Gun Griffon Blaze Review (UK PAL, Long Read, Forget ZOE and AC2)

- Gun Griffon Blaze PS2 Review -

I decided to purchase this game as i\'ve played the original Gun Griffon on the Sega Saturn, equally the lack of decent games in the UK helped my purchase. All the reviews have said its a great game but basically too short, over too soon.

The Idea

Gun Griffon follows the tried and tested mech game specification, that is, control a big robot and blow things up completing missions. However this game plays really well and is very enjoyable.

Presentation

The first thing you will notice about GGB is the presentation. The opening movie is fairly good and all the menus are nicely laid out. The mission briefings are nice, with 3d detailed models of the landscape you will be fighting on, equally game arts have also added functions to allow the text to appear (to save you waiting whilst it appears character by character), infact Gamearts have added many little things throughout the game to make this game good. An example of this is where you can see each character in the game in a 3d scene, you can zoom in or zoom out or rotate, after all it adds little to the gameplay but the fact that gamearts didn\'t need to include this was nice.

Graphics

GGB generally has OK graphics. The game is over a year old (it was a launch title with the JAP PS2) but it does live upto the graphics we see on games now. GGB does go into a decent amount of detail when viewing the characters upclose, also key objects like a shuttle in one of the levels are nicely designed. The graphics are basically adequte but shouldn\'t disapoint, and all this runs without any slowdown.

Sound

I like the sound in GGB. The none action screens range from a techno sound track to a sort of piano melody which fits in nice, whilst the music ingame manges to be in the background, allowing us to get on with the game, generally rock tracks for the ingame music. The sound fx are also pretty decent and do the game justice.

Gameplay

This is the best part about Gun Griffon Blaze, its very fun. As well as being an outright shooter you will also be thinking about other ways into winning the missions. Also everytime you attempt a mission you loose the equitment you placed on your mech meaning you need to consider going into some levels to collect more items, and also you need to think about reserving items for later levels. You get to equip your mech before each mission with various objects found within the levels, then its down to business which is a mix of action / stratigy but mainly action. I was also pleased with the fast loading times of game.

Lastibility

This is where the game hits a downfall. Every review i read said it was short. It isn\'t that bad though after all. When i first loaded it up i placed the game straight onto the "Hell" difficulty rating. Theres 6 levels (one training) where each of the 6 also has an advanced mission, from what i\'ve seen so far the advanced is much the same as the normal mission. I\'ve owned the game for a few days now and im on about mission 3, with some of the advanced missions not completed for missions 1 and 2. Also them missions which I have done were tough on Hell and apparently are meant to be walk overs where the later missions are tough, so imagine the later missions on the hell setting. Also this game is fun, you will want to play it through a few times. I can see this game lasting me some time yet. Equally some games like Onimusha Warlords and ZOE can be completed in 5 hours, which is like 2 sittings. This game will last longer so don\'t let the reviews put you off.

Overall

This is definatly the best mech game out there. AC2 is basically poor because of controls and ZOE has a list of downfalls such as the game becoming repeititive. GGB works really well, each mission is different and well thoughtout, its slickly presented, and as long as your willing to try the hardest game mode and be prepaid to die a few times it will last you a while. The game is definatly fun, which is what games are about.

4 Stars out of 5.

I don\'t even consider ZOE a mech game

AC2 and Gun Griffon Blaze are comparable. AC2 is about mech building and finding a design to fit your style.

I never played GGB I believe have the US reviews said AC2 was the better game.

I wonder if they did some upgrading for the PAL version ???????

GGB is killer,it was one of the first games i got for my PS2,it recieved good reviews. i seen it rated higher than AC2 at a couple sites at that time...it has it\'s advantages / disadvantages like all games do. i hope there is another one being made right now.

ALL the reviews i\'ve read, including sites like IGN, DailyRadar (both UK and USA), Consoledomain etc have rated Gun Griffon Blaze higher than AC2.

Also to say a Mech game (AC2 in question) is about mech building, which is meant to set it aside from the mech genre prooves which game is the better. AC2 is certainly more about Mech building, ie completing missions, although Mech building is a big part, but it is no "Sim Mech Builder", and isn\'t trying to be either.

The fact that you class AC2 "comparable" as though there could be some doubt as to why they shouldn\'t be compared (of course they should be they are both obviously in the same genre), probably means your missing a big part of what AC2 is about.

AC2 im my opinion is a Mech game and should be fun as a mech game not poor as a mech game but good as a "mech builder" because of badly designed controls and repetitive missions, but the ability to add logos and alter attributes to a mech. If this is the case, and reviews seem to suggest it is, the creators of AC2 have messed up in a sense.

GGB in my opinion is spot on, you may not have the depth of AC2 or the amount of missions however as a Mech shooter the gameplay is top notch, focusing on what counts the game not adding things to mechs in menus. Equally although the game isn\'t as full with missions as AC2 is, the missions it does have are very well thought out.

I suppose its down to a matter of preference. However if im buying a mech game I would prefer it to be fun where it counts rather than fun in the menu system.

The PAL version hasn\'t been altered in any way.

I also agree that ZOE isn\'t really a Mech game (as in a fps in a robot) but more of an action game.

Anyway its all my opinions and I respect your opinions on AC2. If you like Mech games though I really would take a look at GGB.

Richard.