Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space

"Relive the legend, and even carve your own"

Firstly, let me get this out of the way. Encounters in Space is an incredible game. It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn close. Any die-hard fans of Gundam who are reading this now should just stop what they're doing and grab this game. Now. While you still can.

For the rest of you, I'll go over the actual mechanics and presentation of the game itself. Encounters in Space does not follow a single storyline, but rather, the stories of many pilots who participated in the One Year War and the Delaz Fleet conflict. Through these stories, you'll be able to pilot such mobile suits and armors as the Gundam, Saberfish, Zaku II High Mobility types, and even the Zeong. This small example is only a fraction of the nearly eighty mobile suits and armors available in this game.

I imagine what most of you are worried of is the gameplay. A video game can have an excellent story, and superb graphics and sound. But if the gameplay itself suffers, it takes the rest of the experience down with it. Well, you can safely set all of your fears aside. The clunky and slow controls of games such as Federation Versus Zeon are no more. Mobile suits now move about the battlefield fluidly and quickly.

On the note of the battlefield, it should be explained that there are two kinds of battles. The first, and lesser experienced, is the Rail Mode. In this mode, your mobile suit is moving constantly forwards along a preset path. you can move your suit up, down, left or right, and fire off your many weapons to destroy enemy units as you pass them by. The second mode of combat is the Sphere Mode, and the most fun. In this, you have complete freedom in your movements, in all three dimensions. A set-up very similar to the Zone of the Enders series. I really can't complain at all about the gameplay.

Rating 10/10

Now we come to the graphics. This is a very impressive game. Mobile suits are modeled accurately, and with much detail. Panel lines are visible, and the lighting is perfect. Textures are detailed, and the animation is top-notch. Weapons effects and explosions are also incredible. A real testament to the legendary series. Though there's certainly room for improvement, the visuals don't disappoint.

Rating 9/10

The sound is equally astonishing. Many tracks from the 0079 and 0083 sagas have been enhanced and remixed. The sound effects are also quite convincing. They sound exactly as they do in the anime. My only gripe is the voice acting. Though it isn't appalling, it would have been nice to have kept the original actors, especially those of Kou and Gato.

Rating 8/10

As for replay value, well, you can't go wrong with having to unlock most of the 70+ units in this game. While some are open from the start (including the Alternate Universe suits), you'll need great skill to acquire the others. Most involve achieving an S ranking on certain missions, which can be a very difficult feat. You'll be spending quite a bit of time honing your skills to claim these units. Beyond this, the Mission mode is also quite addicting. Each mission completed awards you with points, with which you can build up your own custom pilot. The harder the mission, the greater the reward, and the more powerful pilot you can create. Pilots can be used in the Versus mode, so there is a definite incentive to making a great pilot. You'll undoubtedly find yourself running through the mode multiple times, in hopes of creating a better killing machine. Once everything is unlocked however, there isn't so much else to do.

Rating 9/10

Overall, this game is spectacular. As I'd said before, it isn't perfect, but it's the closest thing to perfect that's available. We can only hope that games in the future will only be an improvement of this. For now however, Encounters in Space is a true Gundam masterpiece. I highly recommend this to any and all fans of the great mecha saga. Seig Zeon!

Overall Rating (not an average) 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/06/03