Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire is a punch in the gut to the Gundam franchise and its fans.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire is probably one of the worst launch games to be released and will probably hold the title as being the worst PS3 game ever made. The fact that this is what Namco-Bandai put out is a mockery to what the PS3 is capable of. Even if you’re a hardcore Gundam fan you’re going to be pissed.
So let’s break down what the game is all about. The story follows the Zeon vs. Federation Gundam plot. In this the Zeon forces who settled on off Earth colonies are fighting against the Earth Federation forces. Gundam is of course an anime and most of the previous Gundam games have included anime cutscenes or anime inspired art. However this title goes for a more realistic approach and does not feature any anime cutscenes or art. So if you’re a big fan of the Zeon story line from the Gundam anime then you’re going to be extremely disappointed. In fact the entire story of Crossfire is just crap. The story is told through still images that are narrated by a voice actor that sounds like he took too much cough medicine before he recorded the v.o session. The Gundam series is known for its somewhat deep and soap opera style stories but Crossfire is nothing more than a snooze fest.
Now when the Gundam trailer premiered at Sony’s E3 press conference in 2005 people were hyped up since it was pretty impressive. So does Crossfire achieve these visuals, NO! In fact the only thing that comes close to the visuals from the E3 05 vid is that the E3 video plays when you select the game from the PS3’s XMB interface. To be honest the visuals in Crossfire are just crap. There’s no other way to describe what Namco-Bandai produced on the power house that is the PS3. The mechs look good if the game was running on the Xbox but the biggest offender are the environments. If you showed someone the game they most likely would’ve thought Crossfire was a PS2 game. Fog is evident throughout the game and the trees, dilapted buildings and other features in the game are terrible. You also don’t get a sense of scale when you walk around the environment and there’s no feeling of piloting a giant robot when you smash a building or crush tanks. One thing about mech games is that each one controls different. There are titles like Zone of the Enders where the action is fast and the control is easy. Then you have titles like Chromnehounds where the controls of the mechs are a bit slower and the gameplay in a way is a bit more methodical. The controls in Crossfire are just garbage. Your mech moves extremely slow, you can’t target particular parts of opposing mech’s bodies and you can only shoot in the direction you’re facing. You even can’t change the axis of your aim! Now the crapiness of the game’s controls also makes their way into your opponents. Your enemies will stumble their way along the environment to the point where it’s almost laughable. There were even a few times when I stood from afar watching enemy A.I. stumble along the environment as if it were being piloted by a 4 year old.
Just like all the other aspects of the game, the game modes in Crossfire are also crap. The campaign mode allows you to play as either Zeon or Federation forces but there’s really no difference in terms of gameplay. You will still move through similar dull environments and there are no real gameplay differences. Other than campaign mode you can do versus but there is no online play so you’ll have to settle for splitscreen. But who would want to torture their friend to the crap that is Crossfire?
There is only one redeeming factor to the game and that’s the score. The game’s score is all orchestral and is on par with the Gundam animes and is extremely cinematic. I would recommend just buying the soundtrack to the game so you won’t have to torture yourself to the game. While the score is excellent the voice acting is terrible and sounds like the English localization staff did them.
In the end Crossfire is a mess of a game and essentially has no redeeming factors. If you’re a Gundam fan then you’ll want to break the disc after playing the game. Crossfire doesn’t have the deep customization of other titles and doesn’t even reach the fun of other games. If you buy this game then you’re either stupid, desperate for PS3 games, or one of the most hardcore Gundam fans. Namco-Bandai should be ashamed of releasing this ‘game’ on the PS3.