Title: Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire

Date: 12.04.2006

Genre: Mech Action

Platform: PlayStation 3

Developer: Namco Bandai

Publisher: Namco Bandai

There are few anime franchises as enduring as Bandai's Mobile Suit Gundam. Debuting in Japan in 1979, the series has seen many sequels and spin offs, some venerated and others universally reviled. The same can be said for the franchise's forays into video games. Though boasting an impressive number of titles spanning years of gaming consoles, the overall quality of these titles has often split players into two categories: those who love and those who hate. The most recent offering, Crossfire, falls very much into that same pattern. While essentially panned by Western reviewers as a sub-par launch entry for the Playstation 3, the game has garnered some more respectable press overseas, where Gundam is as beloved as Star Wars is in North America. Certainly this new title has its share of issues, but hardcore Gundam fans, and patient players, may wish to reconsider the harsh reception the game has received and take a look for themselves. Behind the technical issues exists a game that, contrary to popular belief, is still quite playable. You will either love it or hate it.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire (or Target in Sight as it is known in Japan) takes players back to the beginning of the franchise: The One Year War. For those unfamiliar with the Gundam saga, here is a quick synopsis. In the far off future mankind has moved its bursting population into massive space colonies. One day several of these colonies declare themselves independent of the heavy-handed Earth Federation that still governs much of the Earth sphere. Calling itself the Principality of Zeon, this alliance of colonies launches into an armed conflict with the Federation using powerful mobile weapons called Mobile Suits- weapons that quickly turn the war in Zeon's favor. It is not long before both sides see massive casualties and the conflict cools into months-long stalemate. Nearly nine months after the beginning of the war, the Federation deploys its own model of mobile suit, thus sparking the conflict and moving it into its next destructive phase.

Crossfire places you, as the player, in the role of a soldier battling for control of Earth for either the Federation or Zeon. Your goal, should you choose to enlist, is to battle the opposing forces across various theaters of war, gradually shifting the balance of power in your favor. Successful missions bring the prospect of promotion, as well as the rewards of newer, powerful mobile suits and troops to command.

The entire game unfolds over the course of three months, with each turn representing a ‘day'. You have until the final day of the war, December 31st, to complete your objectives. Along the way you will be handed various mission objectives in locales ranging from Australia and the jungles of Southeast Asia to the European mainland. Each mission comes with a time table; an expiration date that will remove said mission from your grasp should you not act in a timely manner. Marching into battle causes time to pass, as does ordering upgrades to units, repairs, and requesting additional weapons of war. Part of the challenge in these early intermission phases is how to develop your war machine while allowing ample time to meet your objectives in the field. Allowing missions to lapse without action can impact your army's progress in the overall war, though this is not always immediately apparent. Unlike the anime from which the game draws, there is no individual story to be found here. It is mostly a series of linked missions that ultimately draw you closer to the end of the war as a faceless participant. Some familiar names do appear in the pilot roster for your selection, but the presence of these characters is not really felt (though they tend to be good pilots).

Once units are chosen, wingmen are selected, and a mission is underway, it is time to jump into the meat of the game: the combat. Unlike some mech action games, Crossfire is not by any means fast paced, but rather it is more methodical in nature. Mobile Suits are slow, lumbering devices rather than sleek and aerodynamic, and their overall control scheme reflects that. While they are equipped with thruster packs, most bursts of true speed are limited and best used during evasive maneuvers. Overall the units control well, with the left and right sticks controlling movement and camera respectively. The face buttons provide access to main weapons while the triggers control sub weapons, lock-on, guarding, and a handy sniper mode. It will not take long to learn how to effectively control your unit and before long you will be crashing through buildings and leaping over foliage like a pro. The controls are not always as responsive as you might like, though. When the action is heated there can sometimes be a serious delay between button press and action. These moments are usually due to too much action on the screen in general, and rarely does the delay impact only the player.

Weapons will be your best friends in the field, of course, and each mobile suit comes with its own unique weapon offerings. While most begin with something akin to a simple machine gun, the options will increase the more you upgrade the individual units. Larger machine rifles, missile and rocket launchers, large cannons, and eventually beam based weapons make defeating the enemy all the more entertaining. Some suits will also come with body-mounted weapons such as head vulcans or cannons, adding additional and much needed firepower in times of need. Along with ranged weapons, most mobile suits come equipped with a means of battling the enemy in close quarters. While not as efficient as staying at range, and marred by occasional quirks, melee combat does offer some finesse to the proceedings. Taking a beam saber to a wounded Zaku always gets the blood pumping. And speaking of damage, Crossfire implements an intriguing location-specific damage system for its mobile suits. Constant fire on particular body parts, be it arms, legs, or weapons, can cause destruction that can, and will, cripple the target significantly in battle.

All of this sounds rather impressive, and for the most part, these features factor into the actual gameplay during missions. But that being said, it does have some issues. As mentioned earlier, frame rates can get hung up when the action gets heavy. Melee combat can be frustrating against stronger, faster opponents and therefore it is often easier to remain at range, only closing the ranks when the enemy is damaged. Taking advantage of the game's damage system is relatively easy, though sniping an enemy's specific body part at range doesn't work so hot when they are in motion. In the end it is sometimes more effective to simply lay into an enemy until they explode rather than strike with precision. More often then not it will be you on the defensive, struggling to raise a shield before your only good weapon arm is blown clean from your body. The camera is adjustable, and thankfully can be zoomed out somewhat from the default setting that places it right up against the player's back. Despite these issues it will not take long for a player to become proficient at the helm of their mobile suit. Patience in the graphic stutter will also be required when the screen becomes overly congested with friend, foe, and foliage.

Another aspect of gameplay comes in the form of wingmen. Additional pilots can be hired through the intermission screens to join your cause. Each possesses statistics that suit them for some roles better than others, and it is up to you to determine what role they should fill in your ranks. These support players are fairly aggressive in the field, but there is something missing. Since the game claims that part of your goal is to build effective squads to aid the war effort, it seems perplexing that the commands you are equipped with for said wingmen are so archaic. Your rank will determine the nature of these simple commands, which really involve nothing more than your basic ‘attack', ‘defend', ‘form up', and ‘spread out' orders. These commands are issued via the directional buttons on the control pad. The trouble is that there is no onscreen prompt or recognition that an order has been given. Many times you will have to watch your allies onscreen to see if they are indeed following the order set for them, or if they are simply wandering into the thick of battle alone.

By themselves, the pilots are only about as good as the units you give them. Give a pilot a strong mobile suit and he will most likely handle himself well should he get separated from you. Give him crap, and you'll be scraping him off the battlefield at the end. At times the squad mechanic does work well, especially when you and your wingmen are focus firing upon the same target. But other times it is almost better to leave the allies behind, or at least stationed by the nearest supply depot in case something comes their way. The squad mechanic could have been much more exciting, but here it feels incomplete.

When it comes to the actual mission structure, the tasks will usually boil down to the same thing: blowing up everything that moves. Certainly there are other tasks to perform, such as escort, defense, assault, demolition, and recon. But pretty much all of these will involve shooting at some stage. The mission zones themselves are often fairly confined, with borders defined on your radar screen. While you and your allies are confined to the box, the enemy is not, occasionally generating some frustrating events when damaged foes sneak just beyond your melee range. But for the most part the action stays within the mission range. Successfully completing a mission nets you points that you can use to fund your efforts in the field. The strategic menu screen between missions acts as the hub through which you manage your upgrades, acquisitions, and pilots. As time progresses more missions become available, including some training missions based on previous battles. These training modules are always available, offering up a reasonable distraction from simply wasting turns until the next major battle comes along as well as some extra points to spend on your growing army. What missions you take and how you spend your hard earned funds is really up to you.

Visually, Crossfire is somewhat of a mixed bag. The mobile suits, clearly the showpieces of the game, look fantastic, especially in high definition. Every suit possesses volume, texture, and a surprising level of detail when it comes to battle damage. Bullet holes appear in armor and panels glow hot when your unit is trapped in the midst of a firestorm. There are a lot of little details that long time Gundam fans would appreciate. From the sliding leg panels concealing beam sabers, holstered weapons and heat hawks, and the spent shell casings spilling onto the ground from firearms, it is clear that the developers wanted to offer up an authentic and realistic representation of the subject material. These hulking behemoths look best in the field, though frame rate issues might at times render their movements to be somewhat choppy.

The environments are where the game's visuals stutter somewhat. While far from one dimensional and ugly, the mission environments do lack the same polish and attention that the mobile suits received. The result is a series of passable terrain maps, each with plenty of elevations, structures, and forests to break up the line of sight. Buildings, whether they be blown out husks or active military compounds, look decent enough, especially when they take damage. Structures collapse, floors and walls give way under foot, and buildings do possess a sense of volume that makes them more believable. If only the urban combat environments were a little larger. The rest of the foliage you encounter is reasonably well textured but lacks presence. Spots of trees dart the landscape in the ‘jungle' missions, not nearly as densely as one might hope. Trees do sway and fall when your mobile suit crashes through them, adding a little character to an otherwise lifeless piece of scenery. Water does not look too bad, either, though its movements occasionally look silly when giant mobile weapons go wading through the rivers. Despite the open ranges in which combat takes place, there is still a bit of a ‘draw distance'. Every battlefield seems plagued by a mist that obscures far off objects from sight. While this might be fitting in a dense and humid jungle setting, it doesn't always feel right in some of the other environments. For the most part, these are graphic issues that aren't always apparent when the action gets heated. You'll be as good as dead if you spend all your time looking for glitches in the graphics.

The developers went for a more realistic feel when it came to the sound effects. Some of the sounds remain authentic and true to the source material while others, especially when it comes to the weapons, aim for a more real world feel separate from the anime. For the most part it all sounds fine, though some of the weapons lack the necessary punch one might expect. Explosions, too, could be a little more impressive on the ears and the eyes, but they are serviceable. The voice work in the game isn't terrible in English, but it gets old pretty quickly. There is a language option, allowing players to switch to Japanese with English subtitles for a more authentic Gundam experience. A reasonable music score marches on behind the scenes to wrap up the package, though it does sound as if a few more tracks were needed.

All told, it can take anywhere from 6-8 hours to finish playing through a single side, perhaps longer depending on play style. The game promotes additional play-throughs to unlock larger, more powerful mobile suits and allows you to carry over the ranks and prestige you earned previously. With 30+ units to unlock, there is enough to keep players busy for a while, though the repetition in the missions might lend to sets of boredom. There is a two player versus mode using split screen, though it moves slowly and is not terribly interesting in comparison.

Gamers looking for something fast-paced should look elsewhere, as should those seeking something akin to Armored Core. Like many of the previous Gundam titles, Crossfire will appeal to the fan base for the most part, though certainly anyone with an interest in blowing things up mecha style can give it a try. Once you remove expectation and get past the technical issues that many have harped upon, there is certainly some fun to be had. The action can be intense and the play mechanics, especially the damage system, a blast to waste a few hours away with. It would be intriguing to see Crossfire receive a follow-up, hopefully one that improves the squad tactics and perhaps even embellishes the strategy sequences further. But for the time being, Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire is a better-than-average entry into the storied franchise that grows on you if you give it a chance. At least give it a chance at rental and judge for yourself. Like me, you might be pleasantly surprised that, despite all the negative press, the game has much more to offer.

Game Score

B-

Reviewed By: Contributed