GV reports:
''Zoids Assault is the second Atlus-published Strategy RPG I've reviewed this month, and their similarities go beyond just sharing a publisher and genre. Like Spectral Force 3, Zoids Assault is an incredibly bland game that lacks personality. But, while Spectral Force 3 has a few redeeming factors, Zoids Assault underachieves across the board and is a little worse off.
Although the Zoids franchise has both an anime and manga to back it up, Zoids Assault takes a completely different approach. The story is told through a series of still images backed up by horribly stilted voice acting. Even looking at the stills, it is pretty clear that everything is being done to keep the game from having a face. This carries over into the gameplay; none of your pilots have names and their faces are hidden by masks at all times. I'm pretty sure this is by design and is meant to show the impersonal nature of modern war, but for a game, that really doesn't work well since it alienates the player.
It is hard to complain about the visuals once you get past the sleepy political story and ugly U.I. The Zoids look great up close, but the animation is very stilted and lacks the type of fluid motion depicted in the anime. Evasion is nothing more than a simple, half-hearted lean to the side and movement is marked by hard right angles. Even during daytime missions, everything has a grey tone and, when taken with the grainy filter that covers the screen, it can be really hard to tell what is going on. It got so bad at one point that I chose the brightest, gaudiest color scheme for my team just so I could tell them apart from the enemies.''
VGGEN writes: "Do you remember Zoids? No? Don't worry, I'm sure not many people do. If you've never heard of Zoids, it's a Japanese toy line that consists of animal-like mechs that are exceedingly popular. It's spawned a few anime series, tons of manga, fanbooks, and unfortunately, games. In the eighties the toy line was released in America, but didn't catch on as well as planned. A couple years back Zoids made another Stateside debut with an anime series on Cartoon Network, as well as a line of models that you could collect and play with your friends every morning in the cafeteria. Like many fads, its popularity waned, and eventually faded into the background. Now, in 2008, Atlus has made the decision to release Zoids Assault for the Xbox 360, in a move that both baffles and repulses me, because this could very well be one of the worst Atlus titles-or out of any game I own, for that matter-ever."
Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball Z, One Piece. Just a few popular anime that have video games , each a great anime and each with a game or two to pickup this holiday season. The gamer that loves anime deserves these titles this holiday season, but what are they, which games go with which anime for which system and are they any good? No worries, these licensced titles as well as a few others with anime themes will be listed below by system with a word on each. Some are good, others great, but all will seem just a bit better in the hands of a fan.
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 gamers' 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.
