The recent network test shows a promising start for the newest Extreme Vs game to the consoles.

Last weekend, we had the chance to try out the Network Test for Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs Maxiboost ON, which will be officially launching to the PlayStation 4 later in July. With a couple of online matches, the game sure is what the fans are really looking for a long time since the release of Extreme Vs Full Boost for the PlayStation 3 in 2012.

For starters, Extreme Vs Maxiboost ON is one of the games under the Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs series that is a hit in Japanese arcades, where players battle with other players in a 2-on-2 match using mobile suits from different Gundam series. In every match, each team has a starting amount of cost points and will deplete if their mobile suit is destroyed, the first team to diminish their opponent’s cost points to zero wins. Mobile Suits varies in certain cost points; some are worth 3000 that are powerful and tougher to beat while there are other variants that cost around 1500 which are nimble but very agile and so on.

Now back to the preview, the Network Test offers a CPU battle and Network battle with limited features. The interface customization that was introduced in the arcades is also available, allowing players to choose their preferred Navi and user interface. One nifty feature in Maxiboost On is the legacy controller support, allowing the use of PlayStation 3 controller or arcade stick that supports that platform, giving players more options to choose their preferred controller or fight stick and it is nice to see they retain that feature.

For the gameplay, Maxiboost ON plays faster, a big improvement from the previous console exclusive Gundam Versus game on the PlayStation 4, yet it still feels right at home for hardcore fans who played the Full Boost version. Right at the get-go, all 180 plus mobile suits are available to play, giving players more opportunity to try out their favorite mobile suits or experimenting on other units that suits their playstyles. Just like with the previous Extreme Vs games, you can dash cancel any moves to land different combos or tricking your opponents. The EX Burst mode makes a return where when the EX meter reaches halfway or full, providing boost to your attacks ranging from three types: Fighting, Extend and Shooting Burst, each will benefit well to certain mobile suit types.

You can now play with a friend on split-screen 2-player co-op or versus, which was not available on the console only Gundam Versus game and has improved to 60 frames per second from the 30 fps in Gundam Extreme Vs Full Boost. There is also the option to play offline with up to three other friends via LAN connection with four PlayStation 4 consoles.

Playing online during the networks test lets you choose between casual match and player match. Player match allows for customizing the battle settings for a more controlled setup with other players, you can tag a friend along on this mode through split-screen. Casual match allows for easy matchup with random players on a fixed setup. We tested both of the modes and getting to a match was quite fast even with having players from different regions (it ranges from 30 seconds to a minute and a half on waiting to fill the three slots). There was no issue of lags from our playthrough for several days and at different times, which makes it a good sign that the servers will be able to handle a heavy load when the game launches.

The experience with the Network Test was very smooth with less latency, the gameplay speed is just the way it was meant to be since Full Boost. This makes us very excited to test out the full features of the game when it launches. Some of the things that we are looking forward to are the offline multiplayer, the single-player modes (which was lackluster from Gundam Versus) and the custom BGM function that lets you import your own music to the game via USB thumb drive.

Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs Maxibost On will be available on the PlayStation 4 on July 30.