2024-04-10 14:26:06
It’s very difficult to keep up with the decline of multiplayer on all live services these days. With everyone trying to be the next big thing, it’s rare that someone ends up standing out from the crowd for more than a month at a time, but Gigantic: Rampage Edition is a little different than your regular multiplayer game.
It has proven that it can build a loyal and large fan base with its interesting combination of third-person shooting and MOBA mechanics. Gigantic first launched in 2017, then shut down about a year later, only to revive more than five years later, surprising and rewarding patient fans who had held out hope.
I can’t claim to be one of those fans. My first exposure to Gigantic was for this review, but Abstraction Games’ MOBA immediately stood out with its captivating visual style. Cartoon, vibrant and fun, every map, character and effect is superbly crafted, whether it’s something as simple as swinging a sword or an epic conflict between two ancient beasts that essentially serve as your base.
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No matter what game mode you’re playing, your goal in Gigantic: Rampage Edition is to protect your big friends and destroy your enemies. To do this, you can’t just run up and start shooting, but you need to kill enemies or steal power from certain points on the map. It’s a fun way to push the player into the action, rather than basing the game on the traditional MOBA structure of destroying a tower, then a bigger tower, then a beast that acts as the big tower, and finally just winning .
As a result, Gigantic’s gameplay is fast-paced and frenetic. You jump off your starting platform and usually wait no more than a minute before you come head-to-head with a group of enemies. Therefore, games are usually short. Compared to something like Dota 2, where you have to be willing to commit about an hour, you can be in and out of Gigantic in 30 minutes at best.
On the one hand, this allows Gigantic to differentiate itself from its competitors, and it will obviously work for a lot of people, but on the other hand, it can make the game feel a bit shallow. The depth of the map is non-existent, and there’s no sense that a team’s long-term strategy can really come into play, as you’re always throwing yourself at the enemy team without ever taking a moment to stop and think about what you’re really trying to do. A treat for the eyes, but numbing for the brain.
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There’s a lot of depth to the heroes you can play as, though. In terms of their design and gameplay, Gigantic has a great and diverse roster, and you can really match your playstyle around the hero you choose, develop your skills, and go down one of two paths , or just follow your own process. My personal favorite is a rather mellow alchemist named Uncle Sven who can heal allies with his potions while also throwing bottles of explosives at enemies to set them on fire. Each hero has their own unique offensive and defensive options, and while many heroes do look similar after a while, it allows you to try different heroes without feeling completely lost. What I’m particularly fascinated by are the movements of each hero. The models and the way they move around the map always feel very unique.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to play much of Gigantic: Rampage Edition outside of bot matching. Not for want of trying, I might add. The game has suffered from some terrible server issues since launch, and while Abstraction Games is working on these issues, for those who bought the game immediately, matches have been spotty at best, with random people disconnecting and quitting. Their own fault. It’s an unfortunate start, especially when nostalgic fans have a lot of high expectations.
Gigantic: Rampage Edition is a fun third-person shooter MOBA hybrid, but its ability to leave a lasting impression makes a difference. Its matches are fast and action-packed, but a lack of depth tends to make the game feel repetitive, and the key to a good multiplayer game is often having mechanics that are repetitive but make each match feel unique. It’s certainly not a bad game: the hero design and overall look are good, but despite its name, it largely feels like a much smaller fish in a pond full of Leviathan.
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