Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2

Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 is an online free-to-play action game released exclusively for the PlayStation 4 via the PlayStation Store in July 2018.

Unlike Gundam Battle Operation NEXT, the first spinoff to the original Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation, Battle Operation 2 is closer to a true sequel that keeps and expands upon the gameplay mechanics of the original title, and completely abandons the fast-paced, arcade-styled elements of NEXT.

The game was initially only released in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. An option for English subtitles was added on October 24, 2018. The game was released to western territories, including North America and several European countries in October 2019 and English-language voice acting was added to the game in the January 27, 2021 update patch.

On January 27, 2021, an enhanced version of Gundam Battle Operation 2 was made available for the PlayStation 5. While cross-play is still permitted with players using the PlayStation 4 version, the PlayStation 5 version utilizes the inherently unique features of the DualSense controller, and boasts faster loading times and an increased framerate, though the loading times would still remain unchanged for PvP modes.

On April 7, 2022, network tests for a proposed PC port were announced on the game's Steam page. However, the first network test proved "unable to provide an adequate playing environment" and a planned second network test was postponed on June 23 and was not rescheduled until the following year, beginning on January 16, 2023 and running for three days. The proposed Steam port will not allow cross-play with the PlayStation versions.

Gameplay[]

Like the original Battle Operation, the game takes its playable roster of mobile suits exclusively from the Universal Century timeline, and battles are fought between two teams of between 1-6 players each via peer-to-peer connection.

In addition to the ground-based combat of the original game, Battle Operation 2 introduced maps for space combat. Space still operates using similar dimensions as ground combat, and the controls are relatively the same. However, a key difference is that instead of being limited to a singular plane or surface, movement has been redesigned to freely ascend and descend on a vertical axis. The jump command has been changed to "ascend" and crouch to "descend".

As in the original game, pilots can leave their mobile suits for a variety of tasks, including capturing spawn points, planting/disarming bombs at bases, commandeering enemy mobile suits, and using various vehicles parked around spawn points. A new addition to Battle Operation 2 is "Support Fire", which can be activated at spawn points in certain game modes. Support Fire has the ability to heavily damage and easily destroy enemies if they are caught in its radius. However, allies may be heavily damaged (though not destroyed) if they are caught in friendly Support Fire. Also, although they cannot see the marker, enemies will receive an alert 5 seconds into the Support Fire's countdown, giving them a chance to evade it. On ground, Support Fire is a sustained aerial bombing run in a relatively small radius. In space, Support Fire is a beam barrage from faraway ships that are easily capable of instantly destroying any enemies caught in the line of fire.

Mobile Suits have a set amount of HP not only to indicate the "health" of the overall unit, but of the head and legs as well. Significant damage to the head will impact radar performance, while a destroyed head will render the radar completely inoperative, and reduce the mobile suit's attack power. Significant damage to the legs will cause mobile suits to buckle under the stress and fall to the ground after boosting and jumping, leaving them defenseless and open to attack for several seconds. Destroying the legs will reduce basic movement speed to a slow walk, in addition to the previous effects. In space, Leg HP is replaced by Backpack HP. Damage to the Backpack is similar, but carries a couple key differences from leg damage. Backpack usage is not affected by heavy damage, however, as the backpack provides the sole means of motion in space, a unit with a destroyed backpack will not be able to boost or tackle, with basic movement being significantly reduced.

Combat utilizes a "Rock-Paper-Scissors"-style gameplay mechanic, where mobile suits are assigned one of three classifications, visually identified in menus by graphic profiles of the suit's head in one of three colors (Blue for General, Red for Raid, and Yellow for Support). Each classification generally fills a particular role, and experiences advantages and disadvantages when engaging opponents of different types:

General (Blue) types are generally flexible units with balanced performance in most categories, meant to engage at the front lines at mid to close range combat. They tend to provide the bulk of a team's fighting strength. They tend to deal more damage to, and receive reduced damage from, Raid types but have a disadvantage against Support types.

Raid (Red) types replace the Melee type classification from the first Battle Operation. Many Raid types have limited effectiveness at long range, usually prioritizing speed and heavy-hitting melee attacks and combos at the expense of health and/or defensive capabilities. However, there are some exceptions that excel at ranged or balanced gameplay as opposed or in addition to melee abilities. Raid Types have an advantage against Support types, but are disadvantaged against General types.

Support (Yellow) types generally prioritize mid to long-range combat. Many Support types have relatively limited mobility compared to the other types, and tend to have very limited effectiveness at close-range. Most supports use powerful long-range weapons like cannons, missiles, and sniper rifles to deal massive damage from afar. Many have the ability to zoom in while sniping for more accurate shots. Support Types have advantage against General types, but are disadvantaged against Raid types.

Unlike the original Battle Operation, team rosters are no longer divided into EFF and Zeon factions, as the players are presented as being employed by a private military group unaffiliated with any major faction, called the "Private Military Union" or PMU. Players can freely sortie using whatever is in their entire roster of mobile suits they have acquired, so long as it is within the acceptable cost range for the sortie, and is compatible with the environment of the given map.

Instead of simple menu navigation, Battle Operation 2 utilizes a sizable social hub area called Base Camp, where players can interact with each other. Players must also interact with NPCs to access various features of the game. While in Base Camp and the mission preparation screens, players may access additional menus and customization options via the "H.A.R.O. Terminal", which is depicted as a handheld device heavily resembling the Gundam mascot, Haro.

New Mobile Suits and equipment can be acquired through several means, usually through the Supply Counter. The simplest way to acquire new MS and equipment is through the "DP Exchange Counter", where players may use DP, the game's primary currency earned through general gameplay, to choose from a static list of a variety of items that expands weekly.

The most notable means to acquire new content is through "Supply Drops", a gacha system where players must spend either 3 or 30 "Tokens", the game's premium currency which can be acquired through a variety of means, to acquire between 1 to 10 mobile suits and weapons randomly from a large pool. The newest MS and weapon additions to the game are almost always introduced via the Supply Drop, with slightly increased drop rates specifically for the given week's Banner MS. As new content is introduced, old content is removed from the Supply Drop pool, and redistributed to the Recycle Counter. There is a 3-day special promotion on the first weekly reset of every month, called "GBO Days", which allows players to drop a single MS for free for every day of the event, although it pulls from a roster of every MS and weapon that was ever available in the Supply Drop, as opposed to the more limited loot pool for that week's Banner, meaning the free Supply Drop option carries the chance of giving players a drop that had long since been cycled out of the main loot pool, and is available via other means. In addition, there is another full-price option that features increased drop rates for MS and weapons of higher rarities. There is another event on second weekly reset of every month, called "Step Up", where players have a new option for the Supply Drop with a limited number of uses, with the first being a one-time option to pay 15 Tokens with the same drop rate and loot pool as the same week's Banner, with further use of this option being full price, but gradually increasing the odds for dropping MS of higher rarities with every use.

If the player receives any duplicates from a Supply Drop, they are reimbursed with a secondary in-game currency called "Recycle Tickets", which are used to buy items from the "Recycle Counter". The Recycle Counter's selection changes daily, and, like the DP Exchange Counter, covers almost every type of item in the game, including two exclusive options for cosmetic items, "Marking" and "Pattern", which are not cycled daily, but receive regular expansion. More items will appear in the daily selection as players complete monthly missions and earn medals. As items are added to the Recycle Counter's rotation, older content is released to the DP Exchange Counter, however, the old content will remain in the daily rotation.

Characters[]

Scattered around Base Camp are various NPCs that provide access to important game functions not covered by the H.A.R.O. Terminal. After the initial tutorials, most of their dialogue is static, only presenting the most outstanding aspects of their personalities. However, more aspects of their history and personalities are presented in multiple scrolling text blurbs that appear when preparing for sorties. These NPCs also have unique dialogue during holidays, special events, and their birthdays.

Neidhardt Heidegger: Voiced by Ryouta Takeuchi (Japanese), Jason Douglas (English); The manager of the Private Military Union (PMU) Base Camp, and Tenda's adoptive father. Neidhardt is responsible for giving the players their mission rewards. He is very fond of Tenda, and tends to be extremely overprotective of her. He tends to get suspicious and try to chase off anyone that tries to get close with her. Birthday is on 4/2.

Tenda Begin: Voiced by Ayaka Nanase (Japanese), Jeannie Tirado (English); Orphaned during an unspecified war, she was adopted by Neidhardt Heidegger. Tenda is a very cheerful and excitable teenager, and seems to get along with everybody. Tenda is responsible for basic training and providing more advanced optional tutorials to new recruits. Tenda is the official mascot of Gundam Battle Operation 2. Birthday is on 10/9.

Carrie Kadbury: Voiced by Rui Tanabe (Japanese), Elizabeth Maxwell (English); A somewhat shy and modest young woman who runs the Mission Counter. She is responsible for assigning pilots missions and helping them get ready to sortie. She also acts as a communications operator for pilots during missions. Birthday is on 6/17.

Katarina Wenders: Voiced by Manami Numakura (Japanese), Brittany Lauda (English); A provocatively dressed woman who runs the Supply Counter. Katarina tends to act very flirty, and has no problem using her looks to get people to loosen their purse strings. Despite what her bold appearance and demeanor may imply, it is all an act. Katarina is purely focused on business and increasing profitability. As such, her defense is rock solid, and she has rejected countless advances from customers that have tried to hit on her. Unlike many at Base Camp, Katarina is not actually a PMU employee, but an outside hire who works on commission. Birthday is on 7/7.

Leona Lucraft: Voiced by Akane Fujita (Japanese), Luci Christian (English); An expert mechanic and workaholic that, despite her relatively young age, has an expansive career working with machinery, dating back to when she was a child. She is so involved with her work as a mechanic that there are rumors that she actually lives in the hanger. She is seemingly diabetic, and always has candy on hand to replenish her blood sugar, lollipops appearing to be her preference. Leona is in charge of the Hangar, and is responsible for permanent upgrades to the player's mobile suits. Birthday is on 3/18.

Adomin Granzman: Voiced by Daichi Endo (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English); A physically intimidating, but very kind-hearted man who runs the bar in Base Camp. He is responsible for Clan functions. Birthday is on 1/11.

Oldem Koda: Voiced by Tarusuke Shingaki (Japanese), Brandon McInnis (English); A stoic, bespectacled man responsible for assigning players ranks and promotions. Birthday is on 12/20.

Patrick Curtis: Voiced by Minoru Inaba (Japanese), Christopher Guerrero (English); A mysterious old war veteran. Patrick has an extensive knowledge of mobile suits, and has many stories to tell, making him popular around Base Camp. Like Katarina, Patrick is not actually a PMU employee, but is a personal guest of Neidhardt. Has a bad habit of trailing off-topic. Patrick runs the PvE Battle Simulator. Birthday is on 5/25.

Dahlia Zakharova: Voiced by Nanako Mori (Japanese), Martha Harms (English); A woman who runs the Beauty Salon in Base Camp. Her cheerful and personable attitude makes her very popular among the staff at Base Camp. Her salon allows players to change the appearance of their avatars, including hairstyles and skin and hair color, and even height, facial features, and gender in exchange for Beauty Tickets. Birthday is on 2/10. As an operator, she also could only be acquired from the fourth step bonus for 2024 Incoming Spring Boosted Supply Drop.

Sthesia Awar: Voiced by Ayana Taketatsu (Japanese), Alexis Tipton (English); A guest communications operator that could only be acquired by pre-ordering the PlayStation 4 release of Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost ON. She does not appear as an NPC in Base Camp, nor is she acknowledged by any of the other NPCs or pre-sortie text blurbs.

Alma Stirner: Voiced by Ayane Sakura (Japanese), Megan Shipman (English); A VR operator that could only be acquired by ordering Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation Code Fairy Deluxe Edition. She is occasionally joined during launch sequences by her Noisy Fairy squadmates, Mia Brinkman and Helena Hegel.

Mia Brinkman: Voiced by Hiyori Kono (Japanese), Jill Harris (English); Alma Stirner's Noisy Fairy squadmate. Occasionally appears during launch sequences with Alma as the player's VR operator.

Helena Hegel: Voiced by Yō Taichi (Japanese), Katelyn Barr (English); Alma Stirner's Noisy Fairy squadmate. Occasionally appears during launch sequences with Alma as the player's VR operator.

Lilith Aiden: Voiced by Sumire Uesaka (Japanese), Caitlin Glass (English); A VR Operator that could only be acquired by completing Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation Code Fairy on Hard difficulty.

Killy Garrett: Voiced by Kane Ueda (Japanese), Morgan Laure (English); A VR Operator that could only be acquired by calling the final step bonus for Dom Gnomides Boosted Supply Drop.

Peche Montagne: Voiced by Maaya Sakamoto (Japanese), Felecia Angelle (English); A VR Operator that could only be acquired from the fifth step bonus for Engage Zero BST Boosted Supply Drop.

Playable Mobile Units[]

As a free-to-play online game that is funded via the optional purchase of Tokens, the premium currency of the game, Gundam Battle Operation 2 sees constant support, and new mobile suits and items are added weekly to encourage continued interest. A new "Banner" mobile suit is released every Thursday at 14:00 JST.

Sometimes, new MS are also occasionally released as fixed rewards, particularly for certain modes or events, such as achieving an appropriate rank in Clan Match, and completing Limited-time Missions. In most of these cases, these are treated as "early access" for those that complete the objectives, and these suits will still make their way to the Recycle Ticket store after several months.