Why is Gundam Evolution so much FUN?

Lets start off by saying...Robots! Well actually Mechanized Suits aka Mobile Suits. At the core of every game I have ever enjoyed has been a cool character. Throughout my life my imagination has been fueled by character driven experiences. Games, movies or comic that feature or allow me to embody cool characters. The important link that whisks me away from my boring life and puts me in the roll of being a larger than life hero .

Gundam Evolution puts you in the driver seat of gigantic Mobile suits ripped right from the small screen that gave birth the worldwide phenomenon in the 70's and 80's that still continues to this day. Movies, toys and even model kits have kept this property alive for decades with no end in sight.

From a game design point of view Gundam Evolution is essentially a "Hero Shooter" in the vein of games like Overwatch and Paladins. Choose from a roster of cool looking characters and hit the battlefield to get the job done for your team. It is going to be easy to cram Evolution into a nice package that can be summed up by saying " Its Overwatch with Robots" but once you get to grips with the game it becomes apparent that their is more going on here than most would give it credit for.

The Cast

The list of characters that make up a hero shooter roster can make or break a game right off the bat. Lets face it, if your players don't " click" with the characters you are offering them the game is dead on arrival. Luckily Gundam Evolution has a great and growing list of favorites from the IP and promise of more to come. In fact the developers have promised that their will be a regular cadence of updates and new Mobile Suits arriving every month or two as well as new maps. If you are not a fan of the Gundam Universe or at all familiar with it I will say that the character designs are not up to the modern day standards we would expect to see ala Titanfall. The Mobile suit designs are at worst campy and blocky and at the best " ass kicking Anime Robot Warriors" . One complaint I had initially was that the guns and weapons looked very " low tech" and didn't have the detail that I would expect from a modern game but then I realized that this was all in service of the source material and not a lack of imagination on the developers part. Halo and Titanfall have amazing cool looking weaponry but that isn't a part of the Gundan Universe so you wont get any of that here.

Game play

Gundam Evolution is fast paced. VERY fast paced. Despite being in control of large( no make that Gigantic) robot suits . These are not slow moving mech suits and in fact they have more agility and combat prowess that almost all of the characters in Overwatch! Each Mobile suit is equipped with variable refreshing boosters that can be activated in the form of short and fast immediate boosts horizontally or vertically and a thruster style that propels you for a duration based on y our fuel gauge at the bottom of your screen. If you need in or out of a combat situation quickly a short thrust is the way to go but after re spawning back at base and you need to get to the front line then a constant thrust is the way to go. EVERY Mobile suit in the game has this capability and this is a big part of why the game play is so fast and fluid. I love this feature and it really does make you feel like you are in control of these giant robots.

Another way that this game is set apart from other hero shooters is that each Mobile suit can function dependently as part of a team. By that I mean that not a single suits is delegated to being a support, medic or tank style role in the team. Yes there are suits that have clear roles but all of them are equipped with offensive weaponry and abilities that make them equally good at taking the fight to the enemy if need be. A game is never lost because the team doesn't have a certain character or role on it. A lot of the victory conditions come down to the synergy between the players versus the type of mobile suit they chose.

The game can be very unforgiving if you approach it without learning it. Rushing in and blasting away without respecting the game play systems is sure to frustrate players. Knowing your time to kill for each mobile suit and also knowing that it is far better to retreat and regroup versus being punished by the games long re spawn loop is key to succeeding.

Graphics

So as a free to play game you have to curb your expectations a bit. The game is optimized for next gen consoles so that means you are going to get 60FPS and decent visuals. We aren't talking Call of Duty quality graphics here but a great looking game that channels the feel of the Gundam Universe. Maps are drab with too many interior factory style environments and not enough outdoor maps. City spaces are somewhat pleasant to battle in but without any destruction in the environment you have to occasionally look at the ground for things like cars and trucks to remind you that you are a giant freaking robot. The sense of scale could have been better implemented but with new maps arriving almost monthly from here on out hopefully that issue will be fixed.

Speaking of maps, I have to state that the ability to navigate the maps with any sense of skill is challenging for me. Interior hallways and paths all blur together because of the color palette used that walls and rooms all look the same after awhile. Thankfully there is a ping system to let players mark enemies and objective locations for each other.

Settings

When you install the game on y our console and get ready I would pause and dive into the settings menu. Evolution has a large array of options and most notable is the ability to customize your HUD elements. Cross hairs , sensitivity and various tweaks to your controls are all important. I really recommend you tweak and trial changes to your sensitivity and your reticule size before playing. I felt that its helped me play better and get better results each match.

Another setting that you need to change when you start your match is going into the " select button menu" and changing from party chat to team channel. This puts you and your party in a team channel and all pilots can hear each other. This is not common knowledge so if your wondering why your team is so quiet that this is why.

All together as a package Gundam Evolution is a smart product. It gives us just enough familiarity of the game by channeling others in the genre but breaks away by adding new game play systems and styles to make it stand out. Matches are fast and furious concluding each time with a feeling of wanting to jump back in and try it again with a different strategy.

Pilots who stand fast and don't get frustrated will find lots of enjoyment in the diverse cast of mobile suits , each with a unique game play suite.

With its fast game play and changes to a tried and true formula I am having a blast playing Gundam Evolution. I cannot wait to see whats ahead for this game as it starts to gaining some momentum with community.