Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3
Robochop.
In play, Gundam 3 is more like an old-school 'Musou' game (the term covering Dynasty Warriors and all its related and spin-off series) than the more recent iterations.
Battlefields take the form of a series of interlocking square areas. At the start of a battle you and your cohorts begin on one side of the map, while your enemies (usually the 'blue' team) start in the opposite corner. Be the first to arrive at a new square on the map and you'll turn that area to your side's colour, spawning friendly units in that location to bolster your army as you do so.
Meanwhile, enter an enemy square and you'll need to defeat a pre-requisite number of enemies before you switch it to your own side. As you claim new squares, so the size of your army swells, and there's a certain thrill to racing towards an unoccupied square to claim it for your army.
Certain squares on the map have special properties, and claiming these for your side will provide benefits in the fight. For example, one type of square acts as a warp point, allowing you to move to different areas of the map in an instant, while another will improve the AI of your compatriots.
In almost every battle the aim is to capture the enemy headquarters square. Try to enter this before you've decimated your opponent's forces by more than 50 per cent and giant defensive cannons will shoo you away. Every enemy HQ is also defended by a robot general who must be defeated (the death blow delivered in lingering slow motion) before the battle is won.
While that may sound like a lot on paper, as the game progresses you become adept at screaming around the battlefield, managing your Gundam's thrusters to boost quickly across giant expanses of level. As your pilot grows more powerful and the Gundam he pilots becomes better equipped, so the length of time it takes to complete a mission reduces too. The game's rhythm is snappy and satisfying, and by placing renewed focus on the wider strategy of a battle, there's more to think about than merely which combination of buttons to hammer to cut down the sea of enemies.
