Not each recreation clicks immediately. Highguard was launched with little prior fanfare and even much less clarification of its novel methods; my early video games left me confused and pissed off. However with every match I performed, I warmed to the stream of the motion, the texture of motion and weapons, and the distinctive playstyle developer Wildlight Leisure is attempting to introduce. The sport has a protracted option to go to be at its greatest, however for aggressive shooter gamers searching for a departure from expectation, there’s good motive to be hopeful about Highguard’s future.
Highguard drops gamers into an uncommon magical world of excessive fantasy, but additionally populates that world with assault rifles and rocket launchers. The towering ruins and castles that dot the maps are spectacular, the characters are all visually putting, and the in-game dialogue alludes to what is likely to be a cool fiction. Sadly, the dearth of in-game lore clarification or exposition left me feeling rudderless and at a loss. Is that individual a princess? Why are we preventing one another? How is it that we are able to summon huge siege towers by slamming a sword right into a wall? Wildlight presents a stunning mixture of style influences, however with out significant, cohesive storytelling, the world is difficult to embrace.
Fortunately, Highguard’s gameplay fares a lot better. Wildlight’s background as prior builders of Apex Legends shines by way of; tight, fast-moving gunplay feels tense and precision-focused. Traversal of the world is nice enjoyable, particularly the extremely cool summonable mounts that allow you to gallop at excessive speeds throughout rock and meadow.
Likewise, Highguard’s core raid recreation mode takes a number of matches to know, however it may be deeply satisfying when you get the swing of issues. Borrowing from the likes of Seize-the-Flag, Domination, and Search and Destroy modes in different video games, raids emerge as an entirely distinct expertise. Gamers fortify a house fort, set out throughout the map to scavenge assets, retrieve a relic that may break the enemy fort’s shields, after which infiltrate and detonate bombs to convey them down. The intelligent push and pull offers factors for the defend break and detonations, but additionally for issues like profitable protection runs or full enemy staff wipes throughout additional time sequences.
At its greatest, the entire raid loop may be intense and fast-paced. Matches can finish shortly if one staff will get fortunate or is particularly well-coordinated, however many matches can run 20 or half-hour, as a number of raids bounce forwards and backwards for every staff, and the ability degree of obtainable weapons and upgrades on the sphere regularly escalates. I like lots of the characters, however they don’t really feel particularly balanced at this stage, with a number of of them basically required to be on a staff for shot at victory.
Highguard additionally suffers badly from an absence of selection. Even after the latest addition of a 5v5 choice that provides matches a bigger scope (however a lesser tactical really feel), after a few dozen hours, I used to be positively feeling the repetition. The early match loop, particularly, is tiresome to repeat. And whereas I sympathize with the will to have acquainted weapon archetypes {that a} participant can acknowledge at sight as one scavenges, I’m already feeling like I need extra nuance and uniqueness from the firearms. They really feel good to make use of, however don’t encourage pleasure.
Having given the sport time to settle earlier than providing a full critique, it’s clear that Wildlight has the chops to iterate shortly and reply thoughtfully to group suggestions. Even within the scant weeks after launch, the arrival of a brand new season, a ranked mode, tweaks to match-end stats reporting, and a brand new playable Warden all communicate to huge issues forward. Nonetheless, I’ve to evaluation the sport in entrance of me – not what it is likely to be sooner or later – and at this stage, Highguard feels prefer it wants extra selection in weapons and play experiences, elevated fleshing out of its in-game world, and a few ongoing efforts to search out balanced matches. Even acknowledging all that, right here within the launch window, Highguard already provides moments of satisfying competitors; one of the best praise I may give it’s that in a time when there’s no scarcity of nice multiplayer fare to check out, I plan to proceed to play within the weeks and months forward, even lengthy after I’m achieved sharing this evaluation.
