Here we are less than a year away from the end of the PlayStation 2 era, and we've seen games that I never imagined appearing in the US getting solid localizations and even earning decent profits. Yet there are still games no one seems willing to take a risk on...and in some cases they might be better off that way.
Gundam: One Year War
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Bandai
Released On: 04/07/05
A Gundam game that isn't being released in the US? Apparently so. Made by Namco and published by Bandai, One Year War recounts the story of the original Gundam series in narrative form with still images recreated from the anime, tossing in important dialogue moments with a talking head effect. While not as nice as fully animated cut-scenes, it does speed through the plot to get straight to the action.
The action is simple but engaging. Most of the time you'll be blasting away baddies or slashing them to scrap in a third-person mecha with first person shooter controls. If you don't want to end up charbroiled, there's dashing and jumping to keep from becoming an easy mark, though use of these are limited by a regenerating energy gauge. Of course, veteran pilots will use those options against you, even going so far as to dash in for a melee attack, and then hopping away before you can get your strike in.
OYW also spices things up by dropping you into different Gundams, making you man the turrets of the White Base, or engage in a little "first person on rails" shooting reminiscent of Virtua Cop. All of this is done with colorful and detailed visuals, far more vivid than the now dated anime it's based on, with a sense of style that seems borrowed from the Zone of Enders series.
The only real flaw is its length. One trip through the story mode will last you only a few hours, and that's without skipping all the cut-scenes in between. The missions are fun enough to play through on the three difficulty levels, especially to earn the special memorial cut-scenes that recreate the most spectacular moments from the anime, but without multiplayer or some form of custom mission mode, there isn't enough to keep the interest of even the most diehard Gundam fan for very long.
Swords of Destiny
Developer: Artoon
Publisher: Marvelous
Released On: 02/17/05
A new stylish sword fighting game. Yay! By the makers of Blinx. Err...
This is the story of the tough hero that has to rescue the shy priestess, who has won his heart (for reasons the game doesn't bother with), whose father was killed by the evil witch who kidnapped her, who will turn out to not be quite an evil witch after all, working for a guy who is truly evil, and the hero will kill in the end. Bah.
Originality isn't one of SoD's strong points. The gameplay is essentially a mix of Otogi, Shinobi, Devil May Cry, and Ninja Gaiden. Enemies are locked on and pummeled with canned combos, while evading or dashing before an attack will lead to a different combo to extend your combat options. Our "too cool for this game" hero also has special wards that can freeze an enemy or enhance your own strength, as well as a super powered Dragon Attack, which isn't nearly as useful or powerful as it really should be.
Sword Time is SoD's stab at originality. Before or after an enemy attacks, their targeting reticule will go red for about three seconds. If you manage to strike in that window of opportunity, everything blurs into slow motion and your enemies are knocked helplessly into the air, allowing you to zip from one to another, causing massive damage... in theory. In practice, you'll kill the first enemy and stumble out of Sword Time before reaching the next, which you won't even be able to see thanks to the game's cameraman suddenly falling asleep. Just trying to set this up usually means getting repeatedly blindsided by any enemy you're not locked onto, so outside of bosses it's really not worth the trouble, turning 90% of the game into a pure mash fest.
This is a reoccurring theme in the game's other elements, which had awe-inspiring potential, but trip over their own feet on the path to greatness. One feature is the ability to collect enemy weapons, which should have provided all the variety of the original Otogi. The catch is to use them you have to imbue them with one of three holy spirits, which alter the form of the weapon, leaving you with exactly three usable weapons. These holy spirits can be upgraded with experience paid in the blood of monsters, though the improvements are so minute, especially when they're spread across three spirits, that the game would have been better without this system.
A little more depth wouldn't have hurt either. SoD is in desperate need of a shop where you could buy and sell items; customize or upgrade your weaponry, as well as some sort of token item like the bracelets in Ninja Gaiden. More than one playable character could have also kept things interesting for longer...but that's all a pipedream. In the end, what you're left with is a serviceable slash 'em up completely overshadowed by the games it strives to imitate.
