Gundam Breaker 4 was supplied by Bandai Namco for evaluate. Thanks!
Gundam Breaker 4 was my first foray into the Gundam Universe, and judging from the poor reception of different Gundam video games just lately, Gundam Breaker 4 is perhaps an honest entry level into the sequence for varied causes. Whether or not you are model new to the Gundam expertise or a returning participant, Gundam Breaker 4 does a superb job of introducing you to the world of Gundam and what it is all about.
In case you are not accustomed to the premise of Gundam, or extra particularly, Gunpla on this recreation, the goal is to construct the last word “mech” (or Gundam) utilizing elements you have collected in battles. You’ll be able to modify the pinnacle, physique, arms, and legs. You title it, and it is in all probability modular and may be fitted with new elements.
That is one space the place Gundam Breaker 4 shines; there are a lot of elements so that you can discover and equip, all with a unique look and magnificence. They normally have barely completely different talents, permitting you to separate your Gundam into a unique playstyle, and you’ll paint/add decals to them. So far as customization of your Gundam goes, I feel there’s not rather more Gundam Breaker 4 may do.
Components may be obtained from battles, or you should utilize the cash you get from battles to purchase particular elements you need from the store.
The touted Diorama mode additionally helps you to pose varied Gundams in numerous positions in an atmosphere you may craft your self utilizing fashions that you’ve got purchased within the in-game store, in addition to including visible results akin to explosions to the scene, so in case you’re a very huge fan of Gundam, I am certain you may have some enjoyable creating your scenes and capturing them.
However let’s transfer away from customization and onto some precise gameplay. How does Gundam Breaker 4 really feel wish to play?
Properly, the first gameplay mechanic within the recreation is the fight, as you would possibly assume. And the fight is a little bit of a combined bag, if I am sincere. The customization helps out right here; your Gundam can have 2 melee weapons, and a couple of ranged weapons outfitted. There’s a number of weaponry to select from, and the fight is fairly enjoyable for the primary few missions.
However earlier than lengthy, you understand that the fight is kind of repetitive. All of Gundam Breaker 4 sadly falls into the realm of repetition. The missions within the “Normal” problem are straightforward. I dread desirous about the simplest problem, so I stayed on customary for my playthrough. Nonetheless, I prevented the hardcore mode, as I had by no means performed certainly one of these video games.
You will get away with principally sitting on high of enemies, mashing your melee button to deal large injury; ranged weapons do far much less injury and are used when closing the hole, so you can begin utilizing your melee. The primary couple of bosses do pose a problem, however I really feel as if the sport’s steadiness is not fairly there, and your elements and progress appear to outpace the missions, that means enemies are dealing much less and fewer injury as you progress by the story chapters, and you’re dealing increasingly.
Relying on the elements fitted to your Gundam, you may carry out a number of particular assaults. These take the type of EX and OP strikes, akin to firing a barrage of machine gun fireplace or rockets, repairing mid-battle, or doing a combo of melee strikes. Nonetheless, the injury output of those strikes is barely well worth the time you sacrifice to tug them off, so mashing a melee assault would possibly nonetheless be your best choice.
There are just about solely two mission codecs you may discern other than one another. One is the place you could shield a rocket from waves of assault till it takes off, and one other is simply destroying different Gundam that seem in waves… There *is* technically a third “Clan Battle” mission format, but it surely’s basically simply the destroying Gundams mission format, with some interspersed dialogue and a narrative cutscene. Both means, you’ll at all times combat by 3 waves of Gundam in each mission.
By the point you hit mission 20, I began getting sick of enjoying what felt like the identical mission for the tenth time; even the maps started to repeat. It is an actual disgrace, and also you get the sensation that the price range for the sport might have been fairly low, or it comes throughout that means.
A separate set of missions alongside the “Story” mode is known as “Quest” missions. These missions are the identical because the Story missions, utilizing the identical maps and infrequently having very related aims however with a time restrict. It does really feel just like the builders created a couple of maps after which tried to recycle content material as a lot as doable to make it really feel like the sport has a number of content material when it would not.
The storyline for the sport falls right into a considerably “meta” space. The place everybody in Gundam Breaker 4 is… enjoying Gundam Breaker 4. Each NPC you meet within the recreation is somebody with a life outdoors of Gundam Breaker 4, however you all meet up as on-line pals to flee varied conditions these characters face of their real-world lives.
The narrative is superior by using voiced cutscenes earlier than and after story battles and generally throughout the battles as a part of a cutscene. A number of the characters are considerably attention-grabbing, however they fall underneath some pretty generic tropes, and you’ll determine the characters and their personalities inside a few missions of assembly them.
Due to this, Gundam Breaker 4 seems like a recreation which will have been designed with a youthful viewers in thoughts, perhaps within the 10-13-year-old vary. Character plotlines and their motivations are fairly easy, and now we have a silent protagonist utilizing hand gestures to convey feelings.
Visually, the sport is okay. Nothing significantly stands out, and so they do the job they’re meant to do, but it surely is not what I would name a “fairly” recreation. The sounds likewise are pretty generic and simply do the job, they will get somewhat repetitive when firing weapons like a machine gun or mashing a melee assault. The voiced strains of dialogue are in all probability one of the best a part of the sound within the recreation, with the voice actors doing a reasonably good job.
I could not take a look at out any of Gundam Breaker 4’s on-line options, as they weren’t out there to reviewers earlier than the sport’s launch. The sport is meant to include a web based foyer the place you may meet different gamers, in addition to the power to do sure missions with different gamers.
Gundam Breaker 4 – Steam Deck Efficiency
How does Gundam Breaker 4 deal with the fundamentals then? Fairly effectively, truly. It has 1280×800 decision help, which it defaults to. It additionally has nice controller help, permitting you to regulate menus and gameplay with the Steam Deck’s controller.
Particular textual content within the recreation is somewhat on the small facet, particularly on the mission choose display. Fortunately, that is largely unimportant taste textual content. Dialogue textual content is of an honest dimension and must be fairly legible.
There are a couple of graphical choices which can be laid out very merely, with the choices starting from “Low” to “Greatest”, so I am providing 2 presets in the present day, one specializing in battery life, and one specializing in the highest quality you may get whereas getting 60 FPS.
Advisable Settings – 60 FPS
Concerning SteamOS settings, we aren’t making use of a body charge restrict or TDP Restrict for this one.
We’re placing all of the graphics settings on the “Excessive” choice, together with Texture High quality, as the sport can hog VRAM a bit. Then we’re setting the “Body Fee” choice to “60” and conserving the 1280×800 decision. These are the default settings that the sport recommends you play at upon booting.
With these settings, it’s best to see an virtually fixed 60 FPS all through the sport; I not often skilled any dips. There was a mission the place I skilled a number of stutters inside a couple of seconds of one another, which I feel was more likely to do with the VRAM being full, however this resolved itself. There could also be some reminiscence leak, as VRAM utilization hit 7.2GB, an absurd quantity for such a recreation.
The ability draw varies tremendously relying on the map and variety of enemies, starting from 17W in quieter conditions as much as 22W in intense ones. Steam Deck LCD homeowners can anticipate round 2 hours of battery life, with Steam Deck OLED homeowners getting round 2.5 hours.
Temperatures stick round 70-80C as you play, that means the fan ramps up and down a good quantity, that means the fan might be audible at factors.
Battery Life Settings – 30 FPS
If you would like a battery life so long as doable, then set your TDP restrict in SteamOS to 7W, and once more, we do not want a body charge restrict in SteamOS for this one.
Within the in-game graphics settings, use “Low” for all the things however Textures, which we’ll depart on “Excessive.” Then, set the in-game body charge choice to “30”. With some uneven body instances, the in-game body limiter is not good, but it surely stops us from getting the enter lag that the SteamOS body limiter introduces.
With these settings, you may get a principally steady 30 FPS, the body instances might be barely erratic, as a result of in-game body limiter, however I largely discovered it to be high quality as soon as I acquired used to it.
Energy draw is far decrease utilizing this preset, round 8-10W, so you may anticipate 4 hours of battery from a Steam Deck LCD, and 5 hours from the OLED mannequin on these settings.
Temperatures are additionally decrease, principally between 60-65C. Thus, fan noise should not be a priority.
Accessibility:
Gundam Breaker 4 has no accessibility menu per se. Though it does supply some options akin to disabling digital camera shake, adjusting sensitivity, auto lock-on, and rebindable controls. All dialogue is subtitled, whether or not voiced or not.
Conclusion:
Gundam Breaker 4 excels in some areas and falls quick in others. In the event you’re a fan of amassing elements, constructing your Gundam, experimenting with completely different combos, and exhibiting it off within the Diorama mode, then Gundam Breaker 4 has acquired you lined.
However the gameplay sadly falls a bit quick, with repetitive missions with virtually the identical goal every time and repeating maps and enemies. The shortage of selection shortly drains the enjoyable out of Gundam Breaker 4 earlier than it ought to. I totally loved the primary hour of enjoying. Nonetheless, after reaching mission 6 and realizing I’d be finishing the identical mission format of defeating two waves of enemies after which dealing with a boss each mission, it turned stale. You then understand there are over 30 missions of the identical.
The saving grace right here is perhaps the net mode. If the participant base is powerful sufficient, you would possibly get some enjoyment out of the variability that comes with on-line play. Sadly, the servers have been offline for reviewers, so I could not take a look at the net gameplay myself.
Steam Deck’s efficiency is not less than fairly good, with the power to have a “first rate” wanting recreation with out an obscene energy draw and sacrifice some visuals for an extremely lengthy battery life. The controls work completely effectively. You’ll be able to’t fault Gundam Breaker 4 for the way it performs on the Deck.
Our evaluate is predicated on the PC model of this recreation.
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