Namco Bandai announces 3D action-fighter game in Super Robot Taisen Original Generation series

Ever wanted to try out the Super Robot Taisen Original Generation series (perhaps the video game industry's most poignant love song to giant nerdy anime robots), but didn't care much about the strategy-RPG format? You're in luck: Namco Bandai Games just announced Super Robot Taisen OG: Infinite Battle, a 3D fighting action game featuring most of the SRTOG mecha lineup.

"It's been over a decade since we've begun work on the SRTOG series," general producer Takanobu Terada told Famitsu magazine. "During that time, a lot of gamers have said in surveys that they wanted to see an action game, so we decided to answer the call for that. SRT's a strategy-RPG series, and in that way the hurdles to entry can be a bit high, so we thought a combat action game would be more approachable to people who like robot action games. That way, even if you don't know the SRTOG story, you can still enjoy fighting with all the different types of robots."

Six robots were profiled in the Famitsu preview printed in this week's issue, and while NBGI didn't talk about what the entire lineup would be like, producer Wataru Ogura discussed how the game works a bit in the interview. According to Ogura, Infinite Battle will be more mission-based instead of having a large, SRTOG-style story mode. "It's team-oriented combat," he said. "Depending on the story situation, the team sizes will change, from 1-on-3 to 2-on-2 or 1-on-1. The're also numerous modes in the game, and as you finish them you'll be able to use more allied units, selecting your favorites and creating your own battalion of sorts."

Players will control only one mech out of the team, with the computer handling the others. It's a control process that'll be easy to get to grips with, according to designer Gohta Gotoh. "You'll be able to control it pretty easily," he said. "For attacks, there's a melee button, a weapon-fire button and a special skill button. Combining those with other buttons or direction presses lets you unleash assorted abilities. Also, you'll be able to put combos together just by rapidly pressing the buttons, helping out people who aren't as good at action games."

Infinite Battle, a PlayStation 3 exclusive, is due out November 28 in Japan for 7480 yen. "SRT's battle scenes are usually in 2D, but what if they all moved around in 3D?" asked Terada. "We're putting a lot of effort into the visuals in order to make that idea happen. We want to emphasize the feeling of speed in this game, so while there are charge moves and such, we're having it so battles proceed along at a speedy clip. We're keeping a constant eye on the animation to ensure the game looks cool while retaining that speediness and exhilaration as a game."