Gundam Evolution
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Gundam Evolution
Ultimately, Gundam Evolution fulfills the promise of letting you impersonate one of the many Mobile Suits that have been showcased across the decades, and fans of the beloved series will have the time of their lives, at least for a bit. But in doing so, it just presents another attempt to emulate the Overwatch formula that doesn’t quite hit the mark.
I really like the overall style of Gundam Evolution. The maps are neat and the mobile suits are a decent starting lineup, even if I don’t like some of the omissions from throughout the franchise in both the roster and cosmetic options. There’s also the fact that some of these mobile suits just feel straight-up overpowered compared to certain other niche options in team comp. That said, as a live-service free-to-play game, I’ve never had an issue finding a match in Gundam Evolution and it looks like the groundwork is here for some good improvements, additions, and balancing over time.
Gundam Evolution is a hero shooter that gives Gundam fans and new players a full product despite being free-to-play, though it's not without high item prices and tech quirks.
Like most hero shooters, the key to Gundam Evolution’s success is going to be how well Bandai Namco supports the game, and whether post-launch content can keep up a steady cadence of adding interesting new content. Still, Gundam Evolution has gotten the most important piece of the Overwatch formula right, making each hero feel distinct and providing interesting interactions between them. What that means is that Evolution should appeal to any fans of the genre, even those without any knowledge of Gundam whatsoever.
Gundam Evolution is a fun and fast-paced hero shooter that, while not wholly unique, accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do: offer an authentic, competitive Gundam experience for fans of modern shooters. Satisfying gunplay and engaging classes make playing this game worthwhile, regardless of the lengthy grind and somewhat lifeless maps.
As a massive fan of the Gundam franchise, Gundam Evolution is off to a fantastic start. Each of the initial batch of mobile suits all fill different roles on the battlefield; and none of felt like it didn’t have a sufficient counter to it. Sadly, some of the best counter picks are locked behind the pay wall, but players can grind out the currency if they want to save some money. I do wish the grind to unlock new suits and the in game currency wasn’t so slow, and the game is in desperate need of some new maps but even with those issues surprisingly the best Gundam game out right now is the free to play Gundam Evolution, and while I am waiting on the console version to REALLY dig in. Those who play on PC should absolutely check it out, especially if you are a fan of games like Overwatch or Paladins.
A solid hero shooter at its core, the gameplay is fundamentally solid and offers a decent variety in suits to choose from. Progression for suits is, however, glacially slow and map/mode variety leaves much to be desired.
Gundam Evolution might have shamelessly lifted some of its presentation and mechanics from other games (and I think it did), but it's still a great game at the end of the day.
