Dynasty warriors: Gundam Reborn is the fourth game in the series of Dynasty Warrior type Gundam games by Tecmo Koei following the Anime in a war style action game. Piloting your giant Mech’s known as Gundams you will take control of varying protagonists and antagonists as you switch between the different series and perspectives.
Story
Dynasty warriors: Gundam Reborn encompasses 6 of the Anime’s series; Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed and Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny. Up till Seed, the story follows a year by year system, the first campaign starting at the beginning then moving through the years with the characters growing up and/or being replaced in the newer series until the timeline switches in Seed to a whole new roster of characters.
For the majority of Official mode your main Antagonist is Char Aznable, a blonde haired man who dons red clothing and changes his style and headwear with the series to try and mask his identity, albeit poorly. Though the Antagonist stays as Char for a long period of time, the Protagonists grow in number and swap around constantly, with the first one, Amuro Ray taking part in 3 of the campaigns but being the hotspot for the first and being played and in the background of the other 2.
Between the 6 stories you will take varying sides in differing wars, between the Earth citizens and the Space marines, Humans and Newtypes and finally Naturals and Coordinators. Allegiances change every other mission it seems and one side can be the bad guys one minute then the good guys the next. It seems to be a matter of opinion on which side is “right” and who is “wrong” but then you’re just another cog in the machine… hehe.
Over the 6 Stories in the Official Mode you will spend around 14 hours completing it, not much more besides that as there aren’t a lot of hidden features or side missions to do besides the Big Mech missions which put you in the shoes of the “enemy” in a larger than life Gundam on a rampage.
Besides Official Mode there is Ultimate mode which serves as both a Tutorial and Challenge mode, with tutorials on how to play the game to its fullest, fighting hordes of enemies and even re-enacting scenes from the Story in different ways. The challenge mode features over 10 different Operations with several missions within them, which can take a long while to complete entirely, with the added objective to get the Bronze, Silver and Gold medal rewards from the missions.
Gameplay
Gundam Reborn plays like its previous instalments and the Dynasty Warriors series, with you controlling an overpowered person or Mech and fighting an onslaught of armies or marines that are seemingly helpless against your might. With Gundam Reborn there are tons of explosions to create and beam swords to swing as you make your way past the cannon fodder to get to the objective of the missions, which are more times than not a General.
You move your Mech with the left Analogue stick and fly up with R1, using X to dash around for speedy follow up attacks or to get around the map. Square is for normal attacks with Triangle used for ranged or combos with Circle being mapped to your special move with uses SP gauges to fire off, from melee attacks to devastating laser beams.
Besides the main combat of the game you can also level up your Pilot and equip him with skills you unlock with Team points that increase speed, money drops, damage and more. All the Gundams in the game can be upgraded with Plans which increase certain or multiple stats that allow the Mech to dash further, do more damage with saber or beam attacks its defensive abilities.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
The music in Gundam Reborn is great for the most part, with action songs for battles and dramatic songs for boss fights and even some calm ones for when the objectives are done and being updated. They flow together so well it is a seamless transition in the midst of a mission, though they can fall into obscurity during short missions as they don’t stand out as much and are more background noise then music.
The graphic style is appealing and supports the machine look and feel of the Gundams with hard edges and mechanical parts exposed. The laser graphics and explosions are amazing and make the battlefield feel so much more destructive and alive with fighting which increases the feeling you get when you destroy hundreds of units in one fell swoop.
The game has both animated sequences, which mostly comprise of fight scenes between two or more Gundams, and still image scenes where the character converse and give you the details of the net mission. The animations are beautifully done and really amp up the tension in fights or even before them and set up the next scene nicely.
The story can become very confusing as you continue into the other Stories, as they follow some characters for a while then ditch them for new ones only to switch sides 3 times until the end. I feel it is almost compulsory to have watched the Anime to follow this game as it condenses the events and character development to small and you end up only getting a fraction of what happens between them.
Overall I give Dynasty warriors: Gundam Reborn a 3/5, it’s a great action game with machines and explosions any fan of the genre would love to see. The convoluted and multiple stories will detract most players though I feel, as people are moved around way too much and you can’t attach to any one character for too long. Gundam Reborn is good for an hour or even a campaign at a time, but more than that in a long period will make it harder to follow the story and connect with anyone you see on screen.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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