Gundam Breaker 4 Review – Gunpla Heaven

After taking a break for nearly eight years, Bandai Namco is finally back with another mainline game in the long-running Gundam Breaker series. While dubbed Gundam Breaker 4, this is actually the sixth in the series, with New Gundam Breaker and Gundam Breaker Mobile filling in the release gap. Though long-time fans would probably rather forget New Gundam Breaker, given how much it tried to reinvent the wheel of the franchise, which ultimately wasn’t received as well as they’d hoped. So, with the release of Gundam Breaker 4, expectations are rather high for the series, with many hoping a new mainline installment would mean a return to form. Luckily, that seems to be the case with Gundam Breaker 4, though don’t expect it to break any new ground in the franchise. 

Fast and Exciting Combat With Endless Customization

By far, Gundam Breaker 4 is a massive upgrade to what was offered in New Gundam Breaker in the sense that it brings back many mechanics that were seen in previous releases that New Gundam Breaker changed. Parts, for example, are no longer limited in what you can carry, something that New Gundam Breaker was heavily criticized. It goes back to the old system seen in the previous mainline, where parts just floated to you rather than having to be precise when walking over them. It’s a slight revert, but it makes all the difference in some much-needed quality-of-life improvements.

In actual gameplay, you can expect it to be closer to Gundam Breaker 3, albeit a bit slower. Combat is pretty standard, with light and heavy attacks being mixed with range attacks. Of course, the variety of combat comes more into play when you swap around with different parts and stats, but for the most part, expect it to play similarly to previous entries. It’s not moving the needle, but I suppose it doesn’t have to do that when it’s already a fun game. 

The big difference, though, is with the EX skills, which are now based on filling up gauges rather than being able to use them whenever you want. This is what I mean about combat being slower than Gundam Breaker 3 and even Gundam Breaker 2, as you can’t freely use the skills without filling the gauge first. However, OP skills are on cooldowns, so you can use those more frequently. I do like that we can master skills, meaning once we’ve used it enough times, we’ll be able to use that specific skill on any other part of the same category rather than be restricted to the specific part that skill derives from. Like Burning Gundam’s Burning Finger, a skill acquired by its hand part, it can eventually be used with other hands you may prefer. 

That’s still not to say that combat doesn’t feel like a slog at times. This becomes even more true when taking the camera and lock-on system. It’s decent most of the time, that is until you come to face with one of the many bosses in the game. Especially if they fly, locking onto and cycling through parts can be a nightmare as you wrestle for control while having to worry about a time limit and dealing enough damage. Hopefully something that gets improved on with a future update, or at the very least in newer installments. 

In terms of mission structure and variety, don’t expect much. They claim to have multiple mission types, but they’re all effectively the same thing. Suppress is just kill all the enemies. Destroy Target is to destroy a specific target in that group of enemies, but you still need to kill most, if not all, the enemies to S rank. Team battle is like the previously mentioned mode, and Destroy Monolith is just destroyed targets, but there’s a monolith that turns invincible until you kill specific targets. 

There is, of course, a story, which, while it does see the return of some characters in the form of cameos, is built with new players in mind. This means that playing the previous installment isn’t a requirement to understand what’s going on since it’s more of a solo story rather than one that spans multiple games. Even so, the story in Gundam Breaker 4 is passable, as it’s nothing spectacular, nor does it do much to stand out. It is another tournament story, which we had with Gundam Breaker 3 and New Gundam Breaker. 

But the story has never been the series’ strongest suit; that comes more from the level of customization, which Gundam Breaker 4 unsurprisingly excels at. Players can customize nearly every part of their suit, allowing them to build their dream Gunpla. That’s not to say those customizations always look great, as I’ve had my fair share of horrors built, but it’s that level of freedom that fans have grown to love about the franchise, and we’re glad to see the series keeping true to that. The diorama mode makes things even more special and personal, as you can display your Gunpla in various poses, animations, and scenes. 

Graphically, Gundam Breaker 4 isn’t very good-looking, but it isn’t the most offensive thing in the world. The PS4 version suffers from some framerate dips (better on PS5) in cutscenes, but in general gameplay, there’s nothing too noticeable. The Gunpla themselves look good, but that’s hard to notice when the environment is bland, recycling many areas throughout the game. The art direction on the characters is pretty cohesive and doesn’t clash even when cameo characters show up.

On the sound front, the game sometimes has some weird mixing. Where music will play and cut off, then play again, taking you out of the moment. The music in the game is generic, and they don’t even use official Gundam tracks; it’s mostly rock themes with a bit of synth in it. You’ll mostly hear the lobby theme and battle theme, and I would recommend just muting the music and playing your own Gundam tracks off YouTube, Spotify, or something. The sound effects are pretty standard, but some aren’t even from the show. If you own all of Gundam there should be no reason for you to not use the correct sound effects from the show. It’s a nitpick, but it’s one that could honestly go a long way, especially on an immersion level. 

As a whole Gundam Breaker 4 is still a net positive for the series sporting a whopping 300 mobile suits and playing better than the previous mainline title. It’s essentially a return to form, with some areas still needing some improvements, but overall, it’s a solid entry in the Gundam Breaker franchise. It won’t propel the series to new heights, but it will at least satisfy fans’ itch, at least until the next one comes out. 

Score: 7.5/10

Pros:

• The gameplay is fun and is a good return to form, even if everything isn’t quite there yet. 
• There are tons of customization options; build the Gunplay of your dreams. 
• Diorama Mode is the perfect way to put your Gunpla on display.

Cons:

• The story is nothing special.
• Stage variety is lackluster.

Gundam Breaker 4 review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.

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