Gundam Breaker 4, developed by CRAFTS & MEISTER Co., Ltd and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, is an arcade like beat’em up with a lot of emphasis on player customization. The game focuses on showing off a new layer of customization truly showing off how Gunpla (gundam model kits) is truly an expression of a person’s creative freedom. This level of creative freedom is reflected in one of the gameplay mechanics present in the game. Moreover, since this game is part of the Gundam Breaker series it will be focused more on player customization with a narrative that could have been done a little bit better for the base game. Aside from that, the game’s sound design is overall a good experience as the voice acting is on point, yet the music and sound feel a bit lacking. Overall Gundam Breaker 4 is a Gundam fans dream game that allows players to be completely free in making their own gunpla.
Gameplay wise the game does not stray to far away from the Gundam Breaker series gameplay loop it is known for so there is very little changes in terms of actual gameplay in the missions presented. However, while the overall changes are minimal in regards to combat they felt impactful in the long run of the game by preventing players from spamming certain skills ensuring that the player needs to rely on the gunpla they have built and the skills they have chosen. This forces the player to customize their gunpla in such to such a way to balance the combination of design, and combat into one. Furthermore, the combat of the game is very similar to Dynasty Warriors in terms of the ease of fighting the various grunts in game and combat to some extent. The various grunts pose very little to no issue if the player has kept upgrading and leveling their gunpla as they play the game, even in harder difficulties. As for the combat presented in Gundam Breaker 4 it feels similar to a beat’em up like Castle Crashers, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3, and Fate/EXTELLA. This style of combat will get repetitive especially when the mission structure can feel boring at times due to a lack of a challenge even in hardcore.
One major change between Gundam Breaker 4 and Gundam Breaker 3 is the speed of the overall game which feels a tad bit slower compared to the previous entry in terms of player’s movement speed, attacks, and more complex tactics such as boost cancelling. This might have been done to implement the new mechanics of the game such as building up a meter in the bottom left hand of the screen that translates to the usage of EX Skills as they use a certain amount of bars to activate. Moreover, the optional parts (OP) are used as secondary backup weapons used to increase the player’s overall damage and for building up bars for the EX Skills. As for the best way on obtaining these optional parts (OP) is through missions which have them as part of the rewards system once you beat the mission with an S-rank. As for how players can obtain EX skills is through certain optimal parts (OP) or through certain gunpla body parts that can do so. The easiest way on obtain gunpla parts is through the shop if the player is looking for a certain part especially. Moreover, players can obtain more parts through missions, or purchasing parts from the in-game store utilizing the real-life boxes of these model kits.
As for the multiplayer the game one major standout is the fact that the top ranked global player is put on display for the rest of the community to see. This provides an incentive to various players to keep playing the game’s various game modes to accumulate points. Moreover, with the nature of the game various players can make their gunpla be specialized for certain situations or playstyles. So, players will see a very diverse amount of gunpla ranging from some cosplaying as references to anime, video games, and otaku culture in general. This is stemming from a core principle for gunpla as it revolves around the player the freedom to make what they want.
In regards to the narrative it feels quite similar to the average Sunday morning cartoon or shonen anime/manga. The story focuses on the tropes of friendship, comradery, and a tournament, with all of them being tied heavily into anime due to the Japanese influence present in the Gundam franchise as a whole. The setting of the game revolves around the open beta test for Gundam Breaker 4 in the narrative which makes the game have a more embedded narrative to work around with. By having the story be about the beta test for Gundam Breaker 4 allows for flexibility for when the various downloadable content stories roll around (DLCs). Moreover, it allows for more contemporary story elements to be added especially in online games.
There are some topics such as the importance of artificial intelligence (Ai) has in the game development and hacking. With the rise of artificial intelligence in game development there are some issues that can be brought up especially in how it can be used for cutting costs in the work force or the creativity of the program. Aside from game development, another major issue stems from hacking and cracking in video game culture with a range of people either being bad actors or helping identify key flaws. Hacking in video games usually involves a player adding in a modifying file into their client before entering a server, which can ruin the fun for other people or the game’s economy. This can range from aim hacks to obtaining various people’s IP: addresses, it all depends on the person in question using the hacks. As for cracking it is a more obscure term in the community, but it directly involves a game’s cyber security system where a player can mess with the server host itself and manipulate the files and data there. Furthermore, it also impacts the game companies cyber security especially if the game is live service as those large servers are being monitored and updated. By having any cyber-attacks there can prove to be detrimental for the various people there. Aside from the story a major contributing element to the game is the sounds present in the game.
Gundam Breaker 4’s sound design is phenomenal and with the voice acting for both English and Japanese so the type casting was perfect. As for the sound design it borrows a lot from Gundam Breaker 3’s sound files, however with some minor alterations to certain beam weapons to make them each sound distinct to some effect. There was one major thing that felt like downgrade and it was the use of the radio option in Gundam Breaker 3 not being given to the player at the end of finishing the campaign as an optional part (OP). This feels like a major let down for those who want to hear those anime soundtracks in the mission to break up the monotony of the music as overtime the music can get a little repetitive. Furthermore, by including those songs in the game allows players to listen to their favorite Gundam songs from Gundam Witch From Mercury all the way to the original Gundam series in the 1970s.
Gundam Breaker 4 is a gunpla fan’s dream game and with the game being the most recent game in the series has a lot to live up to as the last proper Gundam Breaker game was a couple of years ago. Gameplay wise the overall combat and experience has stayed the same and has not strayed too far from what the series is known for. The experience is further enhanced by the multiplayer aspects only found in a game like this where players can inspire others to become more creative and this in turn is then reflected in the gunpla of others. The overall narrative of the game borrows a lot from anime tropes with some minor nuances to deal with current trends in the gaming community. As for the sounds in game they are phenomenal, the minor issue is the lack of changeable music. Gundam Breaker 4 lives up to its reputation and is a solid 9/10 game that has some future missions coming along the way to expand the narrative possibly through the form of downloadable content (DLC).
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Related: Reviews by Kyle Manila
I would describe myself when interacting with games as a strategist with a pension for stealth and loud explosions.
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