Highguard

Written by Jason Dailey on 2/8/2026 for PS5  

I’ve been on the wrong side of history with a couple of recent live service shooters, namely Concord and XDefiant, both of which I held in high regard and are now defunct after a short lifespan. But on the other hand, I’ve also been an early (even pre-release) champion for a couple of wildly successful games with ARC Raiders and Helldivers 2. Now, here I go again, hopping on the live service train with Highguard, a free-to-play team-based raid shooter from Wildlight Entertainment that I will continue to champion as well.

I’ve seen a lot of negativity around the game since launching in January, but I’ve also seen a trend: players who have played it for more than a match or two like it better, and that’s where I find myself as well. Personally, I operate by what I call “The Rule of Fours” when it comes to trying new entertainment. I’ll give a television series four episodes, a movie 40 minutes, a book four chapters, an album four songs, and a multiplayer shooter four matches. If they can’t grab me in those timeframes, then it’s probably not for me. I think in Highguard’s case that four matches are the sweet spot to learn the mechanics, learn the gameplay loop, and figure out whether it’s for you.

Highguard was made by a lot of the same folks who made games like Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty. Perhaps you’ve heard of them. That DNA shines through in Highguard, particularly in gunplay, gameplay loop, art direction, and level design.

Let’s start with gunplay, because if that isn’t right, then you aren’t sticking around long enough to appreciate anything else. Thankfully, it is great. Each weapon feels unique and properly weighted, with viable options for whatever your shooter playstyle is, though I do think Highguard needs to add adaptive trigger support on PlayStation 5. In total, there are 10 guns at launch, including assault rifles, SMGs, shotguns, a sniper rifle, and a revolver. All are satisfying to use, but I’ve taken a shine to the sniper rifle/shotgun combo which gives me versatility for the various phases of a match. I’m typically focused on precision, whether it's up close or at a distance, but sometimes I’ll pick up two assault rifles instead so that I can pump out a lot of bullets quickly. It just depends on the flow of each match.

When a match starts, you get to customize your loadout of starter gear with two weapons and a siege tool. As matches progress, you loot weapons and gear of increased quality across the map, with each weapon tier adding better stats and buffs. So, as you go from the starter shotgun to the legendary version, it increases damage, reload speed, and so on. At first, I wasn’t sold on the concept of looting weapons rather than having a traditional loadout system, but as I played more, I grew to appreciate it. Highguard’s loot system does three things. First, it keeps you in the action, rather than fiddling with a traditional loadout system in a menu between respawns.

Second, being able to pick up loot around the map allows you to adjust on the fly. If you know you’re heading into a close-quarters battle for the Shieldbreaker and you’re looking to swap the sniper rifle for an assault rifle, go loot one from a weapon chest on the way. And finally, the loot system has prevented there from being a “meta” in terms of gunplay from what I can tell. I get killed by (and do some killing with) every gun. There’s no assault rifle meta, no sniper meta, and so on, to sit and tweak or tune to death trying to shave off ADS milliseconds to gain an advantage. There are only tactics, situational awareness, and personal preference to consider when deciding which loadout to run, and that’s refreshing.

Despite the gunplay feeling properly balanced, I would still say there is a low skill floor with a high ceiling. Eliminating the concept of meta-weapon builds puts the focus solely on your ability as an FPS player. Anybody can pick up Highguard and be familiar with its gunplay, but this can also be a sweaty game. To that end, if your teammates are not up to par, you’re going to get crushed, and that certainly is not as fun as winning or even playing a close match, but that is true for every competitive shooter, is it not?

All right, so, gunplay is good—check. Now, let’s look at the gameplay loop. Essentially, Highguard is a raid shooter, with two teams of either three or five players fighting to destroy the other team’s base while protecting their own. A match plays out over a cycle of phases: fortify, loot, Shieldbreaker acquisition, and raid. At the start of each match, you will reinforce base walls to protect your generators and anchor stone. Your base begins with 100 health, with each generator being worth 30 health if destroyed. Alternatively, the anchor stone is a one-hit one-kill option for both you and the opposing team, but it takes longer to destroy, which means you’ve either got to be at the top of your game, or catch the enemy team off guard.

Next up is the loot phase, where you ride out on your mount and find loot at points of interest around the map. You also use this time to mine Vesper (in-match currency) from blue crystals, which can be used at Vendor stalls around the map or during the respawn screen. If you couldn’t find what you were looking for in a loot chest, it’s likely that Flynn the vendor has it in his wares.

It’s possible to run into enemy players during the loot phase, but this is typically the calm before the storm. Speaking of, the next phase is when the Shieldbreaker Storm produces the mighty Shieldbreaker sword, which must be used to break through a base’s shield. From here the heat is on as teams fight to gain control of the sword back-and-forth across the map. The team that successfully holds the Shieldbreaker and plants it at the enemy base will initiate a raid.

The raid phase is Highguard’s bread and butter, and it’s easily the best part of the game. Fighting inside a base is chaotic and tense, with the raiding team trying to plant a bomb on either a generator or the anchor stone while the defending team tries to repel the attack. In 3v3 mode, the raiding team gets six total respawns (and a time limit) before their raid is repelled. Coordination is key during this phase, as you want to make efficient use of your time and lives. Until the raid team runs out of respawns and the defending team removes them from the base, the raid goes on. And you can keep blowing stuff up until such time. On the other hand, defenders will defuse bombs, repair and reinforce walls, and hunt the raiding team down.

Unless a team successfully takes down the anchor stone during the first raid, there will be multiple raids, prolonging the length of a match. I’ve played matches that lasted anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes, and I always wanted to play just one more. There are built-in measures to ensure that things don’t go on forever. Initiating a raid deals 30 damage to a base on its own, and if the raiders aren’t successful in blowing anything up, then they take 30 damage to their own base as a penalty. So even if a match appears to be a stalemate, you’re still working towards a climactic finale regardless.

I mentioned 3v3 mode—that is the core mode of Highguard, though they’ve added a permanent 5v5 mode as well since launch. At first, 5v5 did not resonate with me, but I’ve grown to like it a lot more as a chaotic alternative to 3v3, particularly during raid phases. Still, I think 3v3 requires more strategy, tactics, and teamwork to be successful, though I am still curious about a 4v4 option.

Let’s talk about tactics for a moment too. This is where the roster of playable characters heavily factors into the equation, particularly in 3v3. Highguard launched with eight Wardens and has added one already since release. Each Warden has a unique set of abilities including a tactical skill, a passive skill, and an ultimate skill. Yes, this is a hero-based raid shooter, and it totally works. I’m the type of player that waits to see which characters my teammates pick before picking someone to synergize with their heroes. So, if I see that they’ve picked a couple of offensive-minded Wardens, I’ll grab a defensive or support Warden to compliment.

Team composition matters most during the raid phase, where combat moves primarily indoors and everyone is fighting in the same locations. In other words, if your team has planted a bomb, you may want to have the defensive-minded Kai in your party to deploy an ice wall that cuts off enemy access. Or perhaps you’ll want Condor, the recon expert, to send out her bird to track enemy locations on screen to eliminate surprise attacks.

Backing up a bit, at the start of each match, your team will vote on which base you want to defend, of which there are seven. So, the game chooses the map, but you’re choosing your base that it will seamlessly incorporate into the map. Each base has positives and negatives from a defensive standpoint. Some have sniper towers for suppressive fire, some have limited choke points to better control the flow of battle, or some have environmental traps like explosive barrels or lava. Regardless, the level design on each base is great, themselves feeling like they could be pulled out and used for intense rounds of team deathmatch…I’m just saying.

Regardless of which base you choose, which map you play on, or Warden you fight with, one thing remains consistent: Highguard’s art direction is superb. The Wardens are genuinely some of the coolest-looking characters I’ve seen in a hero shooter. Not to mention their cosmetics are insane. Also, the high fantasy setting is something we don’t see often in competitive shooters and is a nice departure from militaristic or sci-fi settings. Don’t forget to occasionally stop and take a moment to admire the view in Highguard as you’re riding around on your horse, bear, panther, eldergryph, wolf, or hellhound.

On the monetization front, cosmetics are the only thing you can spend real money on in Highguard. It’s all the usual stuff you see in other live service games: weapon skins, hero skins, banners, charms, emotes, and mount skins. There’s also War Chests—Highguard’s version of battle passes—with the first one being free to everyone. War Chests are setup like Helldivers 2’s Warbonds, where spending enough currency on one page unlocks the next. To be clear, there is absolutely no need to spend any real cash on Highguard, though I’m always a proponent of voting with your wallet. If you enjoy a free game and want to see it stick around, maybe consider tossing a coin to your Warden.

In terms of post-launch support, Wildlight Entertainment has been a busy bunch, already pushing several updates with quality-of-life enhancements, a new Warden, new mount, new map, new base, new cosmetics, and two new game modes. All of that within a couple weeks of launch, with a roadmap for a full year’s worth of updates throughout 2026.

Ultimately, I am quite high on Highguard and it gets an easy recommendation from me as a free-to-play title. The atypical marketing strategy of announcing at The Game Awards and then going dark until launch threw most of games media and social media for a loop, but it became apparent they were going for a big boom. I never believed that the folks behind Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty forgot how to make or promote a game. You can argue marketing tactics all day long, you can say the game is not for you, but the fact remains that Highguard is a very good multiplayer shooter, and a breath of fresh air in the genre. It is free and will only take up 22 gigs on your machine, so there’s not much to lose. Give it four matches to see if it’s for you. You just might be surprised.