Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 Review (PC) - A Horrendous Port of a Great Game

Despite that, come May 31, Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 made its debut on Steam as a free-to-play game. That’s mainly because this functions as a gacha game where you get most of your giant mechas, known in the game as mobile suits, from loot boxes. Of course, you can buy many mobile suits with in-game currency, especially the cheaper ones, to avoid getting them in the loot boxes.

There are literally hundreds of mobile suits taken straight from the Gundam universe available in the game, with more being added by developers randomly. You get a few for free at the beginning of the game, just like in every other gacha game, and if you’re lucky enough, you can actually get one of the more advanced mechas.

Still, what makes Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 rather stand out is the fact that all mobile suits remain relevant thanks to the ranking system. All mobile suits have a score, with the weaker ones having a lower score, whereas the most powerful have a very high score. Matchmaking takes into consideration what mobile suit you’re using, and it’s going to put you in the same lobby with players who use mechas that are very close to that score.

It's a well-thought system that brings tribute to the Gundam franchise in the fact that it allows fans to play with their favorite mobile suits regardless of how weak or powerful they are. They will also be matched with other players that control similar mobile suits.

As far as gameplay goes, this is where things start to deteriorate. Mobile suits in Gundam: Battle Operation 2 are slow and wonky to control. Dashing to avoid a rocket or a laser beam at the last second can be rewarding if you manage to pull it off, but more often than not, this is not possible due to how slow these mobile suits really are.

Yes, it gives you that feeling that you’re truly controlling a giant robot, but it might not offer a great gameplay experience, especially for a team-based tactical shooter. If you’re used to games like Titanfall or Overwatch, you’ll probably have a terrible experience playing this for the first time.

Your mobile suit can have up to three weapons, and you can switch between them at any time during a battle. In fact, you’ll be doing this quite a lot since your main weapon takes a LOT to reload. Thankfully, you can switch to another weapon while your main one reloads. I noticed there’s a slight delay when switching between weapons, but I’m not sure if it’s intended or just another issue with the game.

One of the most interesting aspects of a game that focuses on robots is customization. You can change your weapons and fit your mobile suits with various parts that will further increase their survivability or firepower on the battlefield. Unfortunately, some weapons can only be fitted on certain mobile suits, which is a big issue since many of the loot boxes contain good weapons that you won’t be able to use because you don’t yet own a compatible mobile suit.

The game features 6vs6 online battles in space or on the ground. Matches usually take about 5 minutes, and the team who scores the highest wins. Points are obtained for capturing enemy bases and killing enemy players.

Unfortunately, the game is very unstable when it comes to network connection. It is very easy to disconnect during a match, but that’s not even the main issue. The biggest problem with the game is that it automatically bans people who get disconnected due to the game’s instability.

You can be banned for 24 hours or even five days in some cases. Not being able to provide stable servers for the launch of your game and still punishing players over disconnections feels a bit exaggerated, but that’s exactly what is happening right now with the game.

Since this is just a port of a five-year-old game, the visuals are pretty dated. I’ve played mobile games that look much better than this, so I think Gundam fans deserve more than just a lousy port. There’s lag just about everywhere in the game except maybe during matches.

Conclusion

Although I don’t consider myself a big Gundam fan, I was truly impressed by how faithful the game is to the anime. Unfortunately, Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 is mostly unplayable due to the state of the servers.

I strongly believe that Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 deserves more than a lousy port, but it looks like Bandai Namco think otherwise. With 6k+ negative reviews on Steam out of 8k+, Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 is hard to recommend to anyone. What’s worse is I don’t think the game will ever be fixed.

RATING: 4/10