The Highguard release date is almost here, but what can we expect when the devs have told us so little?

Highguard was the big ‘one more thing’ from last year’s Game Awards, with a trailer positioned right before the Game of the Year. It’s a new free-to-play PvP shooter from Wildlight Entertainment, a studio made up of talent from Apex Legends and Titanfall. Despite positioning itself as an “all-new breed of shooter,” we have next to no firsthand information on the title. 

However, there are plenty of signposts out there that can help us piece together a more complete picture of what to expect from Highguard, which is due for imminent release on January 26. Its roots in Apex Legends and Overwatch-like emphasis on individual characters speak to a hero shooter that will likely incorporate more grounded mechanics in an effort to ensure more robust FPS fundamentals.   

✓ VideoGamer Summary

• After Wildlight Entertainment gave its big Highguard announcement, the studio has been fully radio silent, even so close to the Highguard release date on January 26.
• Looking at the Highguard trailer, some of the only surefire information is that the idea of a ‘raid shooter’ includes sieging an enemy base.
• The creators of Apex Legends are behind Highguard, so we should probably expect to see some battle royale mechanics in the mix.
• Highguard’s announcement proclaimed that we would be playing as ‘Wardens’, hinting at a hero-shooter structure similar to Overwatch or Marvel Rivals.
• There could also be some larger ideas at play in Highguard, as it’s still not clear how big the “battle for control of a mythical continent” goes.

A ‘raid shooter’ could be a few things

One of the few confirmations we have from Wildlight Entertainment is that Highguard will be a “PvP raid shooter.” There’s no clear answer on what a raid shooter is, but if we work backwards from Highguard’s premise, we might be able to figure out how it works.

So we know that in Highguard, you’ll be fighting against other crews for control of the ‘Shieldbreaker’, a battering ram designed to bypass the shields of an enemy base.

If the map positions two bases at either end, with each crew figuring to destroy the other, well, that sounds just like a MOBA. In League of Legends, you do much the same, engaging in small skirmishes until you can wreck the enemy base.

When enemies die, they appear to drop orbs you can collect, possibly implying the opportunity to gain power from your kills as well.

If there’s only one target base that’s actually controlled by NPCs, then this could be something like an Arc Raiders-style extraction shooter. 

Except that, rather than trying to get out of there with the right loot, as there doesn’t appear to be a loot system, you’d likely be fighting for some sort of additional reward tied to destroying your enemy’s base or retrieving a certain item.  

Of course, this could be no more complicated than another flashy attempt at just getting to the enemy point and capturing it. Despite larger maps traversable by horses and bears and whatnot, this still could just boil down to a Team Fortress 2-style team-based clash with extra steps.

Using what you know

Considering Wildlight Entertainment’s pedigree, we’ll almost certainly be seeing some battle royale influence in Highguard. Some of the signs are already there in the trailers and screenshots, with the large open map and random conflicts with what appear to be other players in the field.

In Apex Legends, you’re generally limited to three players in your squad, though in other battle royales like Fortnite, four is more the standard. From what I can see, each of Highguard’s squads isn’t getting much bigger than three players, indicating that you need that tight squad when out and about in the world.

It would make total sense for Highguard to take inspiration from its developers’ previous biggest success, and part of that would be how many squads are roaming the world. Highguard indicates that you’ll be against rival ‘crews’ plural, implying it’s not just a straight fight between two groups per map.

Highguard hasn’t indicated how many players will be on the map at any given time, but Apex Legends allowed up to 20 crews, meaning 60 players could be fighting each other at the same time. 

In the end, multiple crews all converging on one objective sounds like a battle royale by any other name; we’ll just have to see if they respawn afterwards.

Hero for hire

Wildlight Entertainment says that in Highguard, you’ll “raid as Wardens,” a distinctive breed of “arcane gunslingers.” As shown in the trailer, these Wardens are capable of using their powers in devastating ways. 

One launches forward to claw at an enemy like Marvel Rivals’ Wolverine, while another uses a hammer to send forward a shockwave like Overwatch’s Reinhardt.

Clearly, we’re taking plenty of cues from hero shooters, right down to looking at potential victory screens. In the trailer, this is showcased by a dangerous and mysterious woman, surrounded by shadow tentacles, ripping out your heart while saying, “your light belongs to me.” 

This display screams Overwatch-style play-of-the-game intro potential.

You can even see characters using their ultimates within the trailer, with one able to fly while shooting down lightning bolts. Whatever Highguard might be, it’s definitely partly a hero shooter, much like how Apex Legends added hero shooter mechanics into the more traditional battle royale formula.

This makes total sense with Highguard being free to play, as hero shooters are prime territory for monetisation. Even if you’re not selling your heroes individually, you’ve got plenty to add on between different costumes, emotes, and even those play of the game splash screens, with plenty to put on the inevitable Highguard battle pass.

One big land grab

Highguard talks about how the Wardens “battle for control of a mythical continent” and work to “secure territory.” Now, this could just be a general background lore as to why these groups of superpowered weirdos are raiding each other, but it could imply something larger entirely.

Each smaller crew of Wardens might actually be part of a larger group, working together to hit different objectives across a map, before finally sieging the enemy base. This would make it feel closer to World of Warcraft’s famous Alterac Valley battleground, with its ramping up objective capturing.

On the more elaborate side, this could be as big as PlanetSide 2, with its constant battles for control across different maps. It could also be smaller, more contained skirmishes, but whose results get collated like in Helldivers 2, or the splatfest voting system in Splatoon.

At the very least, with all this Battlefield 6-style destructible terrain being shown off, there will likely be mechanics to help reinforce a sense of push and pull. I’m not expecting something like the quick building in Fortnite, but maybe you can reinforce your bases’ terrain like a fantasy Rainbow Six Siege. 

If there’s a conclusion here, it’s that the developers on Highguard almost certainly have the skill necessary to make something great. I just wish they’d show us. 

That way, we’d be able to discuss Highguard on its own terms, rather than based on a hodgepodge combination of context, limited raw data, and inference. 

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