The strategy-rpg genre is one that doesn’t receive a lot of attention from developers nowadays. This niche genre often struggles to appeal to the masses and usually caters to a small group of devout fans who’ll snatch up anything that allows them to build a team of characters and take turns with the computer playing a very complicated chess match. Even with that said, can there honestly be a game that takes the genre by storm and win over the hearts of millions nationwide? If there is one out there, Zoids Assault clearly isn’t it.
When Zoids Assault first was announced for the Xbox 360, there was a small part of me that thought it could’ve turned out to be a real gem of a game. Published by Atlus USA, Zoids Assault at least had the backing of a publisher that has an above average track record of delivering the goods when it comes to niche titles. It’s painful to admit that Zoids Assault misfires at every turn and doesn’t offer much opportunity to find amusement out of a role-playing game that features mechs.
Based around the Zoids brand – toy robots for better or worse – Zoids Assault permits players to upgrade and advance through the game with five select mechs. The gameplay is played within a battle grid where players must move one turn at a time to gun down their enemies. Many of the missions call for the player to gun down all of the enemies or destroy an object, so the game’s objectives aren’t too complicated. Don’t expect too much out of Zoids Assault in terms of invigorating missions or characters. In short, you should be able to finish the 14 missions within 12 hours (I finished within 11 hours) – a mark that is too short for a common SRPG.
The main problem with Zoids Assault is that’s plot is dull to the bitter end. Don’t expect wonderful exposition through the form of cut-scenes, CGI sequences or even great voice-overs because Zoids Assaults doesn’t include any of them. What Zoid Assault does include are poor voice-overs that have a sound of slight hesitation in their voice as if the voice-actors don’t even comprehend what’s going on. Outside of the voice-overs, Zoids Assault incorporates text that shows up on the front of a newspaper to detail what’s going on. In better terms, Zoids Assault’s storyline is an absolute mess.
Graphics fare way better than the gameplay and storyline does. At times, you might mistakenly believe you are playing with the miniature toys, but then terrible voice-acting will show up to remind you are playing a substandard SRPG. If you can block out the poor audio and focus on the impressive camera angles the game employs – on top of the decent battle animations – Zoids Assault isn’t a game marred by too many technical difficulties. Though, the added grain filter is unnecessary as it only takes away the finer details of your mechs.
What can gamers take away from their experience with Zoids Assault? Well, first off, the strategy role-playing genre is still in need of a worthy candidate to make the genre look extraordinary again. Secondly, the developers need to hire better writers to create a campaign truly worthy of our time. It’s highly recommended that you avoid Zoids Assault unless you find it in the bargain bin. Until then, the only SRPG that has actually proved to be fairly decent was Enchanted Arms, so you’re better off playing that if you haven’t done so already.
