Gigantic is a game that, ironically, snuck up on me. I remember seeing info about it a few years back at E3 and was interested just based off of the aesthetics alone. Then I learned the game was going to be a competitive hero shooter and my hype very quickly disappeared — I’ve tried every competitive/hero shooter that’s on the market and none of them have ever remotely sunk their teeth into me.
And then I finally played Gigantic.
Everything in Gigantic feels fresh. It takes elements from other games and distills them into something new entirely. It’s part MOBA, part shooter, part third person action game, part Overwatch and Paladins. While it simplifies systems found in these other games, they still make for a complex and exciting experience in Gigantic. In most hero shooter hybrids you have lanes that you and your team must push a payload through, and there are branching paths for characters to gank each other and cause mischief. In Gigantic there are lanes and little crannies for you to use for strategy, but the center of the map acts as a point where you and your opponents can mostly fight.
You can level up characters in the game over time and get to choose between two upgrades for whatever skill you want at each level. So there’s a depth to how you build your characters during the match. No items or anything like that are involved, but what takes their places are companions. There are three points on your side of the map that lets you summon a monster companion. Each monster companion does something unique, like one for example will heal your team and another will build barricades on your side of the map. You and your team have to manage these little guys and upgrade them accordingly during the match, which will eventually help you get an upper hand in the battle.
As you battle and get kills, you power up a Guardian. Now, Guardians are what make Gigantic so unique. In other hero shooters there’s an objective, and you hold that objective and push it towards the spawn of the enemy. Well, in Gigantic you power up your Guardian, who is a huge Owl or Dragon, to fight the opponent’s Guardian. They’ll swoop in, their large bodies casting a shadow over the battlefield, and pin the opponent’s big monster down. Then it’s up to you and your team to take out the opponents while also hitting the weak point of their Guardian. It’s so much fun to do and watch.
Gigantic isn’t just a mechanically sound and fun game, it’s also a gorgeous one. The way all the characters move and feel is unique, and their animations when they land from a jump or when they’re doing an attack have so much charm it’s unbearable. The cel-shaded graphics and environments just shine and have such a unique flair to them. The character design, weapon design, monster design and artistic direction is all a breath of fresh air and all feels so magical and otherworldly.
The game is currently in open beta, and you can go play it right now for free on Xbox One and PC. It officially launches July 20th. The team behind the game, Motiga, deserve to have a community that will cherish it and keep it thriving for the years to come. It surprised me how much I legitimately enjoy this game; I’ve been playing matches all day. I’m excited to see where it will go as it’s truly shaping up to be a fun and exciting game to potentially revisit all throughout the year.
Find out more at GoGigantic.com.
A code for Gigantic was provided to SideQuesting by the developer to be used as a review/preview.
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