 Review By: Jared Black |
Developer: | BEC |
| Publisher: | Namco Bandai | |
| Genre: | Action | |
| ESRB: | Teen | |
| # Of Players: | 1 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | HDTV (480p, 720p, 1080i) | |
| Buy Now: |   |
The biggest culprit is the framerate, which is inconsistent to say the least. While the game never becomes totally unplayable, moving lumbering mechs in a slideshow-like environment is not my idea of fun. The camera doesn’t help this any, as it’s almost totally manual (and slow to respond) except for when you’ve specifically locked onto an enemy. To lock-on to any enemy you must first have them in line of the camera itself, which is illogical. Shouldn’t my mech be able to see and target an enemy off-camera if he’s physically looking directly at it…especially since it shows up on radar? Since you can’t automatically lock-on to off-camera enemies you know are there, this forces you to slowly turn the camera around to find and then target any enemies you wish to attack. In the end this only makes the game’s glacial pace worse.
The worst part about it though is that there’s really no reason for the framerate to be as slow as it is, because the environments are extremely sparse and dull. In fact, there’s no reason why this couldn’t have been done on the PS2 (high-definition aside). “Jungles” consist of a few clumps of trees and scattered ones every few feet the rest of the way, while desert locations seem like convenient excuses the art department used when it didn’t feel like drawing anything. When you do come across an HQ or other populated area, it’s made up of fairly simple block structures with a few surrounding communications towers and secondary buildings. I realize that this is supposed to be a desolated world, but plenty of games have shown that you can show desolation in more ways than simply making barren landscapes. Where are the charred husks of buildings past? Where’s the dense jungle foliage? Where are the long-abandoned cars, hospitals, etc.?
As if that wasn’t enough, the game also makes heavy use of distracting fog in the distance…which is an old trick meant to limit a game’s draw distance and (in theory) keep the framerate healthy. So when you zoom out to spot distant enemies, oftentimes they’ll simply disappear at a set point behind a big wall of fog. Of course the computer-controlled enemies don’t have to put up with the fog artificially limiting their ability to see you, or a clunky camera and twitchy framerate that makes targeting a chore for that matter, so you’ll routinely be pummeled into oblivion by a hail of gunfire before you even get a chance to see what hit you. Another advantage the enemy has is that each area has an invisible wall bordering it, and while this wall will stop you dead in your tracks the enemy can safely retreat behind it. So if you’re out of ammo, an enemy can start shooting at you from two feet behind the wall, and there’s not a thing you can do about it since you can’t hit back with a melee attack.
In fact, the only time the graphics shine here are the mechs themselves. The models are fairly complex, with good use of pockmarked and rough textures to make them feel like they really have been involved in an ongoing war. They’re also self-shadowing, which is a nice touch.
Uninspired music rounds out the game, with decent voice acting during the mission briefings and sparse sound effects totally underselling how destructive huge robots should be.
Bottom Line:
Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire was almost certainly rushed out the door to make launch, and it shows. This game simply feels incomplete in almost every way. A year or two more of development time and this could’ve been something special, but instead we’re left with a disaster of a launch title.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 3.1 |
Posted: 2006-11-25 13:23:12 PST