I’ve fond recollections of watching big mechs take to the celebs and combat each other as a child. The Gundam franchise has at all times been one thing that I’ve adored, however as I obtained older, I finished following it. Now, with numerous exhibits and manga underneath the Gundam umbrella, it may be daunting to select a place to begin. However that’s why I’m particularly excited for Bandai Namco’s upcoming sport Gundam Rogue Orbit: as a result of it removes the homework of maintaining with 40+ years of lore and takes place in an authentic universe that’s straightforward to grasp. At Gamescom 2026, I went hands-on with the upcoming sport and chatted with the Gundam Rogue Orbit producer Yuya Tomiyama and director Yoshiyuki Serizawa of Bandai Namco Studios about taking the collection in a brand new path.
Rogue Orbit is a breath of recent air for the collection. In brief, you play as Re-X; he’s one of many few individuals who can pilot a mech go well with. On this timeline, humanity is all however misplaced in a warfare in opposition to an alien risk. In true anime vogue, you’re one of many final strains of protection. They did this to make the sport “as interesting as doable” to a brand new viewers, they usually thought an outdoor risk would just do that, Tomiyama tells me.
“We did truly stroll away from the unique Gundam idea,” Tomiyama tells me, going into extra element on why they took the collection in a brand new path. “Having stated that, what’s vital for this sport is warfare and drama. I don’t suppose we stepped too removed from the unique Gundam in that respect. Clearly, the warfare is in opposition to aliens, however the basic philosophy is there.”
Philosophy apart, it very a lot seems like a Gundam sport. Earlier than you begin a mission, you’ll have the choice to customise your go well with and alter the way in which it appears and even the loadout you carry with you. As you would possibly anticipate, the loadout is particularly vital as a result of it drastically impacts the way you play.
All through the course of my demo, I used to be capable of choose from three weapon sorts. The primary was the Assault Sword, a stable all-around weapon. The following was the Whip Sword, which was nice for attacking from a distance and hitting a number of enemies directly. The final was the Sword Lance, which was ideally suited when it got here to closing the hole and inflicting a variety of harm up shut and private.
For the primary mission, I went with the Lance and jumped straight into fight. I instantly observed the Soulslike components the builders have carried out. Rogue Orbit has its personal model of well being potions you could pop throughout fight, stamina that you should be conscious of, and a mana bar of types.
Most fights concerned me taking a look at my stamina bar, gauging how a lot I would want to fly throughout the battlefield, and seeing if I had sufficient juice within the tank to come back crashing down on some poor alien that was in entrance of me. The second I did simply that, I’d pull out my blaster and attempt to harm somebody who was simply out of sword vary, and repeat the cycle over again. It fed into the facility fantasy of what I’d imagined piloting a mech would really feel like once I used to look at the present as a baby.
This continued all the way in which to the boss combat. That is when issues obtained particularly anime. The music kicked into excessive gear, and in true Soulslike vogue, I used to be combating one thing that was towering over me. Fight was simply as quick because it had been earlier than, however each block was particularly vital attributable to how highly effective every swing at me was.
The one factor that really caught me off-guard was the truth that you could possibly minimize off the boss’s limbs throughout a combat. The sport does an amazing job of displaying you when a particular limb is being focused as a result of it begins to glow. The second it falls off, it handicaps them slightly. After a couple of minutes, it grows again. Whereas it was minimize off, I may do extra harm, and I used to be capable of stroll away from that combat alive.
By this level, I used to be prepared to begin the second degree. To alter issues up, I opted for the Whip Sword this time round. As soon as the extent began, I spawned in a reasonably empty room, and after doing a little bit of exploring, I used to be face-to-face with one other boss. Fortunately, the controls are common throughout loadouts; regardless of completely different combos, all of them use the identical inputs.
With a greater grasp of the fundamentals, I took out this boss virtually instantly. This was as a result of the Whip allowed me to hit a number of limbs directly and combat this larger-than-life monster from a protected distance. At any time when it obtained too shut, I’d create some area and return to swinging the whip as if my life relied on it. After the second boss was completed and dusted, my demo had ended.
Though this wasn’t proven within the demo I performed, Serizawa did let me know that Gundam Rogue Orbit will characteristic a multiplayer mode that permits you to play with as much as three individuals directly after you’ve accomplished a mission.
I walked away impressed with what I noticed whereas enjoying Gundam Rogue Orbit. The truth that it takes place in its personal timeline is sufficient to get me hooked on the story they’re making an attempt to inform. Regardless that it takes a variety of inspiration from the Soulslike style, I by no means felt like I used to be being really punished, and it’s welcoming sufficient to make you’re feeling as highly effective as you need to be when piloting a mech go well with the scale of a skyscraper. It’s displaying a variety of promise, and I’ll be maintaining a tally of it because it will get nearer to its launch date.
Gundam Rogue Orbit is scheduled to launch subsequent 12 months on March 5, 2027. It’ll be playable on PC, Xbox Sequence X|S, and PlayStation 5.