The problem with Dynasty Warrior games is their refusal to ever evolve. Rarely is there anything that shows progress in these titles, and the Gundam versions really take this to the extreme. It doesn't seem like the developer really even spent time on this game. That they’re asking for a full price on this title would only make sense if it was revealed to be some elaborate joke. There is, at best, about an hour’s worth of content here. Not only that, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 is shameless in how it reuses everything that's come before it while adding nothing at all to the experience. Sure, there are more mobile suits to drive, but does that really matter overall? Is that all this series has become, Madden with large robots?
The premise here is as basic as they come. The player controls numerous different robots collected from every era of the Gundam Universe along with their notorious pilots. The player then chooses from one of 4 different map types. From there, you get a choice of the environment: desert, snow, oh, and there's even one in space. Don't worry, though. To make sure anyone unfortunate enough to buy this game wouldn't get confused, every level's layout is identical to the next one. Now that you’ve picked the map and giant robot, test out the durability of your X-button as you hack and slash, slash, slash, and more slash your way until the main evil random bad robot drops from the sky. Then proceed to hit the X-button until he falls down and blows up. Now, rinse and repeat and you have Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3. There's no skill involved in this game, it just requires that the player have a sturdy attack button.
Its formula is basic, and that’s in every aspect. There is a story line here, but it feels like something the developer came up with during a bathroom break. All it really comes down to is taking personalities out of their respective universes and having them repeat quotes from their show. Throw all these characters into a mixer and then add in a story line where all of them magically appear in one area and that's it. Cut scenes are just the JRPG standard of characters posing against a static background while a boring text balloons pop up. Don’t bother trying to follow the nonsensical ramblings, just keep yourself awake and get through to the next battle. It's beyond sloppy storytelling that never once appears clever or fun and it never gets involving.
What's been put into this game is the bare minimum and not much else. It’s hard to understand who would pay full price for a game that after an hour of play time feels like it has given everything it was going to offer. The missions might be labeled differently from one another, but it always comes down to beating up as many bad guys as you can until the game makes a point of a larger bad guy appearing from nowhere and then beating him up also. Then you get to pick up your reward and XP, and move on to do it again. To say this game's lack of variety undermines any fun to be had is an understatement. There's no incentive to keep playing once this game wears out its welcome.
The graphics have a cel-shaded quality to them, really lending themselves well to portraying an accurate representation of their anime counterparts. The mobile suits are well detailed and have very fluid attack animations. It's a nice thing to have, considering the limited move list and the fact that you’ll be seeing the same attacks over and over again. The main complaint with the graphics is the lack of variety outside of the main mobile suits. The first Zaku to blow up is no different than the 500th. It's easy to see that the developers only really paid attention to the Gundams the player would be piloting. The same can be said about the environments. Quite simply, this is a visually boring game. There may be colorful mobile suits and big explosions but there's nothing here that makes the game interesting.
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 is a very hard game to recommend, even to fans of two respective parts. There's no feeling of innovation, it's all the same brick and mortar that's been holding this franchise together since the days of the PS2. Adding giant robots does little to add to any diversity this franchise so desperately needs. That this game is being sold for 60 bucks is too steep price for such little content. It's repetitious, there's virtually no story line, and the variety being displayed is nonexistent. This game is nothing more than a simple cash-grab in a franchise on its last breath. All the game wants to do is draw in its fans and never ask them to expect anything more out of this franchise than more robots. It's a shame that these titles never try to squeeze more out of what they can offer, and you can’t help but feel that people should ask for more out of the Dynasty Warrior games, or at least the Gundam versions. No one should be fine with a franchise that refuses to change even its most basic gameplay in order to evolve into something better.
"Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3" is on sale June 28, 2011 and is rated T. Action, RPG. Developed and published by Namco Bandai Games.
