Mini Review – Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3

Hack and Slash

Gundam. I said Gundam.

Matt Lord

Tecmo-koei are back with another 3D hack and slash game.  This time instead of getting the flavoring of Ancient China Three Kingdoms ‘history’ you now have the space opera that is Gundam.  Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 (from now on will be called DWG3) is their third effort at the franchise and they have learnt a lot of things since the first game.  As soon as I booted up the first thing I noticed were the loading times which have been streamlined significantly from the first game (and Dynasty Warriors 7).

The plot does not follow any other the Gundam series like the first game did which kinda made things confusing since I’ve little to no experience with the anime (but i do like big robots… go figure).  Instead you find yourself thrown in to the skin of a young pilot called Setsuna, who is from the most recent Gundam saga ‘Mobile Suit Gundam 00’.   You find yourself on a planet and are not sure why you are there.  As you progress though the game you meet other Gundam pilots from other timelines and alternative universes.  It seems just about anyone who is anyone has been thrown on this planet and nobody knows why.

Wait... you're saying these things don't turn into cars and stuff?

This is great because some of the newer circa 2000-2011 characters are a bit lame and moody whereas some of the older characters from 1979 to the ’90s are a bit more likable. Dont worry if you dont like Setsuna as it quickly changes you from his point (that’s a boy’s name?  – Ed) of view to another as everyone’s stories unfold in front of you.

The plot does all seem to make sense and it;s not too hard to follow, even with 52 playable pilots who become selectable from paying though the core story line and also side missions.  This is a massive improvement over DWG1 which sort of followed one of the series in a way and then felt like it added some pointless boss at the end to make it feel like you got to the end. It was just plain shit. Each pilot has at least one Gundam (thats a giant robot, I’m getting bored of using the word robot so im going to try to use as many words I can think of for Gundam, mostly for my sanity).

As you progress though battles you occasionally get mechsuit plans which allow you to access the ability to build and pilot better robots (ha! – Ed) better suited to your fighting style – some are faster, some are slower (but have better guns or laser swords), others are better in hand to hand combat and some have a better dash and so on.  You earn money though various missions that you spend on training your pilot which can be of great use as it saves you having to grind with a character you loathe only to complete one section of story line just to carry on with someone else right after the mission.   You can also upgrade, equip and customise your mech to suit your playing style.

During battles you do have support from other Gundams.   So when you capture a strategic point on the battlefield they can be called upon to assist you in attacking or defending whilst reminding you how shit or awesome you are, occasionally getting a bit fruity and telling you they ‘feel your soul burning’ or that ‘the light of your soul burns bright.’ a bit cheesy but thats the Gundam saga for you.

Combat itself it still pretty familiar but a lot harder than previous games.  The smaller cannon fodder do try to flank you and will shoot at you from a distance, while the veteran pilots will block a lot more and try to attack you from the side.  In the first Gundam, I found myself just hacking and slashing without blocking but in DWG3 you need to block to survive. Taking strategic points is not just a way to end the mission but also give benefits like being able to teleport you to other parts of the map instantly, opening up the option to use assistance from a partner or even giving the other pilots on the field a chance to come back with a fresh powered suit.

The graphics have all been refreshed with a slick cell shaded look and everything chugs along nicely with no noticeable slowdown even when a section of the map is crammed with robots and has a much larger enemy on the screen using his super move with lots of visual effects.

Sound is equally decent with good music and authentic sound effects.   All the gun and sword effects and voice acting (both Japanese and English) seem to be straight out of the anime. There is a music library but not not one for voice acting (at least not after 30+ hours of play) which is a bit of a let down for me.

Multiplayer suffers from similar problems as were present in DW7 – it’s not very well balanced and players occasionally go flying across the screen for no good reason –  but it is still very playable and a good way to get your character levels up quickly.

So if you like Dynasty Warriors but fancy something other than hoofing swords at the ancient Chinese your going to love this. If you watch the anime you’re also going to get a huge kick out of this but its still just a hack and slasher and, unless you’re a big robot or Dynasty Warriors fan,  you may get bored of this pretty quickly.

Rating: 7/10