Mobile Suit Gundam: Senshitachi no Kiseki

By Spencer . September 28, 2005 . 4:34am

Purchase at Play-Asia

 

Purchase at Lik-Sang

 

Bandai has made Gundam games for pretty much every system ever developed, except for the Xbox. To keep Gamecube gamers happy they released Mobile Suit Gundam: Senshitachi no Kiseki (Mobile Suit Gundam: Fighter’s Locus). This gundam game takes place during the one year war between the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation Force. In the game you can play as Amuro Rei from the Earth Federation Force or as Char Aznable from Zeon. Picking a different character will allow you to see a different side of the one year war.

 

When you get down to the gameplay Mobile Suit Gundam: Fighter’s Locus is like many other mech games. You’re in control of a giant mech, in this case a gundam. Some of the tools you’ll start off with are a long range beam rifle, an energy sword and a short range machine gun. You can also make your Gundam fly or run faster by adjusting the thrusters. You can only use your thrusters for a little while before they need a cool down so you’ll have to choose when you want to use them. One nice thing is that you’ll get to pick how the story progresses. You can choose from a number of missions and side quests from the main map. Doing more side quests allows for you to gain additional experience (more on this later) for your character and even unlock extra pilots. Even though you get to pick your mission the objectives don’t vary too much. Most missions require you to destroy all of the enemies on screen.

 

To aid you in completing a mission you’re given a small squadron of computer AI controlled gundam. These gundams can be ordered to move around, attack or aid the main character. The computer controlled AI is decent at best. It doesn’t leave room for tactical options. If Mobile Suit Gundam: Fighter’s Locus is really a tactics based game you should be able to block with an ally gundam and then surround a bunch of enemies from behind. Or you should be able to plan a sniping attack by having your allies in higher elevation positions to attack. Since there isn’t too much to do, you’ll find yourself ignoring the computer controlled gundams all together. This takes away one half of the fun of the game and makes Gundam more of an action game. Bandai could have reminded this by using the ill fated Gamecube network adapter or at least added multiplayer support.

 

As an action game Gundam: Fighter’s Locus doesn’t work out too well. One of the main problems is that the game feels too slow. Like most mech combat games your gundam moves slowly, too slowly. Add in some plain backgrounds and moving around becomes a chore to get to the fighting. When the game comes down to it the fighting system is simplistic. You block enemy attacks with your shield and then you either close in on them with your beam saber or shoot them from a far. In either case its nothing special. Most enemies are destroyed in a few hits so you’ll spend more time moving around searching for the next battle then actually battling. The controls detract from this game’s ability to be an outstanding action game. A lot of times the controls feel unresponsive and laggy. It is partially because your mech naturally moves slow, so its not going to move any faster when you’re switching weapons or when you’re trying to block an attack. It’s also because the control scheme takes time to get used to. Flying around to chase enemies in outer space requires using the thrusters. Unfortunately, the camera flips when you roll over and you can’t tell exactly which direction you’re moving in. All of this just doesn’t seem to work out right.

 

One nice addition to the game are the RPG elements. Both characters get a rank after a mission is completed. This translates into how much experience is gained and more experience means greater increases in your character’s stats. Higher stats also affect which skills you learn, too. You can customize which skills your character has before a level begins. Some of the skills improve stats or decrease enemy stats. Other skills give your gundam a new move such as the "bullet time" slow motion ability. Another RPG element is allowing you to customize the equipment of your gundam. You can equip different types of guns, some of which are better at short ranges and some which are designed for sniping. All of these options allow for you to customize your character and the gameplay to your liking. If you want the game to be more like a sniping game you can equip a long barrel sniping rifle and increase accuracy skills. Or if you want to play the game more like a run and gun game you can add in skills that increase your damage and a fast firing weapon.

 

Besides the RPG elements Bandai has some neat graphic tricks to the game. To capture the feel of an anime the game has the traditional flashing color backgrounds during movie sequences. On top of that they add in clips of the characters faces over the action, similar to a comic book. The actual gundam models had a great transition to 3D. They are highly detailed and have a good amount of reflective quality to them. The only thing really lacking in the graphical department is the environments. You’re moving across bland textured land that seems to go on forever without any scenery in sight. The only other graphical complaint is that the menu interface feels a bit cluttered. If Bandai simplified it a bit the presentation of the game would feel much better.

 

Mobile Suit Gundam: Senshitachi no Kiseki is a gundam game that takes elements from tactics games, RPGs and action games. Unfortunately, when mixed together the game doesn’t seem like it worked out too well. Fans of the series will appreciate being able to play as a number of different characters and from both sides of the story. There is some replay value to this game since there are two separate stories and a number of side quests, even though the gameplay remains the same. If you can overlook the clunky gameplay mechanics there is some fun to be had with Mobile Suit Gundam: Senshitachi no Kiseki.

 

Import Friendly? Literacy Level: 4

To control your troops and select your skills requires some knowledge of Japanese. Without any knowledge you’ll have some difficulty playing the game.

 

US Bound?

The series was released in America. However, this game in didn’t sell well in Japan, which means a US release is unlikely.

 

+ Pros: Two storylines, RPG element of leveling up your character, side quests

 

- Cons: Helper computer AI isn’t great, control doesn’t feel great, plays like Mechwarrior offline

 

Overall: Gundam fans will get the most enjoyment out of the game, the causal gamer probably won’t dig it.

 

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