	Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2
	Developer: Omega Force Publisher: Koei Release Date: Out Now Players: 1-2	Words By:
What seems like the 50th game in the Dynasty Warriors franchise is based upon the famous Gundam anime series. What that means is that the Official Mode (that’s “story mode” to you and me) features the storyline from the latest Gundam animated TV series. From playing the game I don’t really know what’s going on, I would have thought being based on a series it would have direct clips from them to tell the story while you take part in the battles. The mission mode however is a little more interesting with the ability to develop your Mobile Suit (there are 62 unlockable suits), build relationships with other pilots and take part in different stories from the Gundam universe. While the relationships and suit development are rather simple, it still adds a ‘little something’ to the basic repetitive gameplay. Speaking of gameplay, have you played a previous game in the DW series? Yes? Well you know exactly how Gundam 2 plays then. You hack and slash your way through hundreds, sometimes thousands of enemies to secure victory. You have 2 attack buttons which can be used to pull off simple combos one is also a ranged attack button. The boosting ability is pretty cool on some of the suits but you can’t really use it to pull off any elegant Zone of Enders-style manoeuvres. One of the new features for this Gundam sequel is the ability to fight colossal enemy suits that are 3 times the size of yours. You can destroy certain parts of these colossal suits to remove attacks; for example if a kick attack is bothering you - just destroy the suit’s legs. It makes a nice change to fight a different style of enemy, and provide a little challenge and variety - something this series severely lacks. Normal enemy AI is pretty much non-existent and they won’t put up much of a fight while you’re mowing them down. The graphics for this game look like a high-res PS2 game, with plain flat textures and none of the fancy effects that the 360 is capable of. A reward for this general blandness is that the frame rate never drops, even with 50+ enemies on screen. Music is generic and I’m surprised they even localised the voice acting. Overall Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 is baffling. How they can keep pumping out what is essentially the same game over and over again - with nothing but a different hero and storyline to distinguish them - is beyond me. But I also know that there’s a core of fans out there who love this stuff, and there is undeniably something about smashing through waves of enemies that’s appealing to me. The Dynasty Warriors games still have potential, but are never going to achieve it fully if they just do the same thing over and over.

Best Bits
- It’s got giant robots.

Worst Bits
- Gundammit, it’s Dynasty Warriors AGAIN!


by: SteMacD