Highguard, created by former Apex Legends and Titanfall developers at new studio Wildlight Entertainment, came out of nowhere. The game was made the "one last thing" announcement at The Game Awards 2025, showing off an action-packed twist on the hero shooter genre that honestly raised more questions than it provided answers. As a fan of the genre, I was intrigued and excited to play Highguard myself, especially when it was revealed that the game would be releasing in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately, putting Highguard in that spot at The Game Awards did far more harm than good, with many outright dismissing the game before they even had the chance to play it.
Highguard has been torn apart online, with many comparing it unfavorably to PlayStation's failed live-service hero shooter experiment Concord. But while Concord had a $40 paywall that severely limited its reach, Highguard has launched as a completely free-to-play game. After spending the past week playing Highguard every night, it's clear that Wildlight has built a wildly entertaining shooter experience that is a ton of fun at launch and should only get better as the months go on.
While it's a hero shooter at its core, Highguard is really a Frankenstein's monster of different online shooter games. Its singular game mode at launch is called Raid, and in it players experience a little bit of everything. The match starts with players reinforcing their base (not unlike Rainbow Six Siege) and then the looting starts, 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 base.
Successfully planting the sword or wiping out the enemy team in overtime then transforms Highguard into something like Counter-Strike or many other FPS games with similar modes, where players have to plant bombs at specific points. It can all be a bit overwhelming at first, but Highguard has struck gold with this set-up, offering an experience with parts pulled 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 Highguard's maps are too big and that there is too much downtime between firefights, but that hasn't been my experience at all. Yes, Highguard's maps are huge, but the game is constantly funneling players into the action. The Shieldbreaker spawn point is always marked on the map, and so, while players are free to avoid it and simply loot during the looting phase, a lot of time enemies are already converging on it, leading to some intense battles before the sword is even truly a factor.
The person holding the Shieldbreaker is always marked on the map, letting the opposing team know exactly where they need to go, and once 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 struggle to plant bombs, defuse bombs, and otherwise wipe out the enemy team by any means necessary.
Highguard's mounts (ala Paladins) also play a big role in ensuring the action is fast and frequent. A simple double-tap of the jump button has players instantly take off on their mount of choice, whether it be a horse, a bear, a panther, or whatever else. The mounts move quickly across Highguard's maps and look awesome while doing it.
Highguard Wardens Have an Incredible Arsenal at Their Disposal
In Highguard, the playable characters are called Wardens, and they each come with their own special abilities, like in any other hero shooter. The Highguard Wardens feature fairly straight-forward abilities that make it easy to pick up and play a new hero, and literally every single one on the roster is fun to play.
My personal favorite is Scarlet, a Defensive Warden who can turn invisible, transform walls into sand, and unleash a deadly Ult that flings high-damage blades at nearby enemies. There's nothing more satisfying than turning invisible as Scarlet, sneaking up on an unwitting enemy, and then blasting them with the Kraken shotgun to deal ridiculous damage and start a fight off with a huge advantage.
Other characters are fun to play as, too. Kai turns into a giant ice demon with powers that are not unlike Overwatch's 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 Hela's from Marvel Rivals, raining down powerful lightning spears at anyone unfortunate enough to be in his line of sight.
There aren't an overwhelming number of guns in Highguard, with only a couple available in each category, but this keeps things simple and allows players to focus on the meat and potatoes of the action instead of wasting time in menus. The guns all feel great to use and have a lot of kick to them, and combined with the characters' special powers, make every combat encounter a thrill.
Highguard is a Great Game, But It Needs More to Reach the Next Level
The core gameplay of Highguard is fun, so much so that I can see myself playing it as my go-to multiplayer game for the rest of the year. And as the year goes on, Highguard should become an even better game. As it stands, my biggest issue with the game is its lack of content compared to its competitors, but that should be addressed in future updates.
At launch, Highguard has five maps, eight Wardens, and one game mode. Highguard's flagship Raid mode is a lot of fun, but there is so much potential here to expand into other modes that perhaps cater to other gaming tastes. There's no reason why Highguard's action 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 armor aspect would also be interesting.
Raid mode being limited to just 3v3 is also a big disappointment. Highguard's maps are big enough to showcase large-scale battles, and while it would be far 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 yet to be made a permanent mode in the game.
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 reveal got Highguard off on the wrong foot, but at its worst, it's a fun, unique shooter that costs $0 to play.
Highguard
- Released
- January 26, 2026
- Developer(s)
- Wildlight Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Wildlight Entertainment
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- Full
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Action, Multiplayer
- Successfully blends ideas from other shooter games together to create something new
- Guns feel great and nearly every combat encounter is a thrill
- Interesting characters with fun abilities
- Only one game mode at launch