12/19/05 >> Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Never Ending Tomorrow (PlayStation 2)
Genre: Mecha / Action
It's year 71 of the Cosmic Era century, and there has been tensions between the earth born naturals and the genetically modified Coordinators. Racism, discretion, overall hatred for one another. Gundam SEED's story follows this through the eyes of the young Kira Yamato , a coordinator that is forced into the war without his consent. Along the way, he is forced to fight his childhood friend Athrun Zala , who is one of the elite pilots of ZAFT's Creuset team. Kira's story will begin once again in Gundam SEED : Towards a Never Ending Tomorrow..
Story
The story in Gundam SEED involves Kira fighting through the war in the Earth Alliances newest prototype weapon, the GATX-105 Strike Gundam. Kira has support from his friends, but that won't be all he can rely on. This story takes us through a welcomed reminder of Gundam 0079, but soon branches out its own way. Kira is forced to learn the horrors of war after growing up in a neutral nation, and is constantly threatened by the 4 ZAFT stolen G Weapons; Aegis, Blitz, Duel and Buster. Fighting takes its toll and Kira will come up with a solution, however it's going to cost him more then he ever imagined possible...
Story-wise, I couldn't ask for more from this game. The game follows the series very well, and unlike the first SEED game, it actually goes until the end of the series. The ability to play through SEED's story from Athrun's point of view is a plus too. Nice overall.
Graphics
The graphics in SEED are more or less better then those found in its predecessor, Encounters in Space. The only difference is in the suits and backgrounds however. Most of the suit's look true to their Anime counterparts and the ArchAngel looks equally impressive. My only complaint is that the Earth Stages could have had a bit more detail in them. But Nit-picking isn't going to help, and it's very small when considered that this game really shines in the Gameplay department.
Sound
The sound is superb. All of the music has been taken from the Gundam SEED anime, so you can expect to hear some of your favorite tracks in-game such as Annai and Find the Way. The sound's the weapons make are very realistic, and hard to find flaws in them. Everything from Raider and Aegis's transformation sound, to the PS Armor activation and Launcher Strikes cannon made it into this game. The music has a very catchy beat to it as well. It really fit's the mood of what's going on In-game.
Controls
This could take a while to get adjusted to. It's a lot like EiS, with only a few minor changes. You can now use a special attack in-game and help to turn the tides on the enemy, and the Multi-Lock feature from EiS returns in a fairly nice way. The control on the ground stages is fairly good, and you can fly/hover using the R1 button on this stage. The controls in space are exactly like EiS, except that a combo system has been added to combat. Your total hits against enemy's are tallied up at the end of a stage. If you get enough combos in, you get more SEED Points (sp) which can be used to buy items in the SEED Shop.
The only problem I can find with the controls is that in underwater stages, things can get a little slow. This is possibly caused by the type of suit you are using, so you should prepare for this if you want to take a certain mecha into a battle.
Gameplay
Think EiS, only longer. If you've played EiS, you should know what to expect here. The ground stages add a nice additional feel to the game which couldn't be found in EiS, and the amount of gameplay modes is fairly nice. Available modes are Survival (100 MS survival, Health Survival, Timed Survival), Athrun’s Story, Kira’s story, Mission mode and VS Mode. VS mode is pretty fun, but only if you have friends you can play with. The MSV Mission modes are very interesting. Not only do they add backgrounds for various pilots in the series/manga , using their custom suits is even more interesting then the Ace Pilots in EiS. Expect to find a lot of depth in this department.
Extras
Over 40 minutes of anime footage is in the game, as well as newly animated scenes not seen in the series. Many suits need to be unlocked via the SEED shop, but it seems fun to do this time around. The game has soundtrack features that let you listen to many songs from the series, as well as biographies for most of the pilots/characters in the SEED universe. The amount of MS is less then EiS of course...but then again, having 25 Zaku's where the only difference is color isn't something to be proud of.
Lasting Appeal
You can replay mission mode as well as the Story modes with any mecha and pilot you wish. This feature adds a lot of replayablity , as well as the VS mode ; which is strangely addictive. Unlocking everything can take a while, so you can expect to spend a lot of time just getting everything to begin with. Afterwards however, there is much to be done in this game. The ability to play through Athruns story mode with any mecha is great, and it seems better the second time through. This game can last you a very long time, especially if you're a SEED fan.
Final Words
Gundam SEED: Towards a Never Ending Tomorrow is perhaps the best SEED game to date...or even the best PS2 Gundam game to date. If you are a SEED fan, definitely pick this up. If you are a UC fan...this could interest you, so I would try to rent it first. Should you decide to purchase it though, you will not be disappointed.
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Game Score: 8.9
Reviewed By: Contributed
