Gundam is coming to Apex Legends, the battle royale shooter, in its 28th season. The event brings weapon and character skins inspired by the iconic anime series, alongside a special Mixtape game mode for players to live out their Gundam fantasies by using weapons like the Buster Rifle to blast enemies with a ridiculously wide beam attack.
Apex Legends x Gundam begins tomorrow on March 10.
Legend and weapon skins
A whole host of Gundam-inspired skins are coming to Apex Legends. Players will be able to unlock eight Legend skins, each inspired by a Gundam that the developers felt best matched the characters in ability or personality. Accompanying the Legend skins are weapon skins, to create a matching set for each Gundam.
| Gundam Inspiration | Legend | Gun |
|---|---|---|
| Epyon | Alter | Mastiff |
| Aerial | Conduit | R-301 |
| Freedom | Crypto | G7 Scout |
| Xi | Gibraltar | Devotion |
| Destiny Gundam Spec II | Mirage | R-99 |
| CQuuuuuux | Octane | Rampage |
| Deathscythe Hell | Revenant | Peacekeeper |
| Wing Gundam Zero | Vakyrie | Kraber |
Some concerns have come from the community on how similar these skins all look, making it difficult to tell any of the Legends apart from each other, especially during matches. When asked about this issue by Dot Esports, the developers stated: “The team worked hard to try and strike the balance between maintaining the Legend silhouettes and shapes, but also celebrating the Gundam IP and being close to the aesthetic and this is where we landed.”
Two new Mythic Universal Melees are coming as well, one based on the Epyon Heat Rod and the other on the Beam Saber. Each comes with its own separate event packs, making it even more difficult to unlock without shelling out significant funds.
A Gundam-inspired game mode
Gundam is taking over Broken Moon in a brand-new Wildcard game mode. The map has been covered in Gundam themed art and assets, like the titular mechs standing in eight different POIs (points-of-interest) around the map – though they are unfortunately static – alongside downed LEOs scattered across the ground. Up in the sky, players can spy a new sky box featuring a battle from the first season of the anime, which changes as the rings close.
As for gameplay, players will be able to indulge all their Gundam fantasies by finding the Buster Rifle in a care package. This ridiculously overpowered weapon has a few different attacks, like a standard scoped in shot, though the main event is the beam attack.
Launching straight up into the sky, the beam attack scans the area to mark every nearby enemy and shoots a wide laser beam that goes through everything, including Newcastle walls, Gibraltar bubbles, and even buildings. The only way to escape is to try and run away from the beam before it fires.
Four new Wild Cards will also be available in this event, each inspired by the anime. The first two are Epyon’s Lash, a whip-like melee that can drag enemies towards you for up close combat and Heavyarms Salvo, an overhead strike that can be called in on marked enemies.
The other two Wild Cards come in handy after being knocked, as Zero Sacrifice lets players self-destruct to hurt nearby enemies and Zero Rebirth lets players enter a void that will restore them to one HP (and a health regen).
Bit Staves will also be part of the event and can be used both offensively (in the form of drones to shoot nearby enemies) and defensively (to take damage as a shield).
It’s been a while since Apex Legends brought a major collab to the game (the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth event in Season 19 was the most recent), which makes this new Gundam event that much more exciting!
