really wants is a hug from daddy. But I digress, after all, you have the option to put it to subtitles if you are not a fan.
Much of the Gundam related animation in every part aside from the actual game play is very well done. The short movies including your pilot calling his or her suit to the battlefield is something you’d expect if you went out and bought a DVD. Once you get into the actual game, however, fans of the series may be a bit disappointed at the character models. Not to mention the mostly barren landscapes that you’re cast into, sparsely dotted with some buildings and trees. This is of course when I can see the game I'm playing, due to the fact that I’m constantly adjusting the camera on certain maps. When taking on missions in space I felt like I might have been playing a new spin on the old asteroid game. The game handles missions in space pretty poorly and treats space as a large, flat, limited area.
