Gigantic: Rampage Edition might be gaming's most surprising comeback

Remember 2017? Nintendo launched the Switch, Star Wars: The Last Jedi made some people very upset, and Kendrick Lamar dropped Humble.

Among all of that, Motiga and Perfect World Entertainment released a hero shooter/MOBA called Gigantic. With a unique art style and some fun character classes, it found an audience, but sadly was shut down a year later, only to be revived for a "last hurrah" weekend in October of last year.

As it happens, though, that wasn't the last we'll see of Gigantic.

Gigantic: Rampage Edition revealed

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When you think of Gearbox and hero shooters, you may think of the short-lived Battleborn that went toe-to-toe with the original Overwatch.

In fact, Gearbox is resurrecting Gigantic in this instance, with a new premium product called Gigantic: Rampage Edition developed by Abstraction Games.

“The original Gigantic game from Motiga maintained a passionate and loyal community that kept the spirit of the game alive throughout all these years,” said Yoon Im, President of Gearbox Publishing San Francisco in a press release, and one look at the game's subreddit shows the fans are still talking about it.

The new Rampage Edition will bring back everything from the original game for $19.99 at launch, with two new heroes, two new maps, new modes, and zero microtransactions.

What a Rush

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I went hands-on with Gigantic: Rampage Edition's new Rush mode, which aims to condense the game into drastically shorter rounds that offer quick bursts of fun.

Despite my Overwatch chops, I struggled to pick up kills, but did find myself leaning into Gigantic's auto-build toolset to end up top of the board for assists, popping enemies from range.

Think of Rush mode as "All Killer, No Filler", as players race to claim orbs to power up an assault on the opposition's huge creature. You're already levelled up at the start, so you can focus on just cutting loose.

Gigantic's colour palette, with block colours and almost painterly character animations has aged well, too, but it's perhaps the work behind the scenes by Abstraction Games that's worthy of the most attention.

Not only has the game been ported to a new generation of consoles, but the team has reworked the entire network backend to allow crossplay between console and PC.

Given Abstraction's work on the likes of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Halo's Master Chief Collection, and additional work on Baldur's Gate 3, it's perhaps unsurprising that Gearbox felt confident handing them such a unique task.

I'm not sure I've ever heard of a comeback quite like this, though, with a free-to-play game returning over half a decade later, looking to grow an audience. It'll be fascinating to see how it pans out, and how existing Gigantic fans will react to the revival.

What is clear from playing with the team at Abstraction Games and Gearbox is that a lot of love has been poured into the project, and with additional post-launch content planned (including new characters and balancing updates), here's hoping the community feels the same way.

Gigantic: Rampage Edition will launch on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC on April 9, 2024.