Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 // Review (Japanese version)
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Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
Release Date(s): -
(JP) December 18, 2008
(US) April 21, 2009
(EU) April 24, 2009
Official Site: JP || US || EU
Player(s): 1-2 Players
Platform(s): PS3, XBox 360 & PS2
(No PS2 in EU)
Reviewed by, BlackKite |
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Gundam Musou (US Name - Dynasty Warriors: Gundam) is a joint project game of KOEI and Bandai-Namco which puts the mecha franchise Gundam in a Musou/Warriors game engine. A year and half after the release of the first game in early 2007, the sequel of the game, Gundam Musou 2 (US - Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2), is released on 18 December 2008 in Japan, with overseas releases planned in early 2009.
Contents & Storyline: 8/10
One of the most promoted features of Gundam Musou 2 is the inclusion of mobile armors, huge robots that are much taller and bigger than a mobile suit. This promotion is also to signify that this marks for the first time, the addition of boss-like huge enemies in the Warriors games. it would be hard to fight these MAs in the usual conventional way as they are very powerful, and players will need to find a strategy to best these giants, such as waiting for a chance to greatly damage it.
These mobile armors also have pivotal points in the Gundam series, and now with them included, the Official story mode has been greatly improved from the first game, giving more complete stories of the featured series Mobile Suit Gundam, Z Gundam and Gundam ZZ. Furthermore, one more series is also newly featured here, which is Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, which shows the climax of the rivalry between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, who are piloting their ultimate mobile suits respectively, Nu Gundam and Sazabi.
Also new to this game is the Mission mode, which some people see it as a replacement of the prequel's Original mode where characters from various series and timelines mingle and fight each other. Other than characters appearing from the first game, new characters and mobile suits from Mobile Suit Gundam F91, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny make their first appearance in the series.
In this mode, other than playing the character's original storyline missions, you can also build your own relationship chart with other characters. The more you hang out with them as allies, the more they will trust you. And the more you fight and defeat them as enemies, the more they will despise you. These relationships are important because they will determine which missions you can play and which ones you cannot play.
Despite all these new contents, I did not give a 10 point to it because I feel it's still not complete yet as there are still series that haven't got represented yet, for example Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory and After War Gundam X to name a few. Hopefully if KOEI and Bandai-Namco are still together to make another sequel to GM they would add these series to make the game more attractive to even more Gundam fans.
Gameplay: 9/10
One of the most noticeable updates in the gameplay is of course, the movesets. Now there can be up to 6-combo string attack with 6 charge attacks, with the C1 shooting has also been improved to be able to be shot rapidly. Dash attacks have also been improved with a new dash charge, and the dashing itself is now continuable for all MS as long as you hold the dash button. All of these upgrades contribute to the good news that the gameplay is much faster than the prequel.
The new attacks added to this game as well as the Warriors series are smash attack and aerial SP attack. Smash attack is done by holding the attack button until it's fully charged, then releasing it. It is an unblockable attack that also proves to be a great asset when fighting the mobile armors.
And the latter? Yes, this is the first game where you can do a "jump musou" attack. The mobile suits can now unleash their SP (musou) attacks while on mid-air. Which also contributes to the usage of the jump button which was nearly useless in the first game. Speaking of which, jumping is also useful when fighting a MA to attack its upper body and such.
Another new feature is the new deadlock system. Now instead of rapidly mashing the same button, a series of buttons will be displayed on screen, and you will have to follow the button input in order to win the deadlock; otherwise you'll lose it and be at a disadvantage. Certainly a new refreshing change from the old way it is.
The MS upgrading system has also been changed. It's no longer based on exp and level (that only applies to pilots now), but now they are determined by parts quality, which stats are randomized, reminiscent to the usual weapon system in other Warriors games. These parts are also ranked, and guess what? There are the so-called Rank 4 parts here. Veterans of Warriors games should be reminded of 4th weapons that need extra requirements to be unlocked, and the same thing also applies to here.
This game enables you to play as all the mobile suits present here, including the mass-produced grunt MS such as the GM and Zaku II, provided you have collected all of their parts by salvaging them from destroyed enemy MS. However, their moveset are more limited than the more advanced MS. Perhaps this is also to symbolize the strength difference between the Gundams and these mass-produced MS...
...but this brings me to the biggest gripe I've encountered in this game. Gottrlatan and Turn X, the main antagonist's MS in Victory Gundam and Turn A Gundam, which should have been categorized in the same line as Qubeley and The O, are treated as secondary MS with limited movesets here. A major flaw in my opinion that I won't understand the reason if it isn't for 'that.'
Anyway, on to the last subject in gameplay, which is the AI and difficulty. Thankfully they have balanced them. The grunt MS, which all wield beam rifles or bazookas, will fire those weapons more actively and constantly. The damage won't be too noticeable at first, but there are occasions where the barrage will get big and your HP could turn from blue to yellow unbeknownst of you. The enemy ace AI is also still challenging, though it has been balanced out in this game: easier in lower difficulties and harder in higher difficulties.
The ally AI is also helpful at times and there's this fact where if you rescue an ally who is struggling, you will also replenish the ally's HP, which also makes the game easier and more enjoyable to play.
Graphics: 10/10
The graphics are really awesome in this game; by KOEI standards, at least. But what impresses me the most on this subject is the graphics used for the cutscenes; they are very gorgeous.
The draw distance is really great and many units can appear on the screen now, which also makes it very easy to rack up kills that even on small missions you can have an average of 500 shotdowns.
But of course, the impressions here are based on the PS3 version, and while it shouldn't differ much from the 360 version, what you see here might be very different if you choose to get the PS2 version.
Audio: 9/10
The sound effects are still as good as in the first game, with sounds you would commonly hear in the Gundam animes; basically there are not many differences on it. A number of BGMs are brought over from the first game, and of course there are also new BGMs here; both original and from the newly featured series. I found some of the new original BGMs to be really good since they fit to the theme much better than most of the first game's original BGMs.
And there's no doubting the quality of voices since all characters are voiced by the original seiyuu (voice actors) from the animes. Though this is based on the Japanese version, and there's no clue yet how it's going to be in the overseas version. (Especially since KOEI is known to be notorious for leaving out Japanese voice option in sequels...)
Replayability: 8/10
The mission mode offers a huge amount of replayability with a large number of playable characters and MS, a lot of missions, and all the efforts needed to fully max out a character, from level, skills, to MS licenses. Though with such huge amount of replayability, perhaps only the most dedicated ones will try to go for a 100% completion of the game.
However, the official mode doesn't get as many contents, and could be overshadowed by mission mode in terms of replayability. You can unlock branched endings in the final stage, also a couple of MS need their rank 4 parts to be unlocked here, but that might be the only remaining things the official mode could offer. Hopefully if there is a sequel they would add more serial stories to the mode.
Final Recommendations
The only people I would not recommend this game to are those who already hate Gundam with a passion; they should stay away from here for their sanity's sake. Otherwise, if you're a fan of either Warriors or Gundam and don't know about the other one, at least rent this game for a while. And if you're a fan of both franchises, obviously this is a must get.
Also, if you are starting out on the series, I'd recommend to start directly to this sequel. The first game seemed more like a tech demo game for the nextgen consoles with limited contents, while this game has more contents and enough to be considered a normal game.
Overall Score: 8.8/10
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Game News & Release Dates
| Game Title (Platform) |
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Dec 18, 08 |
Apr 21, 09 |
Apr 24, 09 |
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Dec 18, 08 |
Apr 21, 09 |
- |
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Dec 18, 08 |
Apr 21, 09 |
Apr 24, 09 |
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Feb 26, 09 |
Apr 28, 09 |
May 01, 09 |
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Oct 01, 09 |
Feb 16, 10 |
Feb 19, 10 |
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Oct 01, 09 |
Feb 16, 10 |
Feb 19, 10 |
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Mar 11, 2010 |
- |
- |
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May 28, 09 |
Jun 23, 09 |
Jun 26, 09 |
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May 28, 09 |
Jun 23, 09 |
Jun 26, 09 |
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Sep 03, 09 |
- |
- |
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Jan 21, 2010 |
- |
- |
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Mar 25, 2010 |
- |
- |
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Mar 25, 2010 |
- |
- |
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Sep 18, 09 |
- |
- |
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Dec 03, 09 |
2010 |
2010 |
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Nov 27, 08 |
Aug 25, 09 |
Q3 2009 |
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Mar 12, 09 |
Canceled |
Canceled |
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Nov 27, 09 |
- |
- |
*Note: Q1 = Jan to Mar ; Q2 = Apr to Jun ; Q3 = Jul to Sep ; Q4 = Oct to Dec
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