The post easter gaming calender is always quiet, most companys have released what they want to already and are saving the good announcements and anticipated releases for the next business year. But when the gaming world awoke this morning there seemed to be a smattering of coverage devoted to a title which, lets face it, only appeals to the smallest of a niche audience. Gundam fans are strange creatures which lust over large ‘Mecha’ (pilotable robots to you westerners) and they seem to buy the games in their droves if the consistancy of game realeases dedicated to the long running Gundam series indicates anything.

Pretty much somes up 30 years of the series.

But I hasten to add that I am one such Gundam fan which frankly can’t wait for Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2. Even though it will inevitably be very similar to the original, the promise of more suits to use, unlock and upgrade will be exactly what the existing fans will be looking  for when the game gets released at the end of this month. Fan service has almost become a dirty word in modern gaming but if a fan-base is big enough for your product to be profitable then whats the problem throwing them a bone or two, the likelihood is they probably deserve it and boy do Gundam gamers deserve it. Many of the previous Gundam games have resembled the proverbial dog turd, none more so than the absolutely dreadful Mobile Suit Gundam: Target in Site which was a PS3 exclusive launch titles, perhaps because no other console would suffer that ugly stall-a-thon. But there have some excellent titles which have taken advantage of the excellent combat from the various series which lead to some excellent combat focused games including Gundam Seed: Battle Assault for the GBA and Gundam Wing: Endless Duel which were both excellent beat-em-ups for their generation.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Dynasty Warriors Gundam series is they amount of subject material they can draw from, over thirty years of anime action which draws from twenty five different movies and series. That number alone proves how big this series is the world over, particularly in Japan and Europe. Each series is different enough that you will never meet a fan who likes every single series, some like the grittier action of Victory Gundam, while others favour the meatier Zeta series and the ‘Johnny come latelys’ prefer the teeny boop recent series of Gundam Seed and Wing.

Okay so Dynasty Warriors games are button bash brawlers which rely more on your patience than skill, when dispatching hundreds after hundreds of enemies on screen but this formula suits the premise of the anime series and at times, make you feel like a mechanical god! A guilty pleasure of mine which I am more than happy to admit to the world, I cannot wait for DWG2 and if your interested please check out Koei’s dedicated  website and when you get a chance, at the very least try the demo.

The reason why you should be excited