When you think of Gundam, several things come to mind, starting with giant robots fighting other giant robots. Long-time fans will know of its deconstruction of the mecha genre and how some of the best entries in the franchise offer hard-hitting depictions of war, morality, and the price of progress. It also provides some incredible human drama, whether you’re wrapped up in the complexities and intergalactic conflict of the original Gundam series, intrigued by the manipulations of Celestial Being in Gundam 00 or unraveling the mysteries of The Witch from Mercury.

However, there is another fandom for the franchise beyond the anime, and it’s Gunpla – model kits for hobbyists to build a Gundam from scratch. They vary in complexity and scale based on grade, not to mention the in-depth processes of painting and modifying them (including Kitbashing, where parts from multiple kits are used in a single model). Such is the enthusiasm for Gunpla that there’s a Builders World Cup Tournament where the best compete. There’s even dedicated anime, the Gundam Build Fighters series, leveraging the hobby for storyline purposes.

"Overall, the characterization is about as typical as they come, with rote dialogue that’s serviceable at best and skippable at worst."

In essence, that’s what Gundam Breaker 4 is about. As the first true mainline sequel in the franchise since 2016’s Gundam Breaker 3 (pretend that New Gundam Breaker never happened), it offers all the customization a Gunpla enthusiast could want. The sheer number of parts is extensive, with over 250 base kits, and you can customize them to your heart’s content with decals, weather, resizing, and more. However, as a hack-and-slash action-adventure, it leaves something to be desired.

The story focuses on a new Gundam online title (that sounds suspiciously akin to a Metaverse game) entering beta. It’s attracted many players, from the casuals to the try-hard competitive types. The protagonist is a relative newcomer who starts with an RX-78, and it’s not long before another player, Tao arrives to teach you the basics. I appreciated having the option to exclaim, “How dare you” when Tao called me a beginner but I had to suffer his company regardless.

You encounter other characters like Lin, a skilled player who wants to be the best and can feel a bit precarious around new people; Mister, someone who walks around trying to help newcomers like Tao, except he has an afro; and Sheena, an overtly polite player.

Overall, the characterization is about as typical as they come, with rote dialogue that’s serviceable at best and skippable at worst. It doesn’t pick up or improve, and some concepts – like the player harnessing a talent called Spartan Rage – I mean, Super Saiyan – I mean, Awaken – feel cliche while lacking real gravitas.

"Though the giants can feel damage-spongey, taking on a massive Unicorn Gundam and watching it activate the NT-D to go all out is appealing."

Perhaps the most intriguing concept is that players can use different avatars and that maybe no one is who they say. Surely, that won’t serve as a major plot twist later. The overall vibe is gathering together with your in-game friends, taking on missions, and battling rival clans to work your way up the ladder, at least initially. I do wish my character had more opportunities to voice their opinion, even if it was to make more sassy remarks. It feels like a good chunk of the story is playing out through other people, and I’m simply standing by the wayside (while also doing all the work, mind you).

As such, the basic gameplay flow of Gundam Breaker 4 is very straightforward. Go to the desk and pursue a story mission with three difficulty options and a choice of partners. Higher difficulties necessitate higher-level parts for your Gundam. The missions themselves are extremely simplistic, usually consisting of little more than clearing out waves of enemies before proceeding to the next area and culminating in a boss. Some unique missions (like protecting a point) can come up. However, they involve eliminating every single enemy attacking as opposed to destroying a target Gundam (which causes the smaller fry to disappear).

The boss battles can range from fighting regular-sized Gundam to giants with extensive bars of health, multiple break points, barriers that you must pour damage into before you can resume depleting their HP, and big dramatic attacks. Though the giants can feel damage-spongey, taking on a massive Unicorn Gundam and watching it activate the NT-D to go all out is appealing. Sure, some giant bosses share several of the same attacks, but such is life in a Bandai Namco-produced Gundam game. At least you’re incentivized to target and break parts to add them to your repertoire.

After progressing enough, you unlock quests and bounties. The former offers straightforward missions against enemy Gundam with little to no narrative scenes, while the latter involves directly facing rivals and collecting currency when defeating them. This is unique because you can select up to three opponents for a fight, and the encounters can be interesting depending on their builds. Speaking of which, I appreciated the menu outlining the different kit parts that went into making these opponents, allowing players to easily copy their set-ups.

"The problem is that there otherwise isn’t too much depth to the combat, which isn’t helped by the mission structure or the shoddy AI of most enemies (when they’re not stunlocking you forever with double-bladed weapons)."

Even if the mission types and objectives are somewhat mind-numbing and repetitive, there’s some hope that the combat can pick up the slack. That’s unfortunately not the case, but it’s not a lost cause either. Customizing your Gundam means equipping unique weapons and parts that confer different OP Skills, ranging from a slashing combo with your beam saber to grabbing some SD Gundam with your claw shield and slamming them into the ground. Each weapon also has unique properties – the whip is good for attacking enemies in an area but can also pull one close to you, as one example.

You also have EX Skills like Repair and Trans-Am, the latter granting a massive buff to your stats. I didn’t find the parts system too exciting from a stats point of view in the early going, simply opting for the highest levels to meet the requirements, but the abilities and weapon types can mix things up. When you’re launching an enemy into the air with a beam saber, only to stab them repeatedly with a dagger and then pelt them with Gatling guns and missiles, it can feel satisfying. The combo system also incentivizes building higher combos, enabling different buffs and increasing item drop rates.

The problem is that there otherwise isn’t too much depth to the combat, which isn’t helped by the mission structure or the shoddy AI of most enemies (when they’re not stunlocking you forever with double-bladed weapons). They seem to lack much awareness for dodging your long-range shots, except by accident, and become vulnerable super-quick.

Yes, there’s an appeal to becoming super-powered and stomping the competition with a high-powered build, but I’d appreciate it if they put up some kind of fight. Watching an iconic Gundam show up to challenge my crew becomes less exciting over time when their behavior is as predictable and shallow as the others.

"If nothing else, this is a much cheaper option than spending hundreds of dollars on model kits. Whether that’s worth enduring all the annoying caveats is another matter entirely."

Your allies aren’t much better, sometimes getting stuck on objects in the environment and seemingly offering no help, even if it’s to draw aggro away. The movement can feel awkward sometimes, as jumping and boosting are tied to the same button. Activating the latter means holding it down while moving, but you must hold it when stationary for greater jump height. It’s not the worst, but it takes some getting used to, especially for jumping up and hitting a giant Gundam’s head.

Presentation-wise, there isn’t much to say about the visuals or music. The graphics won’t blow you away with their fidelity, but like many other things, they’re serviceable, and performance isn’t too shabby either. The voice acting is passable and, once again, does little to elevate the characters.

If you’re looking for the best of the best in mech combat, Gundam Breaker 4 isn’t it, chief. While the combat isn’t awful and there’s oodles of content for those who can get into it, it’s beset by repetitive objectives, underwhelming AI, and moderate depth. The story has some intriguing elements but doesn’t do much to pull you in.

Nevertheless, thanks to the extensive customization options and ability to personalize your own Gundam, showing it off through in-game photography (which could use some better background) and creating dioramas, is appealing. If nothing else, this is a much cheaper option than spending hundreds of dollars on model kits. Whether that’s worth enduring all the annoying caveats is another matter entirely.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.