We'll never know why Namco Bandai chose to give this game a title that completely lacks the disyllabic construction "Gundam". After something like a dozen PlayStation and PS2 games that really weren't all that, this new Gundam action game looks to finally do the license justice. Was the Xbox 360 the key to getting it right once and for all?
The first Gundam game to be developed specifically with the western market in mind, One Year War has a much grittier look than past attempts to bring the revered anime series into the video game realm. The designs of the mobile suits are unmistakable, but the less saturated colors and grim visual style is much more somber and realistically militaristic.
Gameplay itself is still largely under wraps, but from the look of the preview video being shown around, it tends toward ground-bound action. Whether you're braving the battlefield alone and on foot with little more than your rifle or from inside the cockpit of a giant, very heavily armed mobile suit, the camera always views the combat from an over-your-shoulder perspective. We're told that the mobile suits' shields and energy swords will make an appearance as well, should things get too close for gunplay. For our parts, we'll stay close to this one until its Holiday 2006 release.
May 9, 2006
