When nWay, Hasbro, and Lionsgate releasedPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridlast month,I was severely disappointedas the game felt relatively unfinished when it came to content. Its gameplay systems were solid, but the whole experience was hindered by a small roster, the lack apreviously promised story mode,and the lack of voice acting. Today, over a month after the game’s initial launch, nWay has released the first major update for the game that attempts to remedy all three of those issues withPower Rangers: Battle for the Grid.
This free update adds threepreviously confirmed charactersto the game: Dragon Armor Trini, Udonna, and Cenozoic Blue Ranger. While it’s nice to see the game draw heroes and villains from various places within thePower Rangerslore, it’s still somewhat odd that everyPower Rangercolor isn’t represented and that a 3v3 fighter only has 12 characters to choose from. That being said, I can appreciate thatPower Rangers: Battle for the Grid’smeasly roster of 9 characters is increasing for free and not just through the planned paid DLC.
nWay’s promised story mode that wasn’t there at launch is also being added via this update. It was written and voice directed byPower Rangers: Shattered Gridwriter Kyle Higgins; meanwhile, illustrator Dan Mora, who also worked onShattered Grid,is contributing art for this story mode. This story mode was finally confirmed to be “a reimagining of the critically acclaimedShattered Gridevent,” in which Lord Drakkon, an evil alternate version of Tommy Oliver, attempts to destroy the Power Rangers across time and space.
Story mode is also inspiring the addition of four brand new stages in this free DLC, though two are tied to that mode. A malfunctioning version of the Control Room and a flashback version of Lord Drakkon’s Throne Room are story mode exclusive, while Corinth and Planet Earth: Cenozoic Era are being added to the general pool of stages.
While nWay’s Jesse Cherry avoided the question in aninterview with DualShockersback in January, some characters inPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridare getting voice acting, courtesy of their original actors. Jason David Frank voices Tommy Oliver, Austin St. John voices Jason Lee Scott, David J. Fielding voices Zordon, Kerrigan Mahan voices Goldar, and Meghan Camarena voices Kimberly.
While these addition all seems like they will add some much needed meat to thePower Rangers: Battle for the Gridexperience, I’m still baffled that the game wasn’t held back until it was ready when when this content all arrive just over a month after launch. At least the developers are following through on promised content, even adding a lot of content for free in this update.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Gridis currently available for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch with a PC port in the pipeline.
