Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire (gamezone)

- gamezone -

The Gundam series has been kind of difficult to categorize, not in what kind of game it is (action/strategy) but rather, the series has never produced a truly "A" list game. You know, redefining and wholly original, a must-have title. Sure, there have been some real signs of promise, but for the most part Gundam games have been a disappointment to me. So when I heard that Sony was putting out a Gundam title for the PS3 launch, I got excited, really excited. But alas, all is not well in the world of Gundam.

As any Gundam player will tell you, there are two warring factions in this future Earth, the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. Like any good war both sides have their reasons for this seemingly endless war and this has been transcended into countless manga, anime and books/novels. It's a complicated and multi-character world that spans years and tons of characters. The story is so involved in fact, that depending on what story you watch/read, the characters found there may never see characters from another story arc. It's massive and very respected for it's space-opera plots, kick-butt robots and the pilots that fly them, characters that trade sides, betrayals, conspiracies, and, and, well you get the picture. Which makes this latest game that much more disappointing since the game has very little in terms of plot or story line.

"Don't forget to wash those armpits!"

The game itself is basically you choosing which side of the war you want to fight on: the Federation or the Zeonic forces. Picking a side gives you the opportunity to select from different mobile suits (mechs) as each side has their own selection of giant robots. From there, the story begins in a pseudo live-time campaign, where you can accept or reject missions, and as time goes on, you will see that repairing damaged mobile suits takes time just as pilots in your faction need time to heal. The game sort of tricks you into thinking that it has a branching path since you can accept some secondary missions as easily as you reject others. But there is a benefit to taking on and completing as many missions as possible because you are given rank and experience points which can be used to buy more mechs, hire additional pilots and so on. These missions are time based to specific dates so as the calendar goes on, missions may come and go. It made me think of the game Dead Rising, only less fun.

I really hate to say this, but this may be a game for the PS3, but it has no next-gen graphics to back that up. It looks like it could be a PS2 game, and a poorly designed one at that. Yes, I hate to say this but I was told by Sony (in one of their many presentations at E3) that this was the most powerful gaming machine on the planet. Well if that is true, then why does this game have framerate that drags along at a snail's pace? The game seems to constantly get caught up as you move about doing the most mundane movements. Not only that, but the environments aren't anything to write home about. Sure you do battle (in the single-player campaign) in all sorts of different places like a ruined city, the desolate wasteland desert, some military installations and several other places. The selection of locations was fine for the game, but how they looked was terrible. The water effects on the river level looks nothing like the water effects in last generation games (like Dark Alliance). Quite simply, unless the Mobile Suits are standing still, there isn't much to be happy about as they are the only bright point in an otherwise very badly designed game. For a next-gen game on the premiere system, why doesn't the items you plow through fall over? Ok, that's not entirely true, you can plow through some items, and they will fall over, but usually after you have walked over them and left them in your wake. Some timing issues are found in this title.

"Here we see a mother and her young."

The controls are somewhat of a disappointment as well, since there isn't any sort of tutorial to be found, you must rely on the practice missions to try and feel things out. And that fancy new sixaxis controller really is a no show as far as the game is concerned, which could have been an interesting aspect as your Mobile Suit does suffer damage during fights and can lose appendages. The possibilities of having to have to move your controller in some odd way to help move a damaged Mobile Suit is baffling, but nope, it simply isn't used. In fact the only thing that is worth mentioning is that you do end up getting a couple of wingmen on some missions and you can order them what to do, but they pretty much end up being worthless to the missions at hand and you end up doing all the heavy lifting. Of course they do draw some enemy fire...

Now the game does feature in-game Dolby Digital, which is always a good thing, but the explosions and weapons fire sounds pretty thin. There are no anime characters from the shows so therefore there isn't any voice work to be found. I did notice some over the comm. chatter as pilots talked with one another, but it's really just an afterthought, nothing relevant ever seems to be said. So again, for a next-gen game, the audio was overall pretty below average. And before I get flooded with all sorts of e-mail, I love the audio on other PS3 titles like Resistance and Call of Duty 3. So with that, this game pales in comparison to what I know and expect PS3 titles can pump out in terms of sound effects and digital clarity.

"Is something burning?"

Now the game isn't all that long, easily something that can be beaten in a weekend if not a single day. So the developers threw in a multiplayer mode where you split screen and go at it roboto a roboto. I almost didn't want to even bring it up because the game really is not that good and the fact that there is split-screen battles is pretty painful. I have never been a big fan of split-screen gaming except maybe in racing games. The fact that you can't go online and play is even more proof that this game was rushed for a launch release. We are firmly rooted in an online console era and any game that has a chance of being a multiplayer title needs to be online accessible.

Review Scoring Details for Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire

Gameplay: 5.0
No tutorial, no use of the sixaxis, wingmen that would just as soon walk into a wall as fight, things are looking pretty bleak. Melee combat with weapons is impossible to work.

Graphics: 4.8
Honestly, the game has some real stutter in it's in-game action. Lag is all over the place, some items are destructible, others aren't; the water effects are poorly rendered. The Mobile Suits look good when they are not moving and lighting effects are decent, but who wants to play a game where you can't move and explosions are the high point.

Sound: 5.2
Paper-thin weapon fire, and explosions that are missing that ooommmmfff one would expect from 300-ton robots exploding. There is very little in terms of voice work and even though my receiver lights up blue indicating Dolby Digital is in effect, the audio track is amazingly underpowered.

Difficulty: Medium
The missions aren't hard, and some of them can be skipped. Like I said this game could be beaten in a single day. The hard part is gutting it out through the poor gameplay.

Concept: 4.5
Wow, I really felt let down by the lack of a flowing storyline, especially a game rooted in the Gundam universe. There is no political strife or engaging plot, pick a side and work your way through the missions.

Multiplayer: 4.9
This is a perfect example of a game that needed about six more months of development to make things come together. The multiplayer option feels like an afterthought and provides no real legs to a game that can be beaten in a short amount of time.

Overall: 4.8
For a launch title on the most coveted gaming system out there, this one really fails to sell the goods. I was expecting so much more, being that it is a Gundam title. Sadly, the fact that it is on the most powerful (and coveted) gaming system on the planet only reinforces my decision to not recommend this game on any level.