Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage Review

Gundam Rising

Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage is an auto-battle team-based strategy game published by Namco Bandai Games. Bring your favorite fighting robots from the Gundam universe into battle with you—on the go from your mobile device.

My love for everything Gundam has brought me to play a lot of subpar games in my time. With only Gundam Versus truly ever scratching the Gundam itch for me. In a world where I collect a vast amount of Gunpla, why wouldn’t a Gacha game in which you collect Gundam’s work? However, after being disappointed by Gundam Breaker Mobile and subsequently, Namco Bandai Games shutting down Breaker this past June, I was a little apprehensive. With the first North American mobile Gundam game shutting down, what does Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engages future look like?

The Universal Century

Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage follows the Universal Century storyline, with full animation straight from the original anime. Hardcore Gundam fans who want to relive their favorite stories will be happy. For anyone who wants to explore the Gundam universe—Engage is the perfect place to start. Players take a squad of six Gundams and pilots into battle. Before battle commences players need to place Gundam’s in a grid to maximize strategy. Also, making sure your squad formation is perfect before battle is key to victory. Consequently, the RPG elements in Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage only go as far as upgrading Mobile Suits and pilots.

You are probably asking yourself; it sounds like there is a lot of preparation before a battle starts. That is because as soon as a battle starts, the experience is very passive. During the heat of battle players only have access to a Gundam’s EX Skill, which is a bar that builds up from your Gundam’s attacking opponents. Unfortunately, players will most likely opt out and use the auto-battle feature. This means that players are responsible for only watching their favorite Mobile Suits go into battle. Fortunately, the polished and well-done animation makes up for that, whether it is a cut scene or a 3D battle animation during gameplay—it is glorious to see. I found myself happily watching Char’s counterattack unfold before my eyes in a series of quests and movie animations.

Unit Assembly Required

In most Gacha games I avoid summoning characters into the game until I absolutely need to. With Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage, I used up all my in-game currency, otherwise known as diamonds in an attempt to summon my favorite Mobile Suits and pilots. I found Engage to be generous, players get 5,000 diamonds by just signing into the game. Like assembling a Gunpla, Engage calls summoning—Unit Assembly. The collection aspect of Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage is where the game shines. Players get a cast of over 200 Gundam’s to collect.

Despite fanboying over a Gundam game, I still had a lot of qualms with Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage. Firstly, I found the UI to be vastly tedious. I am a mobile gaming veteran, and I was a little confused by the intense number of menus Engage offers. It felt as if I was building my first Real-Grade Gunpla all over again! Mixing the tedious UI with passive battle sequences, I wanted to build more Gunpla of the units I just summoned rather than play Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage.

Bandai’s Counterattack!

While Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage has many setbacks, it doesn’t fully take away from a fun and well-done mobile gaming experience. Instead of being placed into the heat of battle, players will often find themselves strategizing before the battle begins. The unfortunate part is that most of the player’s time will be spent in the UI instead of watching Gundam battle it out for victory.

It is commendable that Bandai is actively trying to take a vastly different approach to mobile gaming rather than making another Gundam Breaker. Infusing the storied history of the Gundam franchise into a game while putting scenes straight from the anime captured a wave of nostalgia I haven’t felt in a while from the franchise. Engage knows what it is and does it well. If you can navigate the UI and know what the experience is, this Mobile Suit game is not a terrible choice. The future looks promising as Bandai has launched a counterattack of their own.