I love it when a developer does something new or unique in a game to make it feel fresh or add a twist. Look at Dead Space. In an era when headshots were king, Dead Space took the bold move to motivate you to dismember the foes. Gears of War introduced the risk/reward minigame when reloading your weapon: execute a perfect reload to get better ammo, miss the window, and your gun jams. Even SUPERHOT, where time only moves when you move. There are so many games that add a subtle element to gameplay that redefine the experience.
The same is the case with Pragmata. I’ve been playing the game for the past few days, and it has that impact on me of a game that I keep thinking about when I’m not playing it. I wish I could say that has happened after a very long time, but 2026 has been an awesome year for games. Games like Resident Evil 9 and Crimson Desert have had the same effect on me already. What an awesome time to be alive and be a gamer. Pragmata is a new IP from Capcom and was first unveiled about 6 years ago. I’m happy to say that Capcom is on a roll, offering a very old-school Xbox 360-era experience with pragmatism, ensuring you have a fun gameplay loop while offering modern visuals that push consoles to their limit. Want to know the details? Read on and find out.
Table of Contents
A Lunar Rescue Mission with a Mechanical Heart
The story of Pragmata is pretty simple. You are on a repair mission on the moon, and unsurprisingly, things go wrong. An AI has gone rogue, and it is up to you to save the day. The AI takes your team out, and you are the lone survivor. Before we go into Prey or Dead Space territory, you are accompanied by a little robot girl with some swanky hacking skills, and you two team up to take down the big bad AI.
Adding a lot of charm and mystery to your dynamic is the inclusion of her holographic robotic cat companion, which acts as both a narrative anchor and a unique scouting tool during your journey. With the AI dominance, the Artemis II 2026 mission to the moon, and more happening in the real world, it is possible that the story of Pragmata will hit a little closer to home for some. The good thing is that, unlike PlayStation exclusives, which are littered with “Sad Dads” — yes, I’m looking at you, Kratos and Joel — the relationship between the protagonist and Diana (your little robot girl companion) is a lot more fun.
Overall, the story has its moments, but like most games, it is a B+ story leading you from one plot point to another. I enjoyed it, but your mileage may vary.
Hack, Shoot, and Defy Gravity
The gameplay loop of Pragmata is awesome. As I said earlier, it reminds me of the good old shooter games from the 360 era, like Vanquish, Dead Space, Gears of War, and more, with a twist: Hacking. Yes, the robots you confront in the game need to be hacked before you can shoot them. It is this hacking mechanism that creates the tension in the game, keeping you on the edge of your seat. When aiming with the left trigger, you can use the face buttons of the controller to navigate a grid to hack the enemies. As the gameplay evolves, each hack gives you the ability to add more damage, hack multiple robots at once, immobilise them for a bit, and so on. Adding each element to the hack takes a few more seconds, adding a risk-reward aspect to the combat. Once hacked, you get to “shoot” the robots to oblivion.
You have a standard arsenal of weapons, from a pistol to a shotgun, to a gun that freezes enemies in place, and more. Some hacks turn the robots on each other. It is these permutations and combinations that spice things up in the game. There are times when the AI robots can “block” your hacks, and you have to shoot off some parts of the robots to be able to hack them again. However, the combat and traversal are truly elevated by the astronaut suit’s anti-gravity mechanics. You can seamlessly manipulate gravity fields to walk on walls, alter the trajectory of falling debris to crush enemies, or launch yourself out of harm’s way, making the combat arenas feel dynamic and three-dimensional.
While all of this sounds complicated, it is quite intuitive. Before putting you in the heat of battle with multiple robots, the game eases you in with a bunch of smaller fights first, so you get used to the hacking mechanics. It is a gameplay loop that I found to be very engaging.
When not in combat, there is little exploration as the game is largely linear with some open areas for you to explore. You have a central hub that you can revisit to upgrade your and Diana’s abilities. There is some light platforming in the game as well, but that’s mostly to help you reach places to unlock a door or find hidden corners of resources.
Overall, it is the core gameplay loop that keeps the game fun and engaging throughout the 17-hour journey.
A Next-Gen Audiovisual Spectacle
If you thought Resident Evil 9 looked great, I’d say take a look at Pragmata! The opening shot of the game, which is a view from the moon looking at the Earth through the pitch black of space, just shines on an OLED TV. From the minute you take control of the camera, you know this is a game that was crafted to push technology to its limits with its reflective surfaces, space-age design, and fast-paced combat. Considering you are on a space station on the moon, the game has some interesting, diverse environments as well, including a replication of Times Square from New York, a forest-like environment, and the natural evolution of a space station filled with tight corridors, research centres, and some large open areas.
Moving over to the sound, I found the voice acting of the protagonists to be a bit over the top, but nothing that bothered me too much. The dialogues are a bit cheesy, but that’s ok considering the overall tone of the game. The swishes of combat, along with the sounds of you hacking and the thuds of the guns, all sounded very good. A special shoutout to how the game uses the speaker in the DualSense, and I really liked it. Even the haptic feedback of the DualSense is taken advantage of in this game, which is a welcome addition.
A Giant Leap for Action Games
Pragmata is one of those rare new IPs that puts a unique twist on the third-person action genre and does it so well that it keeps the game engaging for its entire run. While there is some post-game content, I won’t spoil that here. Pragmata is one of those games that, for me, rests right up there with games like Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 7, Dead Space, Gears of War, Superhot, and more that did something unique and stood out splendidly. A must-play if you want to try a shooting game with a difference.
Editor’s Rating: 8.5 / 10
Pros:
- Engaging risk/reward combat loop
- Stunning next-gen visuals
- Excellent integration of the DualSense controller’s haptics and speaker
Cons:
- Cheesy dialogue and slightly over-the-top voice acting
Additional Info:
- Developer: Capcom
- Publisher: Capcom
- Platforms: PS5, PS5 Pro, Nintendo Switch 2, PC, Xbox Series X/S
- Reviewed on: PS5
- Price: Rs. 3,799 (PS Store India)
- Note: We played a review copy of Pragmata provided by Capcom.
