Gundam Musou 3 / Gundam Warriors 3
(Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3)
Release Date(s): -
(JP) December 16, 2010
(NA) June 28, 2011
(EU) July 01, 2011
Official Site: JP
Player(s): 1 or 2 Player(s)
Platform(s): PS3 and Xbox 360
Reviewed by, BlackKite
Note: This review is based on the Japanese PS3 version. Impressions here may differ from the possible English version in the future.
Gundam Musou 3 (aka. Gundam Warriors 3) is the latest sequel to the collaborative game series made by KOEI-Tecmo and Bandai-Namco. As the series’ name implies, this game combines Gundam, one of the flagship franchises of Sunrise whose games are published by Bandai, with KOEI’s familiar Musou-style game engine. This latest sequel which came 2 years after the previous game, Gundam Musou 2, included several new features. They have added 4 more Gundam series into the roster, a very aggressive enemy AI, and a new cel-shaded graphic style. Gundam Musou 3 came out for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan on December 16, 2010. The game will be released as Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 in North America and Europe in Summer 2011.
Content & Storyline: 7/10
The four new series that has been added in Gundam Musou 3 include Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, After War Gundam X (my favorite!), Mobile Suit Gundam 00, and the currently running OVA Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.
There are new additions from the existing series, with emphasis being put on New Mobile Report Gundam W, which is having its 15th anniversary this year (2010). The long-requested Duo Maxwell with his Gundam Deathscythe Hell has finally been included, along with Trowa Barton’s Gundam Heavyarms Kai, and a rare appearance of Treize Khushrenada with his Tallgeese II!
A couple of mobile suits (MS) which had limited movesets in the previous game have been promoted in this game, gaining full movesets. One of these MS include Turn X, the rival suit of Turn A Gundam. All other lower-class MS including grunt units also have moveset upgrades such as charge attacks and adding Aerial SP. With these upgrades, playing with lower-class MS will not be as tedious as before.
Despite these additions and upgrades, they still did some removals in the roster, which is always a bad thing no matter which ones are removed. There are some other undesirable things, such as Gottrlatan staying at Class 2 when it should have been on the same class as Qubeley.
The original crossover storyline in the first Gundam Musou was one of the factors that charmed many Gundam fans. However, most fans were disappointed when the crossover interactions became lackluster in the second game. In Gundam Musou 3, the focus of the crossover storyline has returned but with a few changes. Due to the large amount of playable characters, the storylines are now more centered towards the factions. For those who are familiar with other games in the Musou series, the storyline has become similar to Musou Orochi. As expected with this kind of story mode, only a select number of people, such as those from newest series Unicorn & 00, get most of the spotlights while the rest seems like becoming more like sidekicks.
The ‘historical’ Official Mode which appeared in the previous games has been removed, but there are still stages based on ‘official’ stages appearing in the game. Due to the limited roster, I can’t help but feel it’s getting much blander than the proper Official stages, especially with Char’s Counter Attack which suffered from major removals.
Gameplay: 9/10
“So you just got pwned by the very aggressive enemies? Don't worry...
...because you can respawn! (as long as your morale gauge isn't empty)”
So you have been saying that the enemy AI in Musou games are so lazy and barely move at all? Wait until you get to play Gundam Musou 3. The enemies have been made so aggressive that they will either shoot or rush towards you almost instantly. Even in the early game stages you will notice the enemy’s aggressiveness as your HP can quickly decrease. That is, if you don’t play in Easy difficulty.
Due to the improved enemy behavior, there is a higher chance for the player to lose all their HP and get shot down. Instead of a game over, the player is now given the ability to respawn back into the battlefield at the cost of morale. The morale bar has been changed to be more reminiscent of another Gundam game series such as ‘Gundam Vs’. In Gundam Musou 3, the allied and enemy forces have their own morale bars. As long as these bars aren’t empty, anyone in the army including the player will be able to respawn.
Gundam Musou 3 has added new gameplay features that will reward those who play the game in the correct way. The first of which is the Emergency Dash, which allows the player to instantly dash away from being juggled by enemy attacks. This feature could potentially save the player from further damage and getting shot down.
“Chain Explosion looks very delicious, both in looks and also in racking up kill counts”
The other new feature is the Chain Explosion, which will only activate if you deal finishing blows with stronger attacks like charges or SPs. Enemies exploding this way will do damage to nearby enemies and cause them to be shot down and explode in a similar fashion. This will be very useful in racking up scores without much hassle.
Then there’s also the Partner Strike, where you can call a partner mech to temporarily assist you after fulfilling certain conditions. The assists come in various types depending on which partner mech you are bringing. At first the Partner Strike may not feel needed, but as the player moves on to the harder stages they will become important assets.
The field system has also been improved, with some bases now having specific roles, such as Headquarters, Catapult, and Repair Facility. Some of these fields will be marked as important fields, and if an army loses control of all of these important fields it will greatly affect their morale.
The main concern of the game is its high difficulty curve. In harder missions the damage you take will be ridiculously high. While the allies would be somewhat helpful in easier stages, they won’t in the harder ones. This is mainly due to enemy aces getting extreme buffs but the allies don’t, so they will get beaten into a pulp before you can do anything, costing you the precious morale.
Graphics: 10/10
“Awesome cel-shading makes you feel like you’re actually watching a 3D anime”
For Gundam Musou 3, KOEI and Bandai tried something new with the graphics. The graphic style has changed from a realistic one to a cel-shaded style in an attempt to make it more anime-like. Not only was the graphics change a success, but also the way they recreated things such as the ‘ripple’ when firing a beam rifle or the ‘afterimage’ when swinging a beam saber… it’s almost as if you’re really watching the 3D anime.
Sound: 10/10
"Fun Fact: Mr. Ryotaro Okiayu has now voiced characters in almost all Musou games (Orochi, SW Motochika, DW Sima Shi, and now Treize here). Only Hokuto Musou remains untouched by him yet... maybe in HM2?"
The music for Gundam Musou 3 has also been changed to a familiar ‘KOEI-Rock’ music you’d often hear in other Musou games. A particular theme, Fresh Nature ~Advantageous~, is so awesome that I even hum to it. I think this is the first time I have willingly hummed to Musou game music!
There is also a new feature where the BGM system actively changes to reflect the battle situation. When an ally ace is shot down the music will play in a disadvantageous, suspenseful tone. On the other hand if you defeat enemy aces the music will become lighter, as if you really are on the upper hand.
As for the voices, there’s nothing short to expect here as Bandai have been faithfully using most, if not all, of the original seiyuu (voice actors) from the anime series. They tend to have conversations using mixed-up series quotes, which sometimes result in hilarious or even awkward exchanges.
Replay Value: 6.5/10
“Collect MS blueprints and convert them into the real thing! ...with money of course.”
A lot of the tedious things that had been done in Gundam Musou 2 has been simplified, allowing for easier game accessibility and completion. These problems are now simplified by incorporating the usage of in-game money. The money earned in-game can be used for mobile suit assembly, skill learning, and license acquisition.
One thing that will please returning players is that the friendship system has been revamped. Now the friendship level only goes up and does not decrease anymore, allowing the player to defeat enemy aces without hesitation.
As a Gundam fan though, my peeve with this new system is that when the friendship levels are maxed out everyone is ‘forced’ to become Newtypes, with enhancements from other universes. Coordinator and Innovator being non-existent although the game series has seemingly started to move away from its Universal Century focus.
However, as interesting as this game seems it lacks variety in its content. Perhaps due to the new strategic base system, most of the maps have been redesigned. However, we end up having too few map variations despite the various base placings. Additionally, the constant theme in the game is to deplete the enemy morale bar and beat the appearing boss which can easily become monotonous.
But in the end the most striking factor for me goes to the character roster. I mean who wouldn’t get bored if they only get to fight the Black Tri-Stars or Hambrabi Team all the time? And not to mention there are no new varieties in Mobile Armor battles which happened to be the spotlight of the previous game as well.
With the situational BGM change system, many original battle BGMs are grouped together which makes the BGM list smaller than they actually sound.
What might aid the replay value by a bit though is that they have added extra online features into the game. The first and most imminent one is online co-op which many people have been longing for. The Partner Strike system has been replaced with Partner Support, where you stack up the partner gauge and then activate it to heal the whole team. It’s very useful in dire situations, especially in harder ranks, so the teamwork factor can be really felt.
And lastly, they also have Downloadable Content (DLC) to further add the contents into the game. However, they seem to be taking notes from KOEI’s Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage (Hokuto Musou), so every DLC pack will be priced. I know I won’t be wasting my money on the scamful paid mission DLCs, but I will be looking forward to the extra characters and mobile suits.
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Final Remarks
Positives
New additions into the roster, including some fan favorites
Upgrades to most of the movesets
Full-blown original crossover storyline is back
Enemy AI is now much more aggressive, however you can also respawn to circumvent it
New gameplay features that reward those who play the game right, like Emergency Dash and Chain Explosion
New cel-shaded graphic style is totally awesome
The original battle BGMs are much better
Various tedious systems of the previous game got fixed for the better like License, Skill, and Friendship
Addition of online co-op, which is playable even with sub-par internet connection
Extra Character & MS DLCs that will further improve the roster
Concerns
Only a select number of characters get the main spotlight due to the faction-based storylines
Too many explosion blurs may not be good for eyes in prolonged play
Lack of map varieties
Actual amount of battle themes may be too few (might be more apparent in localized version?)
Monotonous mission flow [Deplete morale then defeat boss]
Online co-op not having enough varieties of missions
Negatives
Various Roster Issues
History Missions feel too bland, partly due to the point above
Difficulty curve is too high
Only Newtype is explicitly recognized as human enhancement
Mobile Armor battles feel like neglected with no new additions
All DLCs are now priced, especially including the Mission DLCs
Gundam Musou 3 has fixed many of the features in the prequels that didn’t go well. However, they have made the repetitiveness a factor which is often complained about in the Musou series, more apparent with the lack of varieties on various aspects.
As with the prequels, this game will be enjoyed more by fans who mainly come from the Gundam fanbase, however some people who come as a Musou fan may also find it interesting as the game is fast-paced and the music now resembles the ones they often hear in other Musou titles. Fans of the game series who have played either of the previous installments or those who are new to Gundam Musou are recommended to get this game. In order to fully enjoy this game though, make sure you don’t play it too hastily, otherwise you’ll end up finding yourself getting bored sooner than you thought.
At this point they have gotten most of the gameplay features correct. If KOEI-Tecmo and Bandai-Namco are still together to make another sequel, I hope they will improve the series representations so that it will be at least half as decent as a G Generation game.
Overall Score: 8.5/10
