Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes

"Good... With a few flaws."

INTRO:Okay I'll just start by saying that I loved this game although I was annoyed by a few things that I will go into later. Also before I start I must say that I prefer the Gundam series set in the One Year War over any of the alternate universes that have been released (including Gundam Wing) and I can assure you that this game is not very faithful to the show.

STORY:The Duchy of Zeon declares its independance from the Earth Federation and tries to drop a space colony onto Jaburo Base in South America but the Federal forces destroy it and the largest part hits Australia and the Zeons are forced to attack Earth. Yes it is how the One Year War began just incase anyone cares.

CONTROL:The control was a lot better than I had expected and works exceptionally well but they do take a while to get used to. But you can't really look around while moving, an issue already mentioned by some of the other reviewers of this game.

GRAPHICS/MENUS:The graphics in this game are great for the most part, but I found myself wondering why the Zaku's mono-eye is constantly moving back and forth. Why couln't they have made it just looking at me. Also there is an abundance of fog. There is lots and lots of fog. The menus look good and are easy to use and navigate once you learn what the symbols mean (which is a task easily acomplished).

GAMEPLAY:Gameplay is usually pretty good but I ran into a few minor annoyances which bugged me but probably won't unless you are among the hardcore Gundam fans. For one why are the enimies so durable? It takes about 45-60 seconds of continuous gun fire from your 90mm machine gun to take just a standard MS-06F Zaku II down. Also you always have a HUD (Heads Up Display) with a sight in the center in your cockpit. I never saw one of those in any series, but I guess that was put in theere for the convenience of the player. Also you have a sniper scope. No one ever had a sniper scop in any series. Even the snipers in 08th MS Team and Gundam 0080 only had sniper scopes on their rifles. That thing that comes out and goes over your eyes and acts as a sniper scope is actually just supposed to have a black crosshair in the center. As I said though, these are only minor annoyances and should only bother hardcore fans. Also this game is SHORT. 9 missions in total. Kept me occupied for about 2 days.

REPLAY VALUE:This isn't that great... beat it once and there is no reason to go back because it wil just be the same thing even though you get the new weapons and Lunar Titanium armor.

RENT OT BUY:I would rent it first and see if it was something worth my time, but if you beat it when you rent it there is no reason to buy it unless you really like it.

~DW

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/01/01, Updated 01/01/01