Gundam is still growing in popularity outside of Japan. The franchise is now in its 20th year, spawning numerous anime series, video games, and other merchandise. G-Saviour was a project developed as a TV movie using a mix of live action and computer-generated graphics. Although the production has not been aired in Japan yet, Japanese software developers Sunrise Interactive and Atelier Sai decided to introduce it as a mech action game on the PlayStation 2.
The TV movie looks like a cheesy sci-fi TV series you'd see on UPN, and unfortunately that has translated to the game as well. The game tries hard to incorporate the plot and setting from the motion picture, but with the bad voice acting and corny dialogue, you can forget about the story elements of the game. The loading time for the long, arduous drama is unnecessarily long, and you'll be pressing tons of buttons even before you start the game. The soundtrack, however, actually fits perfectly with the setting and the atmosphere of the game.
Graphics are vital in mech games, and G-Saviour manages to cover only a bit of that. The mechs in the game are designed and presented well, but the 3D environment could use a lot of work. The game virtually has no height element, so you'll be fighting enemy mechs and stationary cannons on the same level. Objects in the environment are, for the most part, slightly taller than the mech, but don't expect to see any tall skyscrapers or giant-sized mechs in the game. The gap between the 3D-rendered environment and the 2D still background is so obvious that the environment does not look realistic at all. Furthermore, some of the stages are simply rehashed from one to the next with slightly altered patterns.
So how does the game play? It doesn't play like Armored Core nor does it play like Omega Boost. The game is supposedly a mech action game, but there are no power-ups (including healing items), and the controls don't allow for strafing, targeting, or jumping. You take corners by tilting the analog stick to the extreme left or right, and the game automatically targets the closest enemy for you. And instead of jumping, you have the option to hover for a limited time. The hover option is actually helpful, because it makes you move faster. Instead of having to take slow turns, you can just hover your way around corners. Dodging enemy attacks and initiating attacks are much easier and smoother when you're hovering. Instead of acquiring power-up items and purchasing mech parts, as you proceed to the later stages of the game, you will be able to choose different versions of the mechs. Each is equipped with a standard weapon (such as the beam rifle) and an alternate weapon (such as missiles and cannons), which has limited ammo. You also have a special attack - where the mech thrusts forward while shooting bombs - but it's mostly useless since you won't know where you're attacking when you're using it.
You can select from three difficulty settings - easy, normal, and hard. Easy mode seems easy in the first few stages, but the later half increases in difficulty. You can unlock secret playable mechs (such as the J-Saviour and G3-Saviour) after you clear all the difficulty levels, but that alone does not really help out in terms of replay value.
The game seems to have lost its focus and ends up somewhere between the "free run" Armored Core type of mech action game and the "free floating" Omega Boost type. Definitely skip G-Saviour unless you are a hard-core Gundam fan.
