After years of experience with Gundam-related games like the Gundam Breaker and the Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation franchises, Bandai Namco Studios is taking the mecha in another bold new action direction with Gundam Rogue Orbit, which not only offers an original take on the franchise not bound to any anime or manga, but also pits players against an alien threat instead of other mobile suits for the first time.
Following our previous preview of the game, which offered a look at three of its unique Assemblies (gear loadouts), which provided different playstyles and skills, Geek Culture was invited to attend another early hands-on session at Bandai Namco Entertainment’s pre-Tokyo Game Show event at the studio’s headquarters in Japan, where we were able to try out a new stage and have an early look at the various ways to customise a player’s mobile suit.
While there has been no shortage of Gundam games over the years, from arcade hits like Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs to the Gundam Breaker franchise, recent titles tended to focus heavily on fan service instead of gameplay innovation, and that’s where Gundam Rogue Orbit comes in. Faced with an otherworldly threat instead of the traditional mobile suit versus mobile suit formula, the upcoming game offers not just a change of pace in this regard, but also a healthy amount of gameplay depth, with each weapon loadout in the game providing its own unique playstyle.
While we previously explored how these playstyles differed in our previous hands-on, this latest demo introduced a new mission, Sand Planet, which takes the action planetside this time around. The environment wasn’t the only thing that was different, as the mission also introduced a new type of enemy, one that could burrow underground. The demo once again offered a choice between three preset loadouts – Assault Sword, Whip Sword, and Sword Lance – and also followed a similar structure to past demo missions, with players tasked with dispatching multiple fodder enemies before a large boss fight, this time against a scorpion-like alien known as the Chimera.
Aside from the new mission, the preview also offered a hands-off look at Gundam Rogue Orbit’s customisation options. Equipment-wise, players will be able to unlock and swap out eight different aspects of their mobile suits – Weapons, AP Units, Thrusters, Modules, and four parts of the mobile suit’s body. These parts not only offer different stats that supplement a mech’s damage or durability, but they can also change how it controls too, with different types of thrusters, for example, changing the way dodges and jumps function. Each component also requires a certain amount of energy to equip, so players will need to prioritise their equipment based on a limited pool of energy.
And then there’s cosmetic customisation, and like all good Gundam games, the title features a myriad of ways to decorate a player’s mobile suit, from changing the colourways of individual body components to swapping the colour of its lights and even completely changing the look of the mech with Mod Skins, such as making the mobile suit look like the classic RX-78, complete with movement and blaster sound effects ripped straight out of the anime.
With the brief nature of this latest preview, many unanswered questions still remain, such as whether the game will feature more Assemblies and AP Units apart from the ones that were showcased, or just how extensive the Mod Skin selection will be. All these are sure to be revealed as Gundam Rogue Orbit approaches its release on 5 March 2027 for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
