In Universal Century 0079...
This game isn’t based around the original story and cast of characters but instead; set during the same time-frame and a smaller group of soldiers codenamed “White Dingo Squad”
When the game starts, you get a brief cinematic that gets you up to speed in the MSG universe. From there you pick up the role of Lieutenant Junior Grade Master Pierce Rayer, a very dedicated mobile suit pilot in the Earth Federation army. You command him as Fang 1 and his crew; the seasoned vet and tank driver turned MS pilot; Ensign Leung Lee-Fai in Fang 2, the sensitive, neurotic and joker of the group; Ensign Maximilian Berger and Chief Petty Officer Anita Julianne the driver of the hover-truck Oasis. Together, you are sent on missions by Commander Stanley Hawkins to further the Earth Federations’ cause.
The story plays out in typical, linear fashion. You get some story in-between battles, at your desktop and some story in-battle while engaged in combat as well as before and after battle cut scenes. (One of the cool points to story advancement includes battle decisions that influence how the rest of the story flows.) The down side is, the story isn’t very long. After your 9 missions it’s all over, however, you unlock some mega-cool extras so there is some incentive to replay even without the much needed multi-player… The game features over 10 mobile suits (about half playable), a few mobile armors, over 13 equipable weapons and some other Gundam universe vehicles, places and objects.
The gameplay itself is very well done. You get to see hat it’s like to pilot a mobile suit ala first-person, cockpit view camera. The action is think-fast assault mixed with some real time strategy and some target destruction and/or protection.
The controls hold it all together by using every button on the controller to do something different and still keeping it functional and manageable. the in-between mission desktop interactions are a bit tedious after the first play through but other then the initial equipping stuff; are 100% skipable so no worries.
The downside is it takes some getting used to but it’s hella-fun once you are.
The graphics really bring the soul of the Dreamcast, they are near flawless. (especially the cut-scenes) for those expecting anime, you might be disappointed by the true-to-life renders but true fans won’t let that get in the way. The maps look pretty good and almost everything is destroyable so you can pretend your Godzilla if you want. The mechs are rendered very well as is the attacks (bullets, beams, energy swords, ect.) The characters have a “dark” feel to them, mainly to keep the immersion levels up and make it feel more like a war… you can also occasionally feel that the translation wasn’t completely accurate…
The sound in the game is excellent. The voice-overs are great, all the big anime voice-over talent were brought in. the vehicle movements are dead on as well as the weapon noises, explosions and the occasional transmissions sound great.
The in-game music is strait-up Gundam OST, a bit of remix on a few but for the most part, it sounds great.
The replay value isn’t all that high but I wanted to play more after my sixth time beating it in one day because of how fun it is. After the first play-through, you unlock bonus options that allow you to use Gundam exclusive weapons from the start so toying with those was a blast. You can also add pictures to your cockpit but they don’t serve any purpose (even the top right one *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*).
As for weather or not to buy this; if you are an MSG fan, it’s a hands down buy. If you are a mech junkie and need a good FPS mech game on the Dreamcast; another hands down buy. If you just don’t enjoy the gameplay; you’d be better off renting or just avoiding this.