Ahh.... Super Deformed Gundam Online... a wonderful concept but one so thoroughly flawed due to poor execution and then customer care, if any. To begin with, the game itself originally comes from Korea where it gained popularity and then spread throughout the world. Perhaps it is in some irony that the Japanese version comes later than the Korean version since the Japs came up with the original Gundam in 1979. Nevertheless, the game is a free-to-play (F2P), third person shooter available to all and sundry. It currently has over millions-billions of Mobile Suits to choose from (more than 50, including variants, with more on the way), the controls are rudimentary but sufficient enough for most of the part.
the game's ups and downs
The greatest strength of the game is the nigh-ever ending supply of mobile suits to choose from and the fact that you can take these units and thrash others with it in often, team-based gameplay or a free for all mode. The second greatest strength of the game lies in the ability to allow you to grow your units and then customise them to suit your playing style.
the quality of mobile suits are split into 4 main categories and can be further split down, but i won't go into that. the 4 main categories of units are C, B, A and S classes. These represent the overall quality of the unit with C being the worst, but cheapest and S being the most powerful but most expensive. the idea here being that the cheap units if destroyed are essentially expendable during gameplay though if an S class is destroyed, it would be devastating for the team. in theory, this is balanced though in gameplay i have noticed that this is not often the case. many new players or noobs and nuggets i shall refer to as henceforth are often found using the most expensive and powerful units, much to the detriment of the team. the idea of giving a very powerful but costly unit to a new player is just asking for a team to lose, as the new player will not know the ropes and in most cases, becomes slim pickings even for C classes. conversely, C classes even when used by a professional player will have difficulty in taking down an average gamer with an S class simply due to the vast difference in power, though customising the unit goes some ways to balancing that.
however, there's a problem. the game itself is incredibly buggy. i refer to the SDGO South East Asia version distributed by Cherry Credits. at this point in time, i have played sufficient online games to know that whatever it is Cherry Credits is doing other than hosting numerous in-game events, they have failed to address the numerous bugs in the game. among the bugs is the potential for the game client to unexpectedly drop players by freezing up the entire client. this is quite agitating especially since players may have to wait up to 15 whole minutes to find a room with an equal amount of players. the game needs an equal amount of players to start, providing an equal number of team mates to each team. however, the freezing up, forces players to forcefully close the game client and restart it, losing much time especially during events which is even more aggravating.
the next issue lies in the number of ways it allows a unit's special attack, SS or ulti as players would put it, to enable both the attacker and victim to become irrevocably stuck in place for the remainder of the round. there are few instances whereby the death of the players resets them to a normal playable state, though in most cases, not always the case. this actually construes as a rather serious glitch that by now should have been rectified....but it hasn't.
SDGO also offers co-operative mission modes or those who wish to team up with friends to take down bosses or just kill something that isn't a player. the difficulty ramp up in the mission modes is astounding. the sole purpose of any noob acquiring an S class for the power it affords, useful for pummeling other players but incredibly necessary for hard missions. perhaps it is strange to note that in that mode, the S class unit like the Sazabi would actually become bogged down by the enemies flying in en masse or very large zerg rushes. usually, in PVP modes this isn't an issue because of the limited number of players though in missions, a group of grunts is usually sufficient to decimate any S class in short order. This is the ultimate source of worry and grief for players. players that have found not a third party hack, but a sort of in-game cheat code or exploit that enables them to 'jam' or immobilize the enemies in place, allowing the players to take pot shots and finish them without worry of being shot at. this brazen act is frowned upon by many of the more experienced and mature gamers, another issue that CC or Cherry Credits has failed to fix.
the social scene
most of you who know me, will realize that i am a big fan of gundam, just not the sort that slobbers over how pretty the characters are or how well-designed Wing gundam is (a horrible looking suit, i might add). i prefer to be known as a connoisseur, appreciator or curator of gundam. reader, you will notice that i have actually taken care to call the 'robots' or 'gundams' in this game as 'Mobile Suits' or 'MS', the proper label. that's how passionate i am about this. so, it naturally irks me that the average player in south east asia or SEA region recklessly calls each and every MS a gundam. there is a very good reason an MS is called a gundam, it always has the name GUNDAM on it. the units also sport a V-shaped antennae or 2, have a face with a red chin and 2 glowing eyes, learn the difference. they do not, nor do they wish to; an unfortunate situation where western people who call us backward and unintelligent beings becomes true for most of the part.
It must be noted by now that most of the players who play SDGO SEA are from SEA, so its normal that a lot of language mixing is involved. chinese, malay, thai and tagalog flow through the communications channels. i'm not what one considers racist, and i'm actually ok with this going on. the one thing that does irk me is the very people who use the languages. the players are often rude, impatient little children with little regard for anything other than acquiring a Freedom Gundam (another ridiculous looking MS). it is these people who go about thinking they are the best simply because they have a gundam. thus, one can see that gundams literally inundate the scene in SEA, making the once valuable and greatly revered MS called the gundam, a farce. the anime teaches us that a gundam is a single unit capable of great power, is piloted by only the best and is issued in few numbers, making it a precious thing. the scene in SEA makes a mockery of it, especially with the number of gundams injected into the game on a regular basis by Cherry Credits. the irony then is that the lower grade C and B units become rarer and thus more valuable, often being used by players who have a keener and more mature understanding and appreciation of the gundam franchise.
perhaps it is unfair of me to judge players for fielding units that are their favorites but it is hard to ignore the trend where the importance of a flashy unit with little substance becomes the centre of attention. talk about shallow standards people!
Verdict
if i was the chief developer, i'd first fire all the staff and have them shot for failing to keep the customers happy. most of the glitches, bugs and exploits in the game are actually fixable, especially with the amount of time the game has already been out. ultimately, players complain about lag in the game though whose fault that is, i haven't a clue; thus making CC not guilty until proven. even if the exploits are not immediately fixable, a GM or 2 should always be in game to enable the developers to understand what the scene is like in the game and offer on-spot assistance and support where possible. ultimately, it falls to CC to decide what to do. until they come off their high horse and into the grassroots where the players dwell and game, CC will have a game that will never be able to reach its full potential. if i am to be so bold CC, that means more money for you, less complaints and most of all, more money. a happy customer is one that will always be willing give you money for quality service, sometimes more.
4.7/10 stars, a generous verdict IMO
- maybe its a bit sad but this is a game i would still play only for my interest in gundam as a proper fan. otherwise, its a gigantic failure in part of the developer failing to address issues players have brought up time and again; and the failure to monitor the game on the level of the players. i have seen free-to-play games that have even lower graphics quality but still rake in money and players because of how attentive the dev team is.
