Gundam 3 just not up to par.
The Dynasty Warriors series has always been just a mindless button mashing game that I have managed to find a kind of senseless joy out of. There was nothing like being one soldier amongst thousands on a battlefield just hacking your way to the final general to end the mission. It's senseless fun at its best. When they incorporated the Gundam franchise into the series it seemed like a match made in heaven. The first two Dynasty Warriors Gundam games were everything I would ever want in a Gundam video game. The Gundam series have always been about one powerful mobile suit taking on hundreds of enemies and the merger seemed like a perfect fit. With the release of the third game it stands to question how does it compare to the previous two?
The first thing to say about Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 is that it isn't much different from the second game. It's laid out in basically the same format with limited amounts of missions and characters available from the start and then introducing an absurd amount more as you play through the game. There are a few new features to the game such as fortress areas on the map that give the owning team an advantage in battle. None of these features change the game play much and one in particular (chain explosions) makes the game easier. Gundam 3 however seems to have a lot more missions making the game seem almost endless. After putting in about twenty hours to the game I still haven't completed all of the missions or unlocked all of the characters. The best thing Gundam 3 has going for it is the inclusion of a lot more of the characters from the different shows that the previous game didn’t have. There are some great new characters that felt missed in the last game but the main problem with having more characters is that almost every characters feels the same.
The multiplayer in this game is a big step up from the multiplayer attempts in the past but it still doesn’t add much to the game. The multiplayer is four player co-op with some fairly easy missions to choose from. None of the online missions are particularly hard and mainly consist of two to four players rushing through two sides of a map until meeting in the middle killing all of the generals that appear in each field. The missions are timed but don’t take that long to beat and hardly ever offer any kind of challenge.
When it comes down to it Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 is just a simple button masher. If you enter into any one of the missions and start hitting the attack button eventually you’re going to win. You may have to run to other parts of the map quickly so that your commander doesn’t die but other than that it’s simple button mashing at its finest. Even though the combat is repetitive that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. The level design however seems uninspired and more compact than in the past games. Most of the levels consist of just five or six square battle arenas connected with very narrow pathways leading to each one and the lack of space levels is one major fault as the space missions were usually the most compelling ones to play.
With over 60 playable suits in the game most of the voice actors from the TV shows is present in the game or have a very close sound alike. The voice acting is up to par with what you would expect from the show and has the cheesy dialogue to match. The art and sound style is very much inspired from the different series’ with a cell shaded look and sound effects that emulate or are possibly taken from the show gives the game a very anime feel and helps immerse you in the world of Gundam.
With Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 being the third game in a series, it doesn’t seem to be too much to ask that the game have a little more depth. Having come this far and with there being as many Dyansty Warriors games as there are it just seems like there isn’t much incentive from the developers to try anything new or risky. While all of the games they have made have been a mild kind of entertainment in their own right it just seems as though every new game is just an updated version of the last with more characters and missions and Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 is no exception.
