GoKawiilWhen I’m piloting a big robot in a video game, I want it to have a big personality and an even bigger punch. After playing an hour of Gundam: Rogue Orbit, it seems the game will have both. But there’s still a lot to discover about Bandai Namco’s next entry in the giant robot franchise, due out March 5, 2027.
My virtual preview offered two missions and three premade mobile suits (the franchise’s name for the piloted robots) to choose from. The hour was enough to run through both stages with all three mobile suits, each equipped with a different melee weapon. One stage was an enemy gauntlet ending in a miniboss, while the other was a full-fledged boss battle. In the final game, you’ll be able to customize your robot kits, but we didn’t see that functionality because Bandai Namco wanted us focused entirely on the gameplay.
One thing was clear: This isn’t another Armored Core copy. While I loved 2023’s Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, its dizzying array of parts and weapons could be a chore to optimize for the game’s blindingly fast, three-dimensional combat. From what I saw in the preview, Rogue Orbit takes a different, simpler approach. Forget about the Z-axis; just worry about jumping and dashing around, as in most modern melee action games.
True, I had to suspend my disbelief that my mobile suit was hopping around with normal-feeling gravity on the outside of a space station, but I’m betting this trims away a lot of zero-g bother to avoid the awkwardness of floaty jumps.
Unlike other mech games filled with long-range beam cannons and missiles, Rogue Orbit’s fights seem constrained to melee range only. Whether that was the result of our preview being limited to a trio of mobile suits with swords, lances and whips, or reflects the whole game, I didn’t mind. Ranged combat was limited to support equipment, like a set of orbiting drones that fired when I dashed.
Throughout the preview, I ran across space stations cutting and stabbing through an assortment of enemies, using different skills tuned to my weapons. The sword got a rad slash with trailing explosions, while the whip could be uncoiled for slightly longer-ranged swipes and the lance got a drill-dash to reposition my mobile suit. The combat felt polished, even with half a year to go before the game’s launch, with every attack triggering a momentary pause on contact — a satisfying touch that let me relish the damage I was dishing out and savor my assortment of rad skills.
Ultimately, Rogue Orbit’s combat gameplay felt like Dynasty Warriors or Virtual On (without the twin stick controls), using special skills until my ability gauge ran out and peppering in normal attacks until it charged back up. I had an ultimate attack as well, which, in the preview, gave me unlimited dashes for a limited time until I pulled the ability’s trigger, sending a volley of beams lancing down at my target. In the full game, players will be able to switch between different ultimate attacks.
The short preview was more a tease than a dive into the complexities of the game, and it sure was fun to pummel foes with something that looked like a mobile suit. But the big question I left with was: Does this feel like a Gundam game yet?
The current HUD for the game — from left to right: health, support items, ultimate ability (in the middle), special attack skills and weapon skills. Bandai Namco/Screenshot by David Lumb/CNET
How much Gundam is there yet to discover in Rogue Orbit?
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