Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 was officially announced on 28 August 2008. It was released on 18 December 2008 to Japan, 21 April 2009 to North America, 24 April 2009 to Europe, and 23 April 2009 to Australia under the genre of Action role-playing game/ hack and slash with an ESRB rating of T for Teens. Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 is developed by Koei and Omega Force, and published by Namco Bandai for the Xbox 360 platform. The sequel to Dynasty Warriors: Gundam which was released in 2007, is a tactical action video game based on the Gundam anime series. Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 follows in the style of previous Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors games with is action-oriented hack and slash with some tactical elements. However, there are unique gameplay mechanics and twists to Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 which sets it apart from the core Dynasty Warriors series, with the biggest difference lying in the core content. Instead of using characters and story from the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 draws their material from across the various Mobile Suit Gundam anime series. Not only that, the player’s choice of pilots and mecha was also designed to be independent of each other to enable the use of any combination of man and machine. There is also a change in gameplay as players are now given more ranged combat options as compared to other Dynasty Warriors games. However, melee combat remains the focus of the game. Besides that, the units in Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 are also much more mobile, using its thrusters to dash, jump in mid-air, and even fly in some fights. In the Official Mode, there are 4 playable characters in stages set within the continuity of the Universal Century Timeline which coves the stories of Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, Gundam ZZ and Char’s Counterattack. The developers also claimed during the earlier stages of its development that the Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 will include three times the number of mobile suits playable as compare to that of the first game. In total, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 has 62 suits of playable units.
Reviews
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 is said to be a repetition of its predecessors as it features the same gameplay: attacking brain-dead mechanical foes by half-heartedly pounding on the attack button ad nauseam. Similar to other Koei Warrior games, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 offers a seemingly enormous amount of content which does not provide any value at the end of the game as its gameplay is relatively repetitive. It is said that Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 asks a lot from its players, including a deep familiarity with the Gundam universe, as those who do not will be stymied by the nonsensical storylines of each character. Fortunately, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 has a lot to sift through, with each playable character possessing his or her own tale, providing opportunity for you to take dozen of hours guiding every character through every mission granted the patience and curiosity.
“Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 seems like it barely takes a step forward past its predecessor. In some cases, it even takes a step back. If you’re a hardcore fan of both the Dynasty Warriors brand and the Gundam universe, you’ll undoubtedly purchase a copy even without my blessing, but I beg you to reconsider. Sure, there’s nothing “wrong” with the game as far as I can tell — it still runs fine and there’s plenty to do. But it’s the same gameplay as the past five KOEI games I’ve reviewed. It’s just not worth buying again.” (IGN, 2009)
