Gundam Evolution Is Hectic and Full of Promise

gamerant.com:

Gundam Evolution is a new licensed Gundam game from Bandai Namco, and it has high hopes for this title’s competitive future. The game is a free-to-play 6v6 hero shooter where players control Gundams and other mechs from across the franchise. It shares minimal similarities to the recently localized Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 and Gundam Extreme Versus Maxiboost ON, though it could be said to strike a balance between their simulation and arcade aspects.

At first blush, it seems like an Overwatch clone, and it does share a structure with Overwatch. However, after the recent network test, Gundam Evolution feels like its own game, and through the spread of positive word-of-mouth, it could compete with its shooter contemporaries.

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One of the first things that will strike players about Gundam Evolution is its speed. Modern first and third-person shooters trend towards higher mobility, and there isn't any particular title on the market one would accuse of being «slow.» Gundam Evolution feels fast even by those standards, and most of this comes from a single mechanic. With the tap of a button, players can perform a boost dash in any direction. Different characters have one, two, or three stamina bars to dash with, and can also use them to sprint or glide. This alone radically alters the gameplay, rendering cover partially obsolete because of dashing's many uses.

Characters also have their own ways of speeding themselves up. With the entire cast offering wholly distinct loadouts, there is a mech here for everyone. It's a good idea to learn a couple of characters so that teams don't have too much redundancy, as Gundam Evolution doesn't enforce character roles like Overwatch.

Pal