There is a vibrant culture that has formed around the hobby of putting together model kits of various robots that has fascinated the world since the 1980s. What was once a way for Bandai to cleverly market the wide range of Mobile Gundam mobile suits, vehicles and weapons has since become a synonymous part of the franchise, to the point that there are series that revolve around building models and fighting with them. The hobby is known by the collective term Gunpla and is pretty well described in Gundam Breaker 4 but I wish there was a little more flair than the mission-based game has to offer in its current form.

Name of the game: Gundam Breaker 4
Platform(s): PS5 (tested), PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC
Developer: KIWI HIKES
Publisher): KIWI HIKES
Release date: 29 August 2024
Price: $59.99 (Standard), $89.99 (Deluxe Edition), $99.99 (Ultimate Edition)

The premise of Gundam Breaker 4 will be familiar to anyone who has watched a toy or card game-related anime in the last 20 years or so. As we begin, our faceless protagonist has just joined a new online game called (.NAME) and enter a world filled with clans that climb the leaderboard, various shops and desks run by cute beargguys, and take on quests through mission-based gameplay. Players of NAME build their Gunpla, scan it, and play it along with their pilot avatars. The story of the game revolves around the various players of this in-game game, similar to the stories of Sword Art Online or .chopalthough I like the story told in those shows much better than the one presented here. The result is a surprisingly satisfying game cycle of taking on combat missions, earning hundreds of new parts, and continually improving your build for maximum performance or just to look cooler than everyone else in the lobby.

The lobby hub is comparable to the early villages in classic Monster Hunterwhich serves more as a connection point to different shops and systems than to recreate an actual community. Unfortunately, the online functionality of Gundam Breakers 4 was unavailable during our playtime for this review, which is a shame because discovering builds and destroying bots with friends sounds like a fun time, especially for fans of this franchise.

Still, we were able to get a feel for the game’s story missions and build some truly monstrous mechas.

The good

Many mecha games get this gameplay loop right, but I was impressed by the sheer amount of designs presented in Gundam Breaker 4. I’ve built several model kits over the years and often check out the latest kits online, so I’m familiar with most mobile suits either through those storefront updates or watching the associated anime. It wasn’t long before I was building a Shining Gundam and exploding enemies in glowing green blasts.

About halfway through the first chapter I discovered that you can even build Armor Girls, who look hilariously out of place. That and SD models are represented, although I’ve only found a few at the time of writing. I tried using an SD build, but the damage was abysmal, so hopefully I’ll find better SD kits later.

The customization system is deep enough to keep you hooked and always curious about what new kits you might discover through third-person anime violence. While the combat system serves its purpose, I was much more intrigued by the kitbashing. At one point I unlocked a tattered cape and audibly giggled with delight. The cloaked robot motif is one of my absolute favorite images in mecha anime. There’s even a detailed photography and diorama system that will delight anyone with creative inclinations.

I hope there are easy ways to share your builds, photos and dioramas with other players. The more accessible this system is, the better for the longevity of Gundam Breaker 4 because the game’s storyline and gameplay don’t keep players coming back.

The bad

Most of your time is spent doing hack-and-slash combat in third-person with ranged weapons and various skills with cooldowns. Each part has a set of stats that can be upgraded, but some parts feature special moves like the ability to enter Hyper Mode or activate the Trans-Am system. Almost the entire PS5 controller is mapped to a function, and while it can be confusing at first, after about an hour of practice I was able to find effective movement rotations that dealt immense damage. I immediately pulled the game’s camera back in the settings for convenience; there are plenty of options to tinker with, and customizing the game to your own preferences is recommended.

Despite the simplicity of the combat, there are many different types of attacks and I really enjoyed putting together builds from a purely gameplay perspective. Those interested in stats will probably really like this system as there are a lot of percentages and points to consider, but in most cases, building with the highest rarity parts usually leads to victory. Thankfully, each mission has an adjustable difficulty level.

Even though the game is easy, it may take more attacks to defeat an enemy mobile suit if you don’t have the right equipment. The giant bosses, while visually impressive, are the biggest offenders, and I turned the difficulty down to easy just to get through these skirmishes quicker. Generic mobs also spawn directly above the player, and there are usually very few indications of the small maps’ barriers. The basic compass, which only shows the approximate location of enemies, doesn’t help either.

Aside from that, Gundam Breaker 4 uses a random loot system for each piece, and two pieces with the same name can have completely different stats and passive abilities. I’ve never liked this approach to items in games, and having amassed nearly a thousand pieces during my time with the game, there’s just too much to see. Flicking through these pieces also takes ages, and the sorting system could be improved.

I imagine that at higher levels of play, this loot system would turn into an ugly pile of numbers that would no doubt give me a migraine.

Unless you get into the meat of the story, the game’s story tells a typical tale of one-dimensional characters trying to be the very best like no one has ever been before. Think Beyblade, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, Medabots, but without the interesting characters or larger-than-life scenarios that make those shows so engaging. There’s some character development, but not enough personality to really let the cast shine. Thankfully, this is a story that’s easier to follow compared to other games of its type; all of the voice lines are in English, so the conversations during the mission are much easier to follow. There’s a slight sense of mystery that hasn’t paid off yet, but the pacing is so awfully slow that I doubt I’ll stick around until the end.

The verdict

For fans of Gunpla, Gundam Breaker 4 is an interesting pastime. I love that most of the model kits are represented by little boxes that use the actual illustrations of the products. Seeing the retro covers next to the modern stuff is fascinating and helps highlight the history of this franchise. When new mini-bosses appear, they even burst out of their boxes. It’s cute.

I can’t wait to see what other players create. I’ve been able to design a few Evangelion-style mobile suits and each new part has expanded my imagination for the potential of this system. As a kid, I would swap parts with my Gundam action figures as most of the joints were usually compatible with each other so there’s a nostalgic element. Gundam Breaker 4 that I feel attracted to.

However, the snail’s pace of the story, simplistic plot, flat characters, and predictable nature of the gameplay make it difficult to play for all but the biggest Gundam fans. It’s a game that’s hard to love, and I couldn’t get into the multiplayer mode, which is perhaps this game’s biggest selling point. Still, I’m glad I played it, and I may return to it occasionally just to build cool robots.

Review Disclosure Statement: Gundam Breaker 4 was provided to us by Bandai Namco for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please see our Guidelines for review/evaluation.

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