Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 Co-Op Review

Review System(s): XBox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation 2
Jason "OrigamiPanther" Love Friday 03rd of July 2009 05:10 PM  
 

In order to choose which mobile suit you want to play through the story mode with, you have to first beat the story mode.  To put it another way, you have to beat the game in order to unlock a feature that’s printed on the box!  When you do unlock the ability to select your mobile suit, your selection is limited to just a few of the suits.  If you want to broaden the selection, you have to gather all the parts to build the mobile suits and then unlock them by completing License Missions in “Mission” mode, which requires you to complete other missions first in order to unlock those missions... .  Defining infinity by using a vast, finite number may be futile, but Gundam 2 comes close to defining infinity through a game play experience. [Or it takes arms against overseas problems]

 

  Now, this has all been a lot of talk about the game itself without much discussion of the co-op experience, but all of this has been to set-up what that experience is like.  Are you ready?  Dynasty Warrior: Gundam 2’s co-op experience is summed up in eight words: it makes infinity seem a little bit shorter.  Destroying countless armies of giant fighting robots with a friend is fun, but that fun quickly turns into a dull, unrelenting tedium that, like being on a family road trip when you were a kid, has no immediate end in sight.  (are we there yet?)  If you feel up to the challenge of taking on infinity, then the best use of your friend’s time is to use a character/mobile suit that you’ve already leveled up on your own to make unlocking things for another character easier.  Of course, I can’t say that using your friends in a mad quest to find an end to infinity is the best way to enjoy a co-op game, or keep friends. [this it is the madness, still there in the method]

Being a spin-off, and a new iteration of, the Dynasty Warriors games, Gundam 2 has its own variations and tweaks to the typical Dynasty Warriors elements in order to make the game fit in the context of the Gundam universe.  Unfortunately, none of the tweaks are improvements, and the changes to the character and RPG mechanics cause the hack and slash action to turn into the ultimate example of what it feels like to be a snake eating its own tail.  This leads to a fairly mediocre, and potentially friendship altering, co-op experience.  [one of smaller parents and less pleasant]  In summation, the developers of this game forgot that brevity is the soul of wit, or as babelfish so kindly translated, is consciousness the heart of the cause.

 

The Co-op Experience: You and your friend will enjoy a lifetime’s worth of sunrises and sunsets, battling robots along the way, and never fully achieve anything in this otherwise average hack and slash game.  

Score: 2 out of 5

 


Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience. Our General Score is more representitive of the overall experience.



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Tags: playstation 3 xbox 360 dynasty warriors playstation 2 gundam reviews




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Reader Comments

bapenguin at 10:14 PM on 7.3.2009
Something tells me the header image Mike created is infinitely more fun and awesome than the game.
 
Tino at 01:40 PM on 7.4.2009
The Dynasty Warriors series is a strange phenomenon. Half of everyone ABSOLUTELY HATES THEM due to the repetitive and droll nature of the game while the other half totally embraces them.

Personally, I love the game to pieces and it's a high point in the Dynasty Warriors series however in terms of innovation and emerging game play it doesn't bring much to the table.
 
OrigamiPanther at 09:22 AM on 7.6.2009
Agreed and I actually like the Dynasty Warriors games. Despite their repetitive nature, you actually feel like you're doing something each time you beat/play through it. For the most part, too, they've slowly gotten better with each iteration.

This game, though, smashes that sense of accomplishment/progress to pieces, burns the pieces, and blows the ashes in your face.
 
pheriannath at 09:25 AM on 7.6.2009
I like the DW series as well, and what I played of Gundam didn't "get" it right. It takes all of the worst parts of the games and exacerbates them.
 
Agentfyre at 10:46 AM on 7.6.2009
Wow Bapenguin, you're a really good writer! I hope you get paid for your reviews. I gotta check out some of the others now...

As for DW, I never tried it, but after reading what others have said I just might have to now.
 
pheriannath at 11:13 AM on 7.6.2009
Nick (bapenguin) didn't write this review, Jason (origamipanther) did.
 
Agentfyre at 11:22 AM on 7.6.2009
Oh, dang...how did I miss that... Sorry about that.

Anyways...uh...thanks for posting it?

Wait...is Origamipanther from Co-Optimus? I can't find a link to any other site. If so, I still think it's a great review.
 
pheriannath at 11:34 AM on 7.6.2009
Co-Optimus Staff:

Nick - bapenguin
Mike (me) - pheriannath
Marc - djinniman
Jason - origamipanther
Jim - txhurricane
Kat - shadowkatregn
Loren - agtfox
 
Agentfyre at 11:47 AM on 7.6.2009
Thank you! It's nice to meet you. I love the site. It's what I've been looking for for a long time.
 
hedgehogaj at 12:41 PM on 7.6.2009
After playing the first game I had no desire to even try this one. If for no other reason than the AI on your team is completely incompetent. Which I realize is in line with the Gundam storyline, but unless I can teleport, it's a crap game mechanic. Also trying to make ranged combat an important part of a beat-um-up is just a bad idea.
 
OrigamiPanther at 03:20 PM on 7.6.2009

Welcome to the site! Glad you enjoyed the review and wanted to add to Mike's post that there's a link to our Staff page located at the very bottom of the site so you can check out the great writing done by the other staffers of Co-Optimus.
 
Agentfyre at 05:02 PM on 7.6.2009
Sweet, thanks!
 



Total Comments: 12

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