Gundam Rogue Orbit Preview – Gundam Goes Full Character Action

Any Gundam fan can attest that we're always starving for good Gundam content. It's been a few years of only really having the Breaker series to contend with, but Bandai saw fit to spice things up by giving us Gundam Rogue Orbit , a game that's distinctly Gundam, but also something new. Set in a whole new universe, Gundam Rogue Orbit puts you in the role of RE-X, the pilot of Gundam Helix, as you fight against an alien substance called Apocalypse that has the ability to repopulate itself. We don't know much more about the game's plot beyond that, except that a prequel anime, Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO, is set to tie into the game. Regardless, a new Gundam game with an accompanying anime is exciting news for Gundam fans. My time with Gundam Rogue Orbit was brief but memorable. I got access to two missions: Rail Control Battle and Instinct. Getting prepped for the mission felt very reminiscent of Armored Core, as I selected one of three Gundam presets available to me (more on that later). I didn't have access to it in the demo, but you'll be able to customize the various parts of your Gundam, including the colors, which I'm sure is going to delight any fans of Gundam Breaker or gunpla kitbashers. Both of these missions were relatively brief, lasting only a few minutes each, with Rail Control Battle consisting of fighting enemies across a base that culminated in a small boss battle, and Instinct, which had you immediately fighting a massive monster. Rogue Orbit, shockingly enough, plays like a character action game, but if you were controlling a massive, hulking robot. Your Gundam is slow to move, but once you get into the thick of it, there are methods of quickly closing the gap between yourself and your enemies. On my first go at the game, I opted to try the assault sword, which has the added benefit of having a grappling hook. With it, I was hooking myself onto enemies and sliding over to them, treating them to a massive hit with my sword the moment I made contact. It was fast, brutal, and most importantly satisfying. If you've ever wanted to drift a Gundam, Rogue Orbit will finally let you, as I was constantly using that grappling hook to swing my Gundam around to get better angles on enemies. After smashing my way through a few groups of smaller enemies, I came across a medium-sized boss that I had to clear out. It was a bit bigger than me, but not by much. I unloaded on it immediately with various slashes, making sure to combo blaster shots into my combos, and using powerful skills that unleashed a flurry of fanciful effects. An interesting part of Rogue Orbit is that you can actually break apart the limbs of bosses, Monster Hunter style. Breakable parts will have an icon over them, in this case the boss's arms, and you'll see them glow red as they get closer to breaking off. I only managed to tear one arm off, but it dealt a massive chunk of damage to the boss and made it so it couldn't attack with that arm anymore. My Gundam was also equipped with a set of funnels that I could launch to either create a shield to protect myself from the boss' attacks, or to fire a swarm of lasers. I wrapped things up in no time and felt confident jumping into the second mission. This time around I chose the whip sword, which I wasn't as hot on as the assault sword. It still has the standard sword function, but instead of the grappling hook, you were able to turn your sword into a long-reaching whip. Normally this would be sick as hell, especially with how flashy the whip combos are; it's just that the whip runs off your boost energy, so the more you use it, the less boost you have for moving around the arena. It definitely feels like the type of weapon you whip out (pun fully intended) for a quick long-range combo, then put away so as to not empty your boost gauge. The sword lance felt like the in-between option between the two, however. Featuring a literal lance as your weapon, you can effortlessly poke away at enemies while keeping a (somewhat) safer distance than you would with the sword. Its special ability is a beam rifle that you charge up by performing heavy attacks after side-stepping an enemy. It's a great way of being able to blast at an enemy while keeping yourself at a steady distance. The lance featured some of my favorite combos, as my Gundam would shoot up into the air, delivering a suite of lance attacks before doing a powerful dive to the ground. The powerful boss I had to fight in the second mission was known as 'drake' and was essentially an alien-like dragon. I immediately went to work weakening its wings and tail, eventually succeeding in lopping them all off. It wasn't an easy go, however, as the drake had some nasty attacks of its own that helped keep me on my toes. A few times it would fly high into the air and rain lasers on the arena; a painful punishment after I had blown through my entire boost gauge on the whip mode. After felling the beast, I essentially ran through the first mission multiple times, trying to beat my previous time and also getting a handle on all three weapon types in the demo before it was time to wrap things up with the game. Gundam Rogue Orbit isn't due to release till March of next year, and I'm already itching to hop back in the cockpit for another go. If you want to see more, check out some footage from our session of the game with all three weapon types. Gundam Rogue Orbit, Headline