I love Mobile Suit Gundam, and I have relished the dozens upon dozens of hours I have spent learning to build my own Gunpla model kits over the last few years (it was the nerdy and time-consuming new hobby that got me through the worst of the COVID lockdowns). I never got the chance to play much of the Gundam Breaker games, unfortunately, as my PS Vita has been out of commission for a good while and Gundam Breaker Mobile shut down last year just as I was getting into it. Thankfully, Gundam Breaker 4 has arrived on Switch, PC, and PlayStation consoles, so now I finally have the opportunity to check out this corner of the Gundam franchise and see how much my love of the real-life plastic models into the digital world.

The most important thing to know about Gundam Breaker 4, if you are new to this particular branch of the world of Gundam, is that this is not a game about battling it out in giant metal robots—it is a game about battling it out in meticulously detailed plastic replicas of giant metal robots. Even in the game-within-the-game, your player character and his companions meet up to play throughout the story mode. The idea is that you mix and match all of the bits and pieces from the real-world Gunpla model kits to create your own custom action figure that can mimic all of the sword-slashing, axe-bashing, bazooka-blasting action of the “real” Mobile Suit mechs.

The reason I am emphasizing this seemingly arbitrary distinction is that even mecha-on-mecha battles of Gundam Breaker 4 come second to the real core gameplay hook of collecting thousands of plastic parts to smash together to create the ultimate Gunpla figure. This practice of throwing together whatever parts you want into a Frankenstein's Monster of a Mobile Suit is also known as “kit bashing”, and it is the primary appeal of the entire game. Yes, the lightweight-yet-kinetic battles are plenty of fun and all, but if you're anything like me, you'll find yourself spending the vast majority of your time in the menus “Your Room”, where you can sort through your ungodly collection of random Gunpla parts, paints, and decals for hours on end.

For some, this may sound like a backhanded compliment but I genuinely could not get enough of the model-assembling part of the Gundam Breaker 4 experience. Based on the brief amount of research I did into previous GB titles, it seems like Gundam Breaker 4 is even more obsessed with the minutiae of its models than ever before. You can customize individual arm components with more specificity, add additional Builder Parts, equip dual-wielded weapons, and even work in the disproportionate parts from the SD (Super Deformed) kits if it suits you. Then, once you've finished customizing your Gunpla's kitting and detailing, you can spend even more time messing around with the Photo and Diorama modes. I'm not quite artistic enough to work in such keen customization with my real-world Gunpla models but Gundam Breaker 4 gives even the clumsiest of fans the chance to capture the perfect shot of their (theoretically) badass robots.

Of course, there is an action video game meant to be played alongside this virtual toybox and hobby workshop, and I imagine all of you readers who aren't quite as obsessed with the Gunpla kits themselves are wondering how the game actually plays. The answer is, “Pretty well!” Like I said, the fights you get into during the Story, Quest, and Bounty missions are generally fun to play—so long as you're not expecting the heft and challenge that comes with a FromSoftware title or anything. Developer CRAFTS & MEISTER Co. are working in a similar wheelhouse to Dimp's Dragon Ball Xenoverse games (also published by Bandai Namco, as it happens). Rather than concerning you with combos or deep battle tactics, this is a button-mashing beat-'em-up that will have you focused more on leveling up your equipment stats and using the right EX and OP special moves.

The biggest drawback to this approach is that, if you are not extrinsically motivated to pursue S-Rank scores in every mission by the promise of oodles of new Gunpla parts to break off of your foes and add to your collection, then there might not be enough to prevent the battles from feeling repetitive—especially when you get bogged down by an endless wave of damage-sponge enemies on the higher difficulties. The graphics and music are perfectly okay at selling the idea that you are engaging in the plastic-toy battle simulator but they aren't going to blow anyone away—especially if you're playing on the PS5 like I did, where the games only next-generation draw seems to be a more stable framerate than its Switch and PS4 counterparts. The point is, this isn't a title where the sheer spectacle of the robot fights will be enough on its own to keep players engaged.

Granted, some additional features do their best to add some complexity to the otherwise straightforward “Build 'em, Then Break 'em” loop. The Story Mode goes out of its way to introduce plenty of characters and context for its missions, and it's honestly not too bad. Obviously, I don't think anyone should go into Gundam Breaker 4 expecting a rich, AAA-budgeted narrative campaign. For all of its cheap animations and repetitive game-lobby meeting scenes, though, I think Gundam Breaker 4 does a decent enough job of giving you some likable friends to team up with and some deliciously cheesy jerk wads to aim your ridiculously large bazooka-shields at. Plus, the story sequences have been produced with a fully-voiced English Dub, which is an extra bit of polish that I'm pretty sure is new for this franchise.

I should also mention that there's a whole host of multiplayer features to dig into, such as player clans and PvP battles, though I wasn't able to play around with them for long during the brief window in which the online servers were functional during the review period. Still, I can imagine a large portion of the Gundam Breaker community is excited at the additional value that these multiplayer options bring to the table, and I'm excited to try them out more myself once the game has been released to the public and the player count can grow.

All in all, I had a very good time with Gundam Breaker 4, and I think it will be the perfect jumping-on-point for returning and new fans alike. Yes, this is still a fairly niche title that sometimes struggles under the restraints of its limited production values and relatively basic action mechanics but the amount of love and passion that the developers have for Mobile Suit Gundam and the Gunpla hobby cannot be understated or ignored. The game functions as the ideal bottomless toybox for any Gundam fan who just wants more time to smash their favorite robots together with some friends (digital or otherwise). Fair warning: You may find the Gunpla bug to be as infectious as I have, in which case this game is merely going to be the first step into a lifelong hobby. Get yourself a pair of nippers and some decent paintbrushes, just in case.