MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM BATTLE OPERATION 2 is a recently released Gundam game published by Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. and has Mostly Negative reviews on Steam.
You know, there are those times when something is so inexplicably bad you wonder how it would be possible that a developer would put out a game in such a state. MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM BATTLE OPERATION 2 is one of those cases. I won’t lie — when I heard there was a new free PvP Gundam game, I got pretty excited. After all, the recent GUNDAM EVOLUTION was actually a blast to play, with a plethora of different mobile suits, all of which felt fairly balanced upon its release.
Released on May 30, 2023, MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM BATTLE OPERATION 2 does nothing to replicate that success, instead opting for one of the sorriest excuses for a PC port I’ve had the unfortunate privilege to experience.
15 FPS — No, Seriously, That’s How the Game Performs
Battle Operation 2 hurt me physically, as by the time I exited the game for the second attempt, I had a massive headache after having to endure 15 FPS on my RTX 3070 Ti. Sure, it’s not the newest card out there, but still — I expected a bit more, especially after cranking down the graphics to the lowest possible settings and updating my video card. Nope, the game would just not perform at over 15 FPS.
The game also locks you into a 20-minute tutorial you can’t skip or exit, as those options are grayed out on the menu selection screen. This basically entails going around and clicking a few buttons and figuring out what menus to navigate, much like popular mobile gacha games. I felt so disgusted by the frames and tutorial that I had to force quit the game just to make sure that nothing was wrong with my PC. After sifting through the user reviews, I saw I wasn’t alone and loaded the game up for another try.
Mouse and keyboard support here is probably the worst I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. And this is coming from someone who had to download a mod to play Dark Souls 2 with a keyboard and mouse (ouch). So, if you don’t have a controller (or any sense), don’t even bother getting this game.
Literally Doesn’t Work
Once you get past the horrid tutorial section that is really there so you know how to get more pulls on more Gundams, players are thrust into the main hub — a glitchy mess of vendors and other players wandering around, unsure of what to do.
Of course, there is an in-game guide you can pull up to see who you need to visit to start this or that game mode. I thought to myself, “Maybe this part of the game is just broken and my frames will go up once I’m in a game.” Guess what? I couldn’t even get into one.
After queuing up into the game’s PvP, it sat there looking for a game to play. I wondered for a second how this was taking any longer than 2 minutes, as the SteamDB page told me there were 20,000 users currently playing. The matchmaking timed out.
Okay, fine — “it’s only been out for two days,” I muttered under my breath before trying again. After about the 7th attempt, I gave up, then looked back at the guide to figure out what person I had to talk to in order to face the CPU.
After finding them, I finally got into a game against the computer. My frames did not improve — though I could see the potential in the pretty slick aesthetic. However, just like everything else in this mess of a game, the combat was pretty bad.
Sure, maybe if it ran faster than a toaster from 1986, I would have enjoyed it more, but adding a cooldown or reload time after every single attack move made the game feel more like a crappy MMO than an action game.
I mean, whoever thought adding a CD to sword swipes was a good idea should probably work on a different game genre. In some ways, I can see where it’s trying to go. Adding a cooldown to every move makes it so you use all the abilities at your disposal, but, at least in my opinion, it also breaks the pacing of what should otherwise be a fast-paced game with a lot of freedom of movement.
It Looks So Good Though
I’m a fan of Gundam, as I grew up on the Gundam Wing series on Cartoon Network. I’ve also checked out a few of the movies and dipped my toes in other series; plus, I used to make the figurines as a kid, so I feel like I qualify as a Gundam fan. That was also another reason I was excited to play this title, as the previews and gameplay for the game looked crisp, fast-paced, and fun.
Battle Operation 2 is actually based on a pretty popular game made for PS4 and released in 2018. Exclusive in Asia initially, the game made its way to consoles here in the States back in 2019. According to all reports, the game is actually a blast to play on console, so maybe my experience was just marred by the game’s terrible performance. Either way, I won’t be back to play unless the game’s creators can significantly fix the problems plaguing it right now.
