Highguard, the brand new free-to-play PvP “raid shooter” from Wildlight Leisure, has barely been out for a day, however it’s already been a wild experience for the brand new FPS. Although vital reception is already glowing, participant response runs the gamut. And arguably hardest of all: It’s grow to be a meme.
At present, its Steam consumer rating is sitting at “principally detrimental,” with 32% of practically 15,000 participant critiques giving the sport a thumbs-up. Gamers have complained of lengthy match queue occasions, getting kicked from the tutorial, and different server points. Extra nonetheless stated the sport additionally performs poorly, with body price drops and different points on Home windows PC.
In fact, it is unimaginable to have any dialogue about Highguard’s post-launch efficiency with out acknowledging the review-bombing. From the second it was unveiled as the ultimate reveal of The 2025 Recreation Awards, Highguard was combating an uphill battle: Not everybody was thrilled on the prospect of yet one more live-service shooter enterting the house, and had been peeved that the announcement trailer — which featured eye-catching visuals however provided little to elucidate the sport — nabbed the coveted “yet one more factor” announcement. In truth, the backlash was ramping up on Reddit a month earlier than Highguard’s launch, with some evaluating it to Sony’s notoriously failed 2024 shooter, Harmony.
“Excessive Guard is principally struggling as a result of Harmony got here first,” one Redditor commented on a put up discussing all of the hate for a recreation that wasn’t even out but. “I do not suppose folks could be dunking on it as a lot if Harmony did not simply Harmony final yr, but when I needed to guess I believe folks did not just like the [Game Awards] closing out on this recreation.”
You may see this blended reception plainly in Highguard’s recording participant rely. The shooter peaked at 97,249 concurrent gamers on Steam only one hour after its launch. By the night on the east coast — when many gamers sometimes begin to get off work and spend time enjoying video games — these numbers had dropped by half. As of this writing, Highguard presently has fewer than 20,000 concurrent gamers on Steam, in response to the database web site SteamDB.
Reception amongst console gamers is equally blended. On the Xbox retailer, Highguard is sitting at 2.9 out of 5 stars, with 31% of its participant critiques hitting the 5-star mark, whereas 39% of gamers rated it at 1-star. In the meantime, on the PlayStation Retailer, issues are going marginally higher than they’re on Steam and Xbox: Highguard gamers have rated the sport a 3.1 out of 5, with 41% of reviewers giving it a 5-star overview and 37% ranking it 1-star.
“Titanfall 3 died for this,” one Xbox participant wrote of their 1-star overview. “And do not you neglect it.” “Can inform by the primary siege who gunna win,” reads one other 1-star overview from an Xbox participant. “The sport additionally does not run to effectively it appears. Kill display will say 25 hits however theres no actual feed again when capturing or being shot. Nearly looks like the hearth price of weapons out paces the sport engine.”
“The sport is fairly distinctive in comparison with your typical hero shooter,” reads a gentler 4-star overview. “I kind of benefit from the working round looting up and mining earlier than all hell lets free. The raiding side is fairly dope, general fairly enjoyable recreation for a free to play. Solely giving it 4 stars as a result of the artwork model is not something loopy.”
“Performed round 15 matches, and effectively, the sport is simply boring,” reads one PlayStation retailer overview. “The sport begins with sabotage from CoD combating over the sword (bomb), then turns into demolition as soon as the sword (bomb) is planted to interrupt their shields. Then add heroes with talents & actual royals looting, and you’ve got Highguard.”
“Good recreation distinctive in its personal manner,” reads a 5-star remark. “Enjoyable. No different recreation like this. Web so fast to hate. Undoubtedly somethings wanted to be added.” Different PlayStation consumer critiques cited the dearth of a customized button-mapping choice and FOV slider as ache factors.
Picture: Wildlight Leisure
Except for server and efficiency points, boredom does appear to be a recurring criticism amongst Highguard gamers. Shortly after launch, a put up declaring the sport “a borefest” was the top-rated put up on the /r/HighguardGame subreddit. As of this morning, the highest put up is one titled, “This recreation is actually enjoyable and never half as unhealthy as folks make it out to be,” although that stoked some blended reception. In response, some gamers responded calling it “enjoyable,” a “blast,” and “among the finest releases within the F2P shooter scene for some time.” So, a little bit of a blended bag.
It is nonetheless early days for Highguard, however critics largely appear to be having fun with the sport. As of this writing, Highguard doesn’t have a Metacritic rating but (the platform requires 4 scored critiques from authorised retailers for that) however vital reception has leaned constructive. Polygon’s personal Austin Manchester known as it “among the finest new shooters in years,” whereas IGN counseled its “snappy gunplay” and GameSpot known as it a “recent” mixture of shooter subgenres.
However nonetheless good or not-good Highguard is, it now has an albatross round its neck: It has been immortalized as a meme. On X, the YouTuber Snamwiches shared a meme claiming Highguard hit 5.3 million concurrent gamers at launch, mocking the sport’s out-of-the-gate participant base. (The inhabitants of New Zealand? 5.3 million. Additionally that quantity could be practically double the file set for concurrent gamers of a recreation on Steam, an honor presently held by PUBG: Battlegrounds.) Different high-profile creators, like Dave Oshry, shared related memes. As soon as a recreation is caught within the meme cycle riptide, it’s laborious to flee — particularly when that occurs on day one.
Highguard developer Wildlight Studios unveiled the sport’s first-year roadmap Monday, revealing nearly all of the sport’s forthcoming updates on the identical day it launched. The roadmap contains plans to introduce a brand new playable Warden each two months, which roughly mirrors the tempo of well-liked live-service video games like Marvel Rivals, however is not introducing a brand new mode till July. Will new heroes be sufficient of a draw to seize and retain a large viewers? Finally, that would be the true check of Highguard’s may: time.
Source link
