Call of Duty is getting in the (Gundam) robot

The classic anime series Gundam examines the traumatic experience of war, particularly the unalterable effect it has on those young soldiers forced to participate in the horrors of fighting for their life while taking the lives of others using weapons of inhuman strength and devastation. Which clearly makes it the perfect fit for a bit of upcoming DLC for military-fetishising interactive gun range Call of Duty.

The incoming crossover with Mobile Suit Gundam - as the original seventies animated series was called, before it evolved with the likes of direct follow-up Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and spin-offs such as Iron Blooded Orphans the recent (and very, very excellent) Witch from Mercury - will manifest itself as a set of Operator skins, weapons, finishing moves and other such gubbins in the next season of Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone.

Season 4 of MW3 and Warzone will add skins based on two of the iconic mecha in the older series: the RX-78-2 piloted by Amuro Ray, equipped with its Beam Rifle and shield, and the magnificent MS-06S Zaku II controlled by long-running villain Char Aznable, complete with the axe-like Heat Hawk. A third skin will then offer up The Witch from Mercury’s XVX-016 Gundam Aerial, affectionately piloted by Suletta Mercury, and its Beam Rifle, which doubles as a glowing sword in the anime.

The Gundam Tracer Packs will appear sometime next month, and will only run for a certain amount of time before they vanish off to wherever Gundam Evolutions go to when they die. Alongside the full skin and weapon packs, there’ll be some extra unlockables you won’t need to pay money for, offering up the chance to nab another weapon blueprint, a weapon camo, stickers, emblems, a weapon charm, calling cards and more across Warzone and MW3.

What is weird about all this is that the Gundams have to be shrunk down to the size of regular humans to keep things fair - meaning matches might end up looking like a cosplay LARP as people-sized robots run around and do battle. Anyway, this press release claims that “since its debut in 1979, the Gundam franchise has centred around gifted pilots commanding technologically advanced machines into the onslaught of conflict - mirroring the challenges players face in Call of Duty”. I’ll just leave you to ponder that particular comparison.