Gigantic: Rampage Edition revitalizes the original MOBA and adds a fresh new coat

A few months ago, Gearbox Publishing turned the servers back on for classic MOBA Hero Shooter Gigantic, which had been turned off for over five years. They were only live for a couple of days, but it was enough to get people talking on the Gigantic Subreddit. What was the point of this two-day event? Is Gigantic coming back in some way? Well, the answer is yes, and it’s looking to come back in a big way with Gigantic: Rampage Edition on April 9, 2024.

Gigantic: Rampage Edition is how a game revival should be done

Typically game revivals have not been too kind to gamers. Often times revivals are simply just rereleases, with little to no changes at a premium price point. But Gigantic: Rampage Edition appears to be more than I could have hoped for with a revival. Not only is the MOBA releasing with all its original content, but with a ton of new content as well. Oh, and it’s only $19.99.

All 23 heroes from the original are returning, so those who played years ago will be able to relive their past with the original roster. However, two new heroes are also joining the lineup. Roland and Kajir are the two new additions with each featuring a unique playstyle.

Two new maps have been added to the pool as well. First is Picaro Bay, a map featuring lots of verticality with narrow alleyways and a pirate ship at its center. Next is Heaven’s Ward, set in an industrialized district full of warehouses, factories, and an old power plant.

The Clash game mode from the original is still the main method of playing Gigantic, but a new game mode called Rush has also been added. Rush is a more accessible, fast-paced mode with a more streamlined Gigantic experience. While Clash matches can last 30 minutes or more, Rush is designed to last 5-10 minutes overall, giving players a great opportunity to quickly jump into the action or even utilize Rush as a warm-up before jumping into Clash. While it won’t be launching with a Ranked Mode, one will be added later.

As if that wasn’t enough new content, an all-new customization and hero progression system is in place as well. You can set specific customized loadouts to cater to the two different modes, as well as unlock hero and weapon skins simply by playing that hero. Skins from the original release and brand-new ones are available to unlock. The best part is that there is no MTX. All the skins are unlockable only through play only, and even more new skins are coming as free updates as well.

It’s just so fun

I had the opportunity to play a handful of matches in the new Rush mode with the Gearbox Publishing team as well as some developers from Abstraction Games. It only took me one match to get in the groove and pick up where I left off in the original: kicking some butt. I feel like Gigantic was already the perfect competitive game to jump in and play when I wanted some action, but the Rush mode amplifies that even further.

One of the matches I played as the new hero Kajir—and not to brag, but I got an S rank—whose toolkit allows him to get in quickly, deal some damage, and get out. I prefer melee in-and-out style characters which Kajir is, and he was honestly a ton of fun to play. But at the same time, playing through some of my original favorites like Tyto felt just like I remembered. In just a few matches I remembered how much fun I had back in the day with Gigantic, and can honestly say it’s a game that deserves another shot.

A playtest for Gigantic: Rampage Edition kicks off in a few days on February 22 at 3 p.m. EST and will run through February 23 at noon EST. Those interested can opt into the playtest on its Steam page.

Full release for Gigantic: Rampage Edition is on April 9, 2024 at a price point of $19.99. It will launch on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S with full cross-platform play between both consoles and PC.