Highguard review

Highguardcreated by ex Apex Legends and Titanfall developer at new studio Wildlight Entertainment, came out of nowhere. The game was made the “one last thing” announcement at The Game Awards 2025, showcasing an action-packed twist on the hero shooter genre that frankly raised more questions than it answered. As a fan of the genre, I was intrigued and excited to play Highguard itself, especially when it was revealed that the game would be released within weeks. Unfortunately put Highguard in that spot at The Game Awards did a lot more harm than good, with many outright dismissing the game before they even had a chance to play it.

Highguard has been torn apart online, with many comparing it unfavorably to PlayStation's failed live-service hero shooter experiment Harmony. But while Harmony had a $40 paywall that severely limited its reach, Highguard has been launched as a completely free-to-play game. After spending the last week playing Highguard every night it's clear that Wildlight has built a very entertaining shooter experience that's a lot of fun at launch and should only get better as the months go by.

Although it is a hero shooter at its core, Highguard is truly a Frankenstein's monster of various online shooting games. Its unique game mode at launch is called Raid, and in it players experience a little bit of everything. The match begins with players reinforcing their base (not unlike Rainbow Six Siege) and then the looting begins, with players free to explore a huge map for loot like they do in battle royale games like Fortnite and Apex Legends. Eventually the Shieldbreaker sword comes into play, and Highguard turns into a giant game of Capture the Flag, where the goal is to deliver the sword to the enemy's base.

Successfully planting the sword or wiping out the enemy team in overtime then transforms Highguard to something similar Counter-Strike or many other FPS games with similar modes, where players have to plant bombs at specific points. It can all be a little overwhelming at first, though Highguard has struck gold with this set, offering an experience with elements taken from many other games that all manage to come together to create something that feels fresh.

Highguard always gets you right in the action

I have seen some complaints online that Highguards maps are too big and that there is too much downtime between firefights, but that hasn't been my experience at all. Yes, Highguards maps are huge, but the game constantly draws players into the action. The Shieldbreaker spawn point is always marked on the map, so while players are free to avoid it and simply loot during the looting phase, a lot of time enemies are already congregating on it, leading to some intense battles before the sword is even really a factor.

The person holding the Shieldbreaker is always marked on the map, letting the opposing team know exactly where they need to go, again forcing everyone together for more battles. Then the raid phase has players fighting in one team's base or another, and it becomes an exciting back-and-forth battle to plant bombs, defuse bombs, and otherwise wipe out the enemy team by any means necessary.

Highguards mounts (ala Paladins) also plays a major role in ensuring that the action is quick and frequent. A simple double tap on the jump button will instantly lift players to their choice, whether it's a horse, a bear, a panther, or whatever. The mounts move quickly across Highguards maps and looks amazing doing it.

Highguard Wardens have an incredible arsenal at their disposal

IN Highguardthe playable characters are called Wardens, and they come with their own special abilities, like in any other hero shooter. The Highguard Wardens have fairly simple abilities that make it easy to pick up and play a new hero, and literally every single one in the roster is fun to play.

My personal favorite is Scarlet, a defensive ranger who can turn invisible, turn walls to sand, and unleash a deadly Ult that hurls highly damaged blades at nearby enemies. There's nothing more satisfying than turning invisible as Scarlet, sneaking up on an unsuspecting enemy and then blasting them with the Kraken Shotgun to deal ridiculous damage and start a fight with a massive advantage.

Other characters are also fun to play as. Kai transforms into a giant ice demon with powers not dissimilar Monitorings Reinhardt, while Redmane has a powerful roar that can completely level buildings. Condor has a bird that can effectively give her team super valuable wallhacks, and Atticus has an Ult that is very similar to Helas from Marvel Rivalsand rains down powerful lightning spears at anyone unfortunate enough to be in his line of sight.

There aren't an overwhelming number of weapons in it Highguardwith only a couple available in each category, but this keeps things simple and allows players to focus on the meat and potatoes instead of wasting time on menus. The weapons all feel great to use and have a lot of kick to them, and combined with the characters' special powers make every battle encounter a thrill.

Highguard is a great game, but it needs more to reach the next level

The core of the game Highguard is fun, so much so that I can see myself playing it as my multiplayer game for the rest of the year. And as the year goes by, Highguard should be an even better game. As it stands, my biggest issue with the game is its lack of content compared to the competition, but that should be addressed in future updates.

At launch, Highguard has five maps, eight Wardens and one game mode. Highguards flagship Raid mode is a lot of fun, but there's so much potential here to expand into other modes that might suit other gaming tastes. There is no reason why Highguardaction and characters can't shine on smaller, more traditional multiplayer maps like those seen in Call of Duty and Halo. A mode that completely eliminates the looting and armoring aspect would also be interesting.

That the raid mode is limited to only 3v3 is also a big disappointment. Highguards maps are large enough to showcase large-scale battles, and while it would be much more chaotic, I think at least 5v5 if not 6v6 would help the game reach new heights and a wider audience.

Highguard is currently testing a 5v5 playlist, but it has not yet been made a permanent in-game mode.

The good news is that Highguard has an ambitious roadmap for 2026 that confirms plenty of new content on the way, and I hope it has the chance to deliver. Its disclosure received Highguard off on the wrong foot, but at worst it's a fun, unique shooter that costs $0 to play.