The routine is acquainted by now. A brand new on-line shooter with vibrant, colourful graphics launches and rockets up the charts although you perhaps haven’t even heard of it. Or perhaps it simply has a extremely forgettable identify. However everybody appears to be speaking about it, and it’s free, so you work you might as properly leap in. This second of promise and anticipation might find yourself being one of the best this recreation will ever be — and there’s an excellent likelihood that feeling received’t final lengthy.
I could possibly be describing any variety of video games, however the latest instance is Highguard, which simply launched on the PS5, Xbox, and Steam. The 3v3 shooter is the primary launch from Wildlight Leisure, a brand new studio made up of veterans from Apex Legends, Titanfall, and Name of Obligation. That pedigree is sufficient to pay some consideration to the sport, which was initially revealed as the final announcement at The Game Awards last month. But it surely’s additionally doing a little attention-grabbing issues. The builders name it a “raid shooter,” however I’ve discovered it best to know as a type of first-person shooter tackle a MOBA like League of Legends; every group has a base, and your job is to stability getting improved gear, defending your individual base, and finishing numerous aims to take down your enemies’ HQ. Additionally, you’ll be able to journey a bear.
It’s an advanced setup, and after a number of matches I’m not fully satisfied I absolutely perceive the movement of matches, which could possibly be an issue for wider adoption. It’s definitely not as pick-up-and-play as one thing like Fortnite. Although as you’d anticipate from individuals who labored on Titanfall, the motion feels nice, with glorious gunplay and clean motion. It’s additionally a hero shooter, so that you choose from characters with Overwatch-style final powers that may allow you to rapidly flip a battle in your favor, or smash by means of your opponents’ defenses. They could be a lot of enjoyable if you pull them off correctly.
Once you’re within the midst of a decent skirmish, defending your teammates whereas they attempt to defuse a bomb, the enchantment of Highguard is clear. At its finest it’s quick and tense and forces you to be decisive. However its complicated nature additionally implies that issues can really feel a little bit unusual and messy. For one factor, the group sizes are small but the maps are massive, and so that you spend an excellent chunk of every match wandering round a principally empty stage trying to find chests to enhance your armor or discover a higher gun. You do have a mount to hurry this up, however even nonetheless, I’ve discovered the early parts of matches to be extremely sluggish and never very thrilling.
As the ill-fated Concord showed, crucial factor for a brand new on-line shooter is what it does in a different way, though even that isn’t a assure of success. However you want a hook to compete in an area with such established gamers as Fortnite, Counter-Strike, and the annualized behemoth that’s Name of Obligation. Battlefield 6 managed to break through with sheer force of will, whereas the likes of Valorant, Helldivers 2, and Apex Legends have settled right into a seemingly regular place the place they aren’t the most important video games, however they’ve a powerful, wholesome participant base. However the record of failures can be massive: Anthem, Spectre Divide, XDefiant, Spellbreak, simply to call a number of. Many had attention-grabbing hooks — It’s Fortnite but fantasy! You can control two bodies at once! — but it surely wasn’t sufficient.
As a lot enjoyable as I’m having with Highguard throughout the launch week, I’m additionally not satisfied that its strategic matches, slick gunplay, and oddball fantasy setting are sufficient for lasting success in such a aggressive area. It’s completely different, however not that completely different, and it may be exhausting to clarify what it truly is. The chances are definitely towards it. So for now I’ll simply benefit from the expertise whereas it lasts — and be ready to do this all over again in March.