Wildlight Leisure is a brand new group with a robust pedigree of expertise, together with group members who labored on Apex Legends. That have is obvious from the earliest moments of Highguard. The brand new aggressive shooter showcases agile, exact taking pictures mechanics and pleasurable, fast-moving map navigation, assembly expectations many gamers might have if you happen to’ve performed Apex Legends. And when you get into actual matches, it’s clear that the sport has a rewarding new match construction at its core. Even so, I’ve struggled in my early hours to search out the enjoyable amid some complicated techniques, restricted variation within the play expertise, and little visibility into the seemingly richly imagined fiction and setting on supply.
Highguard is an uncommon title at launch, arriving as a free-to-play shooter with massive ambitions to seize an viewers, however with little to no element concerning the sport shared forward of launch. That’s actually not an obligation for sport makers, but it surely has left the viewers, myself included, scrambling a bit bit in these early days to know what the challenge even is.
After a number of hours of play, the image begins to take form. Gamers management Wardens, fantasy-inspired warriors of magic and elemental powers, however who additionally wield high-powered weaponry alongside their mystical capabilities. For causes that don’t appear to be defined clearly, small teams of Wardens are battling one another, laying siege to the enemy group’s stronghold within the title of – nicely, that’s not solely clear.
I like the colourful artwork fashion and the melding of fantasy and trendy aesthetics that Wildlight explores right here. However, with no PvE part or any particularly clear accompanying storytelling or setup, I’m stymied a bit on this first day of play, making an attempt to know what’s taking place and why. It’s a aggressive shooter, after all, and people components are seemingly greatest left as background materials, regardless. Right here’s hoping the times and weeks that observe assist to light up the lore and make clear that a part of the challenge.
Regardless of why these Wardens are combating, the primary 3v3 raid mode is actually novel. Every match is neatly separated into distinct phases of play. Gamers choose between a variety of base layouts and proceed to fortify that base with extra safety earlier than venturing out into a big open map to collect weapons and armor, gear up, and even mine assets to purchase extra upgrades. After a chosen time window elapses, a Shieldbreaker relic spawns someplace within the open discipline, and open battle with the enemy group begins in earnest, as every allied squad goals to choose it up. As soon as in hand, you may deploy that Shieldbreaker in opposition to the enemy base, open its power protect, and try and raid the inside in an effort to detonate explosives and take out the stronghold. If that effort fails, issues reset, there’s one other likelihood to gear up (this time with higher gear), and the method begins once more.
Taken piece by piece, there’s nothing there that’s profoundly difficult. However I’ll admit that I felt utterly misplaced for the primary a number of matches I performed – not sure the place to place my consideration, when to have interaction in fight, what to prioritize when defending, and the best way to even meaningfully contribute to my group. In the long run, it’s potential that the very confusion I felt may be the sport’s saving grace – a barely extra advanced and freeform match construction that rewards inventive play and technique.
Nevertheless, there are another components that maintain again my endorsement at this section. The one 3v3 raid mode is at the moment the one approach to play the sport, and at current, one thing about it simply feels a bit barebones. The maps are, to their credit score, very massive and cleverly designed. But it surely implies that I spent plenty of time wandering the setting, punctuated by very transient moments of thrilling taking pictures exchanges. If the fantasy is one in all besieging an enemy fortress, my preliminary impression is that the small participant depend feels out-of-sync with the idea and the map dimension.
Whereas I don’t perceive who they’re or the place they got here from, the small roster of obtainable characters all look and play splendidly. I just like the uneven powers that come into play in a given match, relying on who I’m up in opposition to. And the combo of distinctive fantasy powers – like magical invisibility or a personality who transforms into a large beast – makes me desperate to attempt everybody out and 0 in on a favourite. I additionally actually benefit from the pace and enjoyable that comes from totally different mounts you may summon to gallop throughout the battlefield. These work nice, add a way of pace and momentum, and lend one thing new to the shooter equation.
Highguard is a thoughtfully designed sport with sturdy motion and taking pictures fundamentals, and it’s making an attempt one thing new inside the style. For that cause alone, I’m and excited to play extra and higher perceive the move of a given match. But it surely’s not a straightforward sport to know at first look, and it lacks a breadth of play choices I’d anticipate from a title that has ambitions to interrupt into the scene.
We’ll have a full evaluation after a number of extra days of matches, so examine again in for a extra complete rundown. Within the meantime, Highguard’s free value of entry means you might give it a shot for your self and see whether or not this new raid shooter idea would possibly gel together with your needs.
Highguard is on the market now on PS5, Xbox, and PC.
