Mech battler Gundam Versus, a popular arcade game in Japan featuring the robots of the Gundam anime franchise, is finally heading to consoles in North America.
Gundam Versus will arrive for the PlayStation 4 on Sept. 29, adding to the growing list of great exclusives for Sony's current-generation console.
Gundam Versus: What's It All About?
Bandai Namco announced the upcoming release of Gundam Versus for the PlayStation 4 in North America at the Anime Expo 2017, much to the excitement of fans of the anime series and the fighting game.
Gundam Versus will be the first in the spinoff series to arrive in North America with a complete translation. Players were able to load Gundam Extreme Versus and Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost on the PlayStation 3, but that was due to the absence of a region-locking feature for the previous-generation console.
Gundam Versus will feature 94 playable characters, including the recently dismantled RX-78-2, along with more than 180 assist characters. The robots will engage each other in fast-paced and flashy 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 battles, with players allowed to match up with opponents from any region. Gundam Versus caters to a very specific niche of anime lovers and fighting game enthusiasts, so it would be pointless for Bandai Namco to limit multiplayer to specific regions.
For those who have played older Gundam Versus titles, the upcoming PlayStation 4 fighting game introduces the Boost Dive skill to allow robots to charge straight down to dodge and then refill the boost gauge while on the ground, alongside the Boost Dash and Boost Step moves. The Burst system in Gundam Versus, which allows players to enhance their weapons and those of their teammates, is also much simpler compared to Gundam Extreme Versus. The stages in Gundam Versus also receive damage as matches go on, and with giant robots looking to take each other down, the amount of damage could reach massive levels.
Players who preorder Gundam Versus will also provide access to the Gundam Virtue and Nadleeh sets from the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 anime, released in 2007. The DLC was originally paid content for the Japanese version of the game, but is being offered for free as a preorder item for the North American release.
Exclusives For PlayStation 4 vs Xbox One
Gundam Versus will soon join Horizon Zero Dawn, Persona 5, Gravity Rush 2, Nier: Automata, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Nioh, and many others as titles released exclusively for the PlayStation 4 this year.
Meanwhile, Microsoft will offer Forza Motorsport 7, State of Decay 2, Sea of Thieves, and Crackdown 3 as exclusives for the Xbox One and the recently unveiled Xbox One X. While these titles are great games, the list of Xbox One exclusives is definitely lacking compared to what is offered for the PlayStation 4.
Gundam Versus will certainly not swing the needle by itself for most gamers deciding whether to purchase the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One. However, its exclusive status for the PlayStation 4 continues the trend of developers favoring Sony's console over Microsoft's, which is good news for PlayStation 4 owners and bad news for Xbox One owners.
