Summary
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of having free rein to pilot a giant robot as far as the eye can see. While there’s currently no system in place for average folks to live out their wildestPacific Rimfantasies in the real world, video games have provided the opportunity. Yet, the limitations of these games can be somewhat frustrating for some fans.
Still, there are video games where piloting a giant mecha isn’t just fun, but players also get to use it to explore a vast, open world. These six games are exactly what gamers might be looking for in a free-spirited sci-fi adventure, although getting to the part where fans get to pilot a mech may be a challenge on its own in some.
Genre
Action RPG
Phantom Galaxieshas been in early accesssince November 2023, meaning that there are still a lot of kinks to be worked out for the final version. It makes sense, given how ambitious this Steam release is, allowing players to freely explore a sci-fi universe piloting giant mechs and battling others they come across on their journeys.
The game features four distinct classes of mech fighters: Assault, Lancer, Buster, and Breacher, each offering different specs. While it may not be as polished as some of the other games here, keep an eye out for its full release!
Sand Landis a video game adaptation of the iconic manga and anime series created by Akira Toriyama. Released earlier in 2024, the game is an action RPG allowing players to explore the open desert world. However, much like the anime, most of the game revolves around players building tanks and machineryto battle fearsome enemies.
What makes this an especially strong mecha game is the customization involved in creating players' vehicles, fromGundam-esque robot suits to fully loaded race cars. Particularly for fans of the anime, there’s a lot to love about this action-packed RPG, but even for those unfamiliar with the source material, it’s still fun to play around in giant machines.
PlayStation 2
For fans of mecha games,Steambot Chroniclesis a certified classic. The PlayStation 2 game was released back in 2005 and was incredibly ahead of its time in terms of offering a sandbox adventure featuring giant robots. Players inhabit “Trotmobiles” for a variety of purposes, from transportation to battling.
LikeSand Land,Steambot Chronicleseven featured a wide array of customization options that can change aspects of a player’s Trotmobile, making them slower and stronger or faster and frail. It’s a shame the series never took off, as fans could only imagine how expansive the series would be on current-gen consoles.
Among the more notable mecha games is 2013’sWarframe, which hashad a steady life on current-gen consolesover the years, and even made its way to iOS earlier in 2024. The MMO shooter places a heavy emphasis on the titular giant mechs, offering a variety of game modes, including PvP shooter, RPG, and parkour levels.
What’s especially fascinating aboutWarframeis how updates included new open-world areas, like the Plains of Eidolon, allowing players to explore in their mech suits. Despite being over a decade old,Warframecontinues to age extremely well for an open-world mech game that’s free-to-play, aside from pesky microtransactions.
There was a lot of hype aroundHorizon Zero Dawnwhen it was first released in 2017 for PS4. While the series has since been updated with sequels for PlayStation 5 (as well as ports for PC), the original game is the most straightforward and flawless experience the franchise has yet to offer, though it has one major difference to other games mentioned already.
Namely,Horizon Zero Dawncenters on a hunter named Aloywho ventures through an open world filled with mechanical creatures known as Machines. Rather than an adventure in a giant mech suit, players spend most of the game taking on quests where they must fight these giant robots, though some creatures can be rewired into mounts to ride around on.
TheXenobladefranchise has always been massive in scale, even fromits first installment on the Nintendo Wii.Xenoblade Chronicles X, however, blows all the others out of the water, as players can operate giant mechs known as Skells to explore the vast and diverse open world of Mira. However, Skells can’t be unlocked until close to halfway through the main story.
While the first half of the game is exciting enough as an open-world action RPG, getting to battle and explore in Skells completely changes how players interact with the environment. Overall,Xenoblade Chronicles Xis the perfect game for those wantingan open-world mecha experience, though sadly for now it’s exclusive to the Wii U.
