G-Rebels is aiming to revive a type of futuristic flight combat that has been largely absent from modern gaming, combining low-altitude dogfights, an expansive sci-fi setting and a surprisingly broad range of activities. Reakktor Studios’ Early Access release is clearly still a work in progress, but the foundations already suggest an experience with considerable potential, particularly when the Skyblade is being thrown through the crowded skies of its cyberpunk world. The addition of VR support also gives the game another intriguing dimension, although that side of the experience currently comes with some significant caveats.
What we know
G-Rebels is a single-player action-oriented flight simulator set in the year 2684, after catastrophic flooding has left much of Earth submerged and forced humanity to build enormous floating cities. Players take on the role of a pilot serving an elite unit responsible for protecting one of these city-states, using an advanced Skyblade to patrol transport routes and tackle criminal activity. A secret mission soon raises questions about the organisation being served, introducing a narrative built around conspiracy and the possibility that the apparent division between law enforcement and criminality is not quite as straightforward as it first appears.
The game combines a story-driven campaign with a large open world that encompasses futuristic cities, industrial facilities, research sites, outposts and other locations. Beyond the main missions, players can earn credits through activities including mining, bounty hunting, racing, escort work, mercenary contracts, piracy and searching for lost artefacts. Those credits can then be invested into the Skyblade, with upgrades covering areas such as its engine, weapons and shields, alongside more specialised equipment including drones, missiles and stealth technology. Combat isn’t limited to simply destroying opposing aircraft either, as enemy Skyblades can be hacked and commandeered. Factions can also compete for control of strategic locations such as power plants and skyports.
Reakktor is targeting a world of more than 12,000 square kilometres, with the environment designed to stream continuously rather than separating areas with traditional loading screens. Dynamic weather, changing day and night conditions, volumetric clouds and a simulated population of flying vehicles are intended to make the world feel active while flying through it. G-Rebels launched into Early Access on PC via Steam on July 20, 2026, with the developers planning to expand the game during development. VR support is available as part of the PC release, although it currently uses conventional gamepad, keyboard and mouse or flight-control hardware rather than providing full motion-controller interaction.
What we saw
This preview is based on the Early Access version currently available on Steam, following its July 20 launch. It wasn’t our first encounter with G-Rebels, however, as we also had the opportunity to get hands-on with an earlier build during Gamescom in 2025. The current version therefore provides a useful indication of how the game has progressed since that first introduction, as well as giving us the chance to spend more time with its flight systems, open-world structure and VR implementation.
What we thought
The first thing that stands out about G-Rebels is how strongly its premise and presentation evoke the futuristic police-flight games of an earlier era. The comparison with G-Police is difficult to avoid, particularly given the low-altitude combat, futuristic cityscapes and emphasis on patrolling a densely populated environment. There is also a distinctly Blade Runner-esque atmosphere to its towering buildings, neon-lit streets and sprawling industrial infrastructure, although G-Rebels is trying to expand that formula into a much larger open-world experience. The narrative is still difficult to properly judge at this stage, but the underlying idea of a law-enforcement pilot gradually questioning who is actually on the right side provides a promising foundation. The campaign also benefits from having more variety around it than simply sending the player from one dogfight to the next, with patrols, escorts, races and criminal activities helping to make the world feel like something that can be explored rather than just a collection of missions.
The flight model is where G-Rebels currently makes its strongest impression. The Skyblade feels responsive enough to make weaving between buildings, diving beneath structures and changing direction at speed genuinely enjoyable, while the relatively enclosed environment gives the sense of velocity considerably more impact than a traditional space-based flight game. Combat can be demanding, particularly before the Skyblade has received meaningful upgrades, and some of the control behaviour can take adjustment. A gamepad provides a comfortable way to play, while dedicated flight hardware has the potential to make the experience considerably more immersive for players willing to spend time configuring it. That flexibility is particularly valuable given that G-Rebels is also designed to work in VR.
VR is arguably the most exciting aspect of the game, but it is also the area that most clearly demonstrates its Early Access status. When the implementation works properly, sitting inside the Skyblade and flying through a dense futuristic city is an excellent match for virtual reality. The physical sensation of diving between skyscrapers or skimming above the water gives the flight model an immediacy that a conventional monitor cannot quite reproduce. The problem is that the VR experience has been considerably less consistent than the underlying game. Early builds suffered from crashes, rendering problems and inconsistent performance. The lack of VR motion-controller support also makes this feel more like a conventional PC flight game viewed through a headset than a purpose-built VR title. That doesn’t diminish the appeal of using a gamepad or HOTAS/HOSAS setup in VR, but it does mean that anyone buying G-Rebels specifically for virtual reality should approach it with realistic expectations at this stage, depending on your setup.
Visually, however, there is plenty here to get excited about. The cities have an impressive sense of scale, with traffic, illuminated architecture and enormous structures creating a convincing backdrop for low-level flight, while the dynamic weather and day-night system can dramatically change the appearance of the world. Storms in particular appear to be one of G-Rebels’ visual strengths, with rain, clouds and lightning adding considerably to the atmosphere. The audio presentation also fits the setting, with a sci-fi soundscape and music, although the current (early access) implementation of AI-generated or synthetic-sounding character voices has attracted criticism for making conversations feel flat and reducing immersion.
The bigger question is how much of this potential will be realised as development continues. The core flight experience is already compelling, but the surrounding world, technical performance, narrative and VR implementation still need refinement. For now, G-Rebels looks less like a finished futuristic flight epic and more like a very promising foundation for one. If Reakktor can build out the world while addressing the technical issues, particularly in VR, there is a good chance that this could become one of the more distinctive flight experiences on PC.