Highguard Review: “An Innovative Yet Confused FPS Blend That Requires Refinement for Longevity”

In my early matches of Highguard, it quickly became apparent that everyone was figuring things out on the fly. My teammates and I reinforced the five nearest walls to fulfill our defensive duties, then impatiently started ramming our mounts into the shield dome, eager for it to open so we could dive into the real action. Of course, we couldn’t resist plundering some loot chests and smashing Vesper crystals with our axes first.

As I broke away from my team, I was bombarded with shiny new weapons, armor vests, and various gadgets, but I barely had time to read the tooltips before the battle erupted. Both teams clashed over the Shieldbreaker sword, with bullets, grenades, lightning spears, and scanning birds flying everywhere. The chaos intensified when one team launched a raid on the other’s base, transforming the match from a balanced looting and shooting affair into an asymmetrical brawl focused on base defense and bomb defusal. Highguard certainly aims to cover a lot of ground.

As the first title from Wildlight Entertainment, Highguard is an ambitious live-service multiplayer “PvP raid shooter” that blends numerous FPS elements into something fresh, albeit with mixed results. With a team comprised of former developers from iconic titles, the game showcases slick first-person hero shooter action that shines when everything clicks. However, its convoluted genre mashup needs significant refinement to ensure it has lasting appeal.

After several hours of gameplay, I found myself struggling to explain Highguard to a friend, launching into a lengthy description of what this raid shooter entails.

The influence of Apex Legends is unmistakable in Highguard, featuring Warden characters with unique Tactical, Passive, and Ultimate Powers, Battle Royale-style looting, and a strikingly similar visual style. Yet, it also incorporates base defense and destruction mechanics reminiscent of Rainbow Six Siege. When vying for control of the Shieldbreaker sword, it evokes the tense Capture the Flag moments from Halo 3. The overarching goal of raiding the enemy base while defending your own even brings to mind the Siege mode from Ratchet & Clank 3.

However, don’t expect these comparisons to make playing Highguard any easier. While the tutorial attempts to cover the basics of shooting, looting, mining Vesper deposits, and raiding, my initial matches revealed a steep learning curve. The constantly shifting objectives, combined with the need to upgrade gear and master my chosen Warden’s abilities, created an overwhelming experience for newcomers.

This complexity results in a surprisingly high barrier to entry, despite drawing from familiar games. I can only imagine how challenging it is to learn the game now, a week post-launch, as facing even moderately skilled players with a few hours of experience could lead to a frustrating defeat.

I do enjoy the 2Fort-style sieges in Highguard when they actually occur.

I wasn’t exactly selling Highguard to my friend by expressing how unexpectedly challenging it was to get the hang of. However, once I overcame the initial hurdles, my muscle memory from Apex Legends kicked in during gunfights. Highguard may not be the easiest game to pick up, but if you stick with it, you’ll discover that it excels in high-intensity firefights, whether you’re on the offensive during a raid or defending your besieged base.

Once a team drives the Shieldbreaker sword into the enemy base’s dome shield, the battle shifts to a smaller arena map with an asymmetrical format. Gunfights become rapid close-quarters skirmishes where movement and positioning are crucial as each team tries to either assault or defend. With limited lives for attackers, these encounters avoid devolving into simple enemy hunts, as attackers must focus on objectives to win, whether by detonating two generators or the critical Anchor Stone deep within the enemy’s base.

These raids are where your Warden’s abilities truly shine, thanks to the tighter spaces and destructible environments. Scarlet exemplifies this with her synergistic kit, allowing her to outmaneuver the enemy and significantly aid her team. It’s incredibly satisfying to use her invisibility alongside her Shifting Sands passive, which transforms solid walls into sandy pathways, enabling her to flank unsuspecting foes and unleash a barrage of whirling blades.

However, given the developers’ backgrounds at Respawn Entertainment, a first-person hero shooter that feels good is expected. While it’s great that Highguard meets these standards, it’s more about meeting expectations than delivering surprises.

Highguard shows potential.

After a week of play, it’s evident that while Highguard has moments of brilliance reminiscent of Respawn Entertainment’s shooters, it’s also plagued by a series of questionable design choices that hinder its potential. The initial base-securing phase feels lacking, with wall reinforcements and repairs as the only defensive options. In contrast, the gear-up phase often feels like looting for looting’s sake, unnecessarily delaying the Shieldbreaker’s appearance and the start of the action—giving it an “eat your vegetables before dessert” vibe.

The maps are also too expansive for the intended 3v3 team size, often leaving matches feeling sparse outside of raids. I tried the hastily released “experimental” 5v5 raid mode available since launch, and while it felt like an improvement, matches tended to drag on. I suspect that 4v4 could be the sweet spot. However, increasing player counts doesn’t alleviate the painfully long respawn times and the sometimes lengthy runs back to the action, even on your speedy mount.

Perhaps most critically, Highguard’s identity feels somewhat weak. The reception to its reveal at a recent awards show indicates that I’m not alone in feeling indifferent toward the game’s setting and aesthetic. The continent of Highguard is meant to be a mythical, magical place, but the barren maps often fail to convey that—adding more engaging Points of Interest or even some PvE elements is sorely needed.

The roster of Warden characters is mechanically solid, with Mara, Atticus, and Scarlet quickly becoming favorites, but they lack charm and originality. Mara’s eldritch witch attire feels like an English version of Moira from another game, and Atticus embodies the game’s somewhat mismatched aesthetic of magic and firearms, which I’ll dub “tacti-cool fantasy.” I can’t help but envision Redmane and Scarlet’s outfits as perfect skins for characters from another popular shooter.

Despite its evident flaws, Highguard is far from the disaster some might suggest.

It’s clear that the team at Wildlight Entertainment, drawing from their extensive experience with Apex Legends and its Arenas mode, aimed to capture lightning in a bottle again but fell short this time. Highguard is a compilation of first-person shooter elements from the past decade that doesn’t quite live up to its potential. I can’t shake the feeling that Wildlight needs a guiding hand to refine and focus its ambitious ideas.

Yet, despite its shortcomings, Highguard is not the failure some portray it to be. Wildlight’s debut shooter has shown it can replicate the genre-defining gameplay of first-person shooters to create a unique experience. The studio is committed to long-term support with Episodes that will introduce new Wardens, maps, and more, while also implementing changes based on player feedback. Highguard may not be the next big hit and certainly requires significant improvements to broaden its appeal, but it still offers solid shooter fun for those willing to invest the time.