I’m Worried About Gigantic: Rampage Edition
Gigantic: Rampage Edition / Courtesy of Abstraction Games & Arc Games
Last month, developer Abstraction Games and publisher Arc Games (formerly Gearbox Publishing) revived the cult classic free-to-play multiplayer hero shooter, Gigantic, six years after its original servers shut down. The new version of the game, Gigantic: Rampage Edition, adds two new heroes, a new game mode, and a price tag. No longer free-to-play, fans of the original and new players alike will have to spend twenty dollars to play, with the promise of no microtransactions. Will this revival last? Only time will tell. For now, here’s my review of Gigantic: Rampage Edition so far.
Kajir, a melee assassin, one of two new heroes in this re-launch.
Image courtesy of Abstraction Games and Arc Games
The other new hero, Roland, a human with a shotgun and an attack drone.
Image courtesy of Abstraction Games and Arc Games.
This is my first time trying any version of Gigantic, as I did not play the game when it originally launched. So for those also unacquainted with this unique game like I was, here’s a quick rundown of its core gameplay and unfortunate backstory. Similar to popular games like Overwatch, Gigantic: Rampage Edition pits two teams of five players against each other, each choosing from an eclectic roster of heroes with unique abilities. These heroes range wildly from the classic human with a gun to martial artist frog and magical dragon centaur. The name Gigantic hints at the battle objectives. Each team attacks and defends a massive guardian, claiming victory when the opposing guardian is defeated. Gigantic was originally developed by a studio called Motiga and launched as a free-to-play game in 2017, but the servers were ultimately shut down just over one year after release. Spurred on by dedicated fans, this revival hopes to last much longer the second time around.
The multiplayer hero shooter has become a popular, if saturated genre over the last few years. Still, Gigantic does stand out by including MOBA-like mechanics inspired by games like League of Legends. Like most other MOBAs on the market, players fight over living objectives, creatures that appear on the map. But the major difference with Gigantic is that rather than these creatures simply spawning or appearing in certain locations, players summon creatures themselves. These summons can be placed on control points and have various strengths and weaknesses. Some allied summons can heal nearby teammates while others will reveal enemy locations. The enemy team can still eliminate these creatures, so they are worth defending.
After one team gathers enough energy, Leiran pins the opposing Guardian, Grenn, leaving it vulnerable to attack.
Image courtesy of Abstraction Games and Arc games.
Gigantic: Rampage Edition certainly puts an original twist on the genre. With new studios behind it and a new payment model, will that be enough to keep history from repeating itself?
Worries
Gigantic: Rampage Edition could find a new audience with this revival, though I will admit after playing for a few hours, I have some concerns. While reading up on the history of Gigantic, I found that some fans had speculated the server shutdown was at least partly instigated by the massive popularity of the other team-based hero shooter at the time, Overwatch. Since the 2016 Game of the Year winner hasn’t had the most favorable reception since shifting to Overwatch 2, maybe 2024 will be a better year for Gigantic. But then I thought about how much the video game landscape has changed since 2018.
Overwatch might not be nearly as popular as it was, but it has since become free-to-play and still draws in huge numbers of players. Other popular free-to-play hero shooters have launched since Gigantic was last playable, most notably Apex Legends in 2019 and Valorant in 2020, which both support huge numbers of players. Gigantic does not need to vanquish one of these titans to be successful, or even reach the same number of players, but it is not the kind of competition that inspires confidence.
What really worries me about Gigantic: Rampage Edition is how long I needed to play just to start getting the hang of it. Of course, this will vary for every player, but it took me about four hours to get my first win. If even half of the new players have a similar experience, that could be trouble for the health of the playerbase. If players are an hour and a half in and still haven’t found the fun, I wouldn’t blame them for considering taking advantage of Steam’s two-hour refund rule.
This is not to say that fun comes from winning necessarily, but it’s hard to have fun when games are playing out in confusing and frustrating ways. Many times while playing Gigantic: Rampage Edition I felt overwhelmed. I found my character quickly obliterated by a mess of multi-colored energy blasts and twirling melee characters. I didn’t know what was happening and didn’t feel like there was time for me to understand it even after the fact. Plus, it felt more and more like every other player knew what they were doing better than I did, except when I teamed up with equally clueless friends. Despite this being a new launch, it still feels like many players got a headstart, probably because a majority of the audience are long-time fans.
It’s easy to say that I am not good at the game and that’s the problem, and that’s not wrong, I’m the first to tell you that multiplayer shooters are not my strong suit. But a game that takes this long to pick up and start having fun is going to be a tough sell no matter the genre. If hundreds of other people like me try this game and find no success, it would be understandable if they never return. For a game that already shut down servers in the past, it does not give me confidence that this game will attract and retain new players.
Wu, the martial artist frog, and Tyto the Swift, a sword-swinging melee fighter square off.
Image courtesy of Abstraction Games and Arc Games.
Heroes square off: Rutger and The Margrave. Gigantic’s roster of unique heroes is a highlight of this game.
Image courtesy of Abstraction Games and Arc Games.
Is It Sustainable?
Maybe Gigantic will find success as a niche, cult classic. Maybe the twenty-dollar buy-in is enough to make the game sustainable for the developers. I can only speculate on how things are looking behind the scenes. But if this does turn out to be a success, I hope that this encourages other developers to create less microtransaction-filled games.
Thankfully, as a multiplayer game, there is always the promise of a good time with friends.
Gigantic: Rampage Edition is a unique, and promising multiplayer shooter. Ultimately I am happy for fans of the original release who now get to return to the game after it was initially shut down. But I have a hard time seeing this game take off in a big way with a wide audience like some other multiplayer shooters have in the last years since Gigantic’s original release.
For now, I will keep up to date on any news about Gigantic: Rampage Edition. I am excited to see what happens when an older game re-launches with a new approach.
Grenn, one of the game’s two massive guardians. Probably not the evil one.
Image courtesy of Abstraction Games and Arc Games.
Leiran, the other massive guardian. Definitely has more of an evil look to it.
Image courtesy of Abstraction Games and Arc Games.
Thanks to Abstraction Games and Arc Games for the opportunity to share my thoughts on this exciting revival of Gigantic.
Addition: Gigantic: Rampage Edition is on sale on Steam at 40% off at the time of publishing this article (the sale lasts until June 5th). So now is an even better time to try it out if you are interested.
Have you tried Gigantic: Rampage Edition? Did you play the original back in 2017? How do you feel about this revival? Let me know your hot takes in the comments!