GunGriffon: Allied Strike
- January 05, 2005 00:00 AM PST
Does the Xbox really need another giant-robot game? Tecmo definitely thinks so.
When youve got a system as large and bulky as the Xbox, it makes sense that theres a ton of games on it starring enormous robots kicking the snot out of each other. GunGriffon, the latest in this oddly prolific genre, attempts to breach the gap between fun arcade romps like MechAssault and the nearly obtuse complexity of Capcoms Steel Battalion. Does it succeed? Yesbut like a delicate bouquet of roses, only under the most exacting of play conditions.International Diplomacy Via Robots
Like every robotathon, GunGriffon (a series that has its roots in the Sega Saturn) is divided into several segments. Before each of the 20 or so missions, youre given the ability to choose both your ride (called HIGH MACs in this game) and the weaponry youd like to take along. Theres an amazing depth of variety in the robots and their accessories, and your strategy for the upcoming sortie may vary widely based on your choice of HIGH MAC.
This serves to make GunGriffon a bit dizzying from the start, and it isnt a feeling quelled by the missions themselves. Although it plays a bit like MechAssault, the spirit of the game is much closer to Steel Batallion, complete with that games complicated control and notoriously hair-pulling difficulty level. In the single-player mode, GunGriffon gives you very little chance to surviveweak weapons combined with nonintuitive button assignments spell a great deal of Game Overs in the beginning. Its not an insurmountable challenge, but with visuals as chunky and Dreamcast-like as these, itll be hard for many gamers to drum up the willpower to continue.
No Mech Walks Alone
Into this distressing situation steps GunGriffons multiplayer support, which literally saves the entire package. Playing missions with another human player (instead of the brain-dead A.I. ally you usually get) makes things far easier at the start, giving you a chance to learn basic battle strategy without dying every other moment. Online team-based matches are also exciting (though similar to MechAssaults Live support), making GunGriffon worth a shot if you have a Live connection and fairly skippable otherwise.
