I will begin by stating I've been a longtime fan of Gundam. I heard news about this, played the beta in April, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I awaited the release date and managed to put a good 20-something hours within the first few days.


The gameplay is VERY enjoyable; fast-paced fights and an emphasis on team coordination to win objectives feels like a step in something different compared to Overwatch or TF2. While other shooters such as Titanfall or Shatterline may have face-paced fights, Gundam Evolution combines the coordination aspect of hero shooters and the fast-paced action of these movement/ arena shooters; at its core it is a team-based hero shooter and requires teamwork to win your games. Units are also fairly balanced (barb is not broken, and I'm a saz main aha), and offer unique supportive, defensive, or offensive utilities to aid in objective capture or securing kills to ensure victory.

That being said, the current way to unlock new units and obtain cosmetics is very lack-luster and not designed for Western audiences. Many of the negative reviews that point toward this "gatcha" based system have pointed out that the only way to unlock units such as Zaku Melee or Marasai are only through the beginner challenges and obtaining CAP (in-game non-paid currency), which no one knows for sure how long said challenge will last. This confusion has lead to many players looking to the other option at obtaining the suits: through buying EVO coins.


EVO coins are this game's paid currency and are used to buy many of the cosmetics, skin packs, and units. While this isn't necessarily a bad choice per say, as R6 and League do the same, the problem lies within that there is no consistent way to obtain CAP. Let me repeat myself; the only way to obtain CAP is through the beginner challenges which may or may not be limited in time, or through paid lootboxes. Not having a way to obtain CAP through gameplay, either ranked (which is another small can of worms) or casual games, you are limiting your playerbase to pilot the suits they WANT to play. This is extremely saddening to people who may also be fans of these suits, with Unicorn and Exia being some of the more popular unlockable suits within the Western playerbase.

I have been confused by this choice by Bandai to implement a system like this when this game's original design for units was by giving players the choice to play their favorite mobile suits. Locking them behind a pseudo-f2p model not only isolates people from enjoying them, but will gives off the illusion that this game is p2w, which in my own opinion it is not. However, gevo has the potential to lead down that development path. This is not a problem with the game's overall development but Bandai's model to make a profit off of this game, which is understandable in order to pay for server maintenance and staff payroll, but there exist other models that are less predatory in terms of players experiencing FOMO while others have bought said units.


I want this game to succeed and be an alternative to OW2, of which I also had a fair time enjoying. While OW2 gameplay feels nothing different of OW1, competitively there is, and for a casual audience there is no major incentive to try unless you have various amount of friends also excited for it's release. Gevo has that difference; fast-paced fighting and thrilling moments that lead to players feeling like there is never a moment in the game where there is downtime (while it exists, it is rather short-lived from personal experience).

Gevo has the ability to be an easy contender against OW2, and has already attracted an audience thus far, but if the payment model is not reworked, Bandai will once again be dead in the water with a PC Gundam game; let alone, their first Gundam FPS on PC. I recommend this game purely for the core gameplay experience, but at the same time I can't to those living on a tight budget especially given the current economical situations in various countries.

Ultimately this review is one of those that wishes to be neutral, but there exists no choice for neural/ informal reviews minus curators. If you want something different than OW, pick this up, but if you want something that is accessible to newer players rather than fans of Gundam, I'm personally more hesitant to recommend this game.


Season 2 promised some minor qol updates as well as a new map, new battlepass, and most importantly a new unit, the Nu Gundam. Likewise, Bandai had promised to the community that many of the voiced concerns would be brought to attention and fixed in the coming of months. Once Season 2 "MOBIUS" was announced, almost little to nothing was detailed about any fixed to MMR, server-client connection, or optimization. Simply selling skins and units, as well as advertising their 20K prize pool tourney. Interesting to note, the tournament is limited to NA only, and that doesn't include Canada OR Mexico; limiting to only United States citizens HARSHLY effected how the comp community had viewed Bamco in organizing tournaments.

Additionally, this new season brought along some other issues that more players began reporting. Many began experience more leaver penalties for not even in queue for games, others had fps drops (might I add the game is locked at 120 fps, something that is heavily bad for esports titles), or random crashes with little to no way of understanding how when most systems are above or at recommended specs. I myself use a 3080 Ti and i7-10700K and despite the game locked at 120 fps, I experienced frame drops and crashes. As of writing this review after, out of 4 ranked games I experienced 3 crashes. 3 crashes . Any game that aims to be esports friendly, let alone trying to compete with Overwatch 2 or other major shooters cannot have these issues.

This alone is very frustrating but alone isn't a major issue, as DMZ and Warzone 2.0 suffer from issues. What ties this whole show together is that NA MMR has become so horridly scuffed by S2 changes, that no one was able to find a game within 10 minutes on day 1; ranked players were forced back onto JP, something that occurred in the middle of S1 and was expected to be fixed by S2 it never got fixed . If a playerbase is forced to moved to another server, at an automatic disadvantage because of ping all due to MMR being ♥♥♥♥♥♥ due to lower playercounts, then the crashes bundle it all together in one big package that Bandai Namco simply screams "Look! We made a shooter! Give us money!", something that quite literally felt like the biggest slap in the face to both new and old Gundam fans alike.

I may give this game one more chance if Bandai does somehow bring it back from the dead, but it disappoints me immensely to not recommend this game at all. I wanted it to succeed having played the beta and got high on copium/ hopium expecting this to kill OW2, but alas withdrawals have set, and in my own ignorance became clueless to how awful some companies truly grift their fanbase.

"How lucky am I to have known something that makes saying goodbye so hard"
- A.A. Milne

I will begin by stating I've been a longtime fan of Gundam. I heard news about this, played the beta in April, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I awaited the release date and managed to put a good 20-something hours within the first few days. [h1] Gameplay [/h1] The gameplay is VERY enjoyable; fast-paced fights and an emphasis on team coordination to win objectives feels like a step in something different compared to Overwatch or TF2. While other shooters such as Titanfall or Shatterline may have face-paced fights, Gundam Evolution combines the coordination aspect of hero shooters and the fast-paced action of these movement/ arena shooters; at its core it is a team-based hero shooter and requires teamwork to win your games. Units are also fairly balanced (barb is not broken, and I'm a saz main aha), and offer unique supportive, defensive, or offensive utilities to aid in objective capture or securing kills to ensure victory. [i][b]That being said,[/b][/i] the current way to unlock new units and obtain cosmetics is very lack-luster and not designed for Western audiences. Many of the negative reviews that point toward this "gatcha" based system have pointed out that the only way to unlock units such as Zaku Melee or Marasai are only through the beginner challenges and obtaining CAP (in-game non-paid currency), which no one knows for sure how long said challenge will last. This confusion has lead to many players looking to the other option at obtaining the suits: through buying EVO coins. [h1] EVO Coins and Payment Model [/h1] EVO coins are this game's paid currency and are used to buy many of the cosmetics, skin packs, and units. While this isn't necessarily a bad choice per say, as R6 and League do the same, the problem lies within that there is no consistent way to obtain CAP. Let me repeat myself; [b]the only way to obtain CAP is through the beginner challenges which may or may not be limited in time, or through paid lootboxes.[/b] Not having a way to obtain CAP through gameplay, either ranked (which is another small can of worms) or casual games, you are limiting your playerbase to pilot the suits they WANT to play. This is extremely saddening to people who may also be fans of these suits, with Unicorn and Exia being some of the more popular unlockable suits within the Western playerbase. I have been confused by this choice by Bandai to implement a system like this when this game's original design for units was by giving players the choice to play their favorite mobile suits. Locking them behind a pseudo-f2p model not only isolates people from enjoying them, but will gives off the illusion that this game is p2w, which in my own opinion it is not. [i]However, [/i]gevo has the potential to lead down that development path. This is not a problem with the game's overall development but Bandai's model to make a profit off of this game, which is understandable in order to pay for server maintenance and staff payroll, but there exist other models that are less predatory in terms of players experiencing FOMO while others have bought said units. [h1] My Exact Thoughts [/h1] I want this game to succeed and be an alternative to OW2, of which I also had a fair time enjoying. While OW2 gameplay feels nothing different of OW1, competitively there is, and for a casual audience there is no major incentive to try unless you have various amount of friends also excited for it's release. Gevo has that difference; fast-paced fighting and thrilling moments that lead to players feeling like there is never a moment in the game where there is downtime (while it exists, it is rather short-lived from personal experience). Gevo has the ability to be an easy contender against OW2, and has already attracted an audience thus far, but if the payment model is not reworked, Bandai will[i] once again [/i]be dead in the water with a PC Gundam game; let alone, their first Gundam FPS on PC. I recommend this game purely for the core gameplay experience, but at the same time I can't to those living on a tight budget especially given the current economical situations in various countries. [strike]Ultimately this review is one of those that wishes to be neutral, but there exists no choice for neural/ informal reviews minus curators. If you want something different than OW, pick this up, but if you want something that is accessible to newer players rather than fans of Gundam, I'm personally more hesitant to recommend this game.[/strike] [h1] UPDATE AFTER SEASON 2 [/h1] Season 2 promised some minor qol updates as well as a new map, new battlepass, and most importantly a new unit, the Nu Gundam. Likewise, Bandai had promised to the community that many of the voiced concerns would be brought to attention and fixed in the coming of months. Once Season 2 "[b]MOBIUS[/b]" was announced, almost little to nothing was detailed about any fixed to MMR, server-client connection, or optimization. Simply selling skins and units, as well as advertising their 20K prize pool tourney. Interesting to note, the tournament is limited to NA only, and that doesn't include Canada [i]OR[/i] Mexico; limiting to only United States citizens HARSHLY effected how the comp community had viewed Bamco in organizing tournaments. Additionally, this new season brought along some other issues that more players began reporting. Many began experience more leaver penalties for not even in queue for games, others had fps drops (might I add the game is locked at 120 fps, something that is heavily bad for esports titles), or random crashes with little to no way of understanding how when most systems are above or at recommended specs. I myself use a 3080 Ti and i7-10700K and despite the game locked at 120 fps, I experienced frame drops and crashes. As of writing this review after, out of 4 ranked games I experienced 3 crashes. [b] 3 crashes [/b]. Any game that aims to be esports friendly, let alone trying to compete with Overwatch 2 or other major shooters [i][u]cannot[/u][/i] have these issues. This alone is very frustrating but alone isn't a major issue, as DMZ and Warzone 2.0 suffer from issues. What ties this whole show together is that NA MMR has become so horridly scuffed by S2 changes, that no one was able to find a game within 10 minutes on day 1; ranked players were forced back onto JP, something that occurred in the middle of S1 and was expected to be fixed by S2 [spoiler] it never got fixed [/spoiler]. If a playerbase is [i]forced[/i] to moved to another server, at an automatic disadvantage because of ping all due to MMR being fucked due to lower playercounts, then the crashes bundle it all together in one big package that Bandai Namco simply screams "Look! We made a shooter! Give us money!", something that quite literally felt like the biggest slap in the face to both new and old Gundam fans alike. I may give this game one more chance if Bandai does somehow bring it back from the dead, but it disappoints me immensely to not recommend this game [b][u]at all[/u][/b]. I wanted it to succeed having played the beta and got high on copium/ hopium expecting this to kill OW2, but alas withdrawals have set, and in my own ignorance became clueless to how awful some companies truly grift their fanbase. [i]"How lucky am I to have known something that makes saying goodbye so hard" - A.A. Milne[/i]