It’s time to suit up again and rock out to Rhythm Emotion by Two-Mix as Bandai Namco has released Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 onto the PlayStation 4 system. This free-to-play title is the latest video game release based on the universe of Gundam following New Gundam Breaker in 2018 and Gundam Versus in 2017. As the Gundam universe has enthralled and excited fans around the world, Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 arrives as an open online multiplayer experience, where players can fight each other or join up for epic battles, both in space and on land.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 puts players in the pilot seat of their favorite mobile suit from the 1979 anime, Mobile Suit Gundam. Just like the flagship anime, war is being waged between the Principality of Zeon and The Federation, and soldiers are needed to fight from the Earth to the stars. Players participate in intense, 6v6 matches in a battle for control and supremacy, directly engaging and destroying the opposition. Players fight their battles in either a Mobile Suit or as infantry soldiers. Piloting a mobile suit, players fight in towering, powerful machines, equipped with an arsenal of close and long-range weapons. As infantry, players can fight Mobile Suits, or other infantry, calling in exclusive support strikes on the enemy. Additionally, when attacking enemy bases, players can plants bombs as infantry. Infantry can also hijack empty mobile suits, should a player unexpectedly hop out of theirs. The objective of each match is to fight hard, down every enemy you can, and ultimately, win.
Battle Operation 2 comes at the right time for the Gundam franchise. The original anime series is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary this year, highlighting the profound impact that the anime has had on animation, culture, and the learnings of human philosophy. The franchise has gone on to become a variety of manga installments, animated movies, video games, and a plethora of anime series, most notably Gundam Wing in the mid-1990s, during Cartoon Network’s Toonami block.
“The Gundam franchise is a rich universe featuring storylines full of drama, honor, and intense action. By bringing Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 to the Americas, we invite western audiences to experience the Gundam world first-hand by taking part in visceral Gundam Mobile Suit battles and to dive deeper into the storied universe.” – Shoya Yamazaki, Director of I.P Strategy at Bandai Namco via press release
Seeing Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 is exciting as many fans in the United States grew up with Gundam and Gundam Wing, myself included. Seeing the massive battles between mobile suits and Gundam was incredible and awe-inspiring. While I personally didn’t quite understand the mature storylines, I came to understand the profound themes of love, war, conflict, and peace as I got older. The interactions amongst these pilots and leaders were woven carefully together to provide a dynamic vehicle of story-telling unlike anything else on television at the time. To see the action and world of Mobile Suit Gundam translated into an open, online multiplayer game is exciting and I am sure to enjoy the grand scale and spectacle that Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 has to offer.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 is now available to download on the PlayStation Store.
For more anime coverage, check out our review of Devilman Crybaby and My Hero: One’s Justice.
