Review: Gundam Breaker 4 Feels Like a Fun Grind for Friends 

I’ve always loved the Gundam Breaker series. Even if I haven’t watched all the series included and don’t know every Gunpla I’m harvesting for parts, I adore everything it stands for. Beating up hordes of robots with pretty fun combos both at close range and a distance? Collecting tons of parts from different models to make my perfect custom creation? Then making my Gunpla pretty? It’s priceless. So I definitely think Gundam Breaker 4 is fun, even though it’s a huge grind of a game that sometimes feels better suited and balanced for co-op.

Gundam Breaker 4 begins with players being introduced to… GB4. We’re in the midst of a game-within-a-game situation. Your character is one of the people selected to take part in the GUNPLA Battle Blaze: Beyond Borders (GB4) beta. As such, you’re given access to a lobby where you can accept story, supplemental, and event missions, go to Your Room to customize your unit with pieces from other mechs, and create dioramas. One of the first things that happen in the story is you meet two other newbie players named Tao and Lin, and the three of you form a Clan with the goal of becoming the strongest players in the game. (You know, before things happen.) Given the setting, online is available, but it can be played completely alone.

That said, the whole concept of Gundam Breaker 4 feels like it is pushing you toward online play. After all, the story this time involves an online beta for a game. The grind to collect new parts and become strong enough to advance through missions is also a whole thing. So it is a situation where you might feel tempted to pay for online services, if you’re on a PS4, PS5, or Switch, just to take advantage of running through things with friends to make it feel like less if a time-consuming slog. 

Not that it isn’t playable alone! I spent the entire duration of my playtime offline and alone for Gundam Breaker 4, and I had a lot of fun. The combat system is rather tight, with buttons assigned to the left and right arms for both close range and long range options. I loved dual-wielding and triggering major combos. Switching between locked-on enemies involves a simple and natural movement. So with the right build, you could really cut through a horde of enemy Gunpla around you.

I felt the other gameplay elements were executed well too! Boosting is also quite effortless, so I never had any problems getting around the maps or eliminating the distance between foes. Ranged weapons can also pack quite a punch. If you’ve collected some really good parts, you can take advantage of them, not to mention the special skills. Cooldowns for those are reasonable as well. I also very much appreciated the Awakening system, which can help mitigate some of the issues with certain opponents being a tad tanky.

The thing I did notice is that some missions can be a bit of a slog when you go through them alone. They wouldn’t be too difficult for a solo challenge, mind you. Rather, it felt like certain boss-type enemies are damage sponges. In some cases, I think even if I was in a party with other actual players, it would still feel like they take too much damage to take down. The life bars could involve multiple ones to cut through. Since the earlier two waves for stages tend to also involve “cut down all the other enemy gunpla,” it’s rough on the hands.

Bandai Namco is a bit of a teaser when it comes to Gundam Breaker 4, however. Right in the midst of the introduction, a character named Tao with an SD Gunpla avatar comes up and reveals that hey! Those types of models are here to harvest parts from too! However, they aren’t as plentiful as the standard Gunpla. So even though there are over 250 base kits and a wide variety of options, I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see as many of the “new” kinds in this release. 

The thing is… it feels like the grind can be worth it! I really loved getting to build my custom Gunpla. The range of parts and kits motivated me to keep going through levels, especially so I could get the SD Gundam parts of my dreams to create an abomination that included mismatched pieces. In Assembly, you can set your head, body, right and left arms, legs, backpack, right and left close-range weapons, right and left long-range weapons, shield, and decorative builder parts. When in the Paint area, you can adjust the head, body, arms, legs, backpack, weapon, and shield colors. Decal and weathering options are available there. You can also go to Blueprint to save favorite sets.

The different customization options remain a highlight. I feel like the weathering elements also help parts from different kits, which may normally not look like they fit well together, do so when combined with all the other customization items. I absolutely spent as much time in My Room adjusting how my avatar looked as I did repeating missions. (Even with some bosses taking forever to beat alone.) Cobbling together custom builds with all of these iconic parts remains an absolute delight. So I need to replay a mission like three or four times to get the exact parts I need to kitbash my dream avatar. I’m okay with that! Especially since, once you clear a mission, it will note which opponents are around so you can be certain you’ll find the pieces you need or want.

Going into Gundam Breaker 4, you need to accept that it’s the type of game that will involve grinding missions for experience and parts. I felt like the ensuing Gunpla I’d create and opportunities to collect even more customization elements was worth it! Especially since the combat system is tight and it all looks really good. If you’re not up for replaying a lot of assignments and dealing with occasional hurdles in fights that might feel better balanced for multiplayer, it might be wise to look at an older entry. But it can be a really good time, especially if you love the Gundam and this spin-off series or have a crew you’ll be playing it with.

Gundam Breaker 4 will come to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC on August 29, 2024.