TL;DR

Pros:

• It’s free

• Tight and responsive gunplay

• Some unique ideas, such as a preparation phase and mining resources

Cons:

• Weird aesthetic of castles mixed with firearms

• Movement speed is extremely slow on foot

• Concepts aren’t executed well

• 3v3 gameplay doesn’t work on the large maps

Score: 3.5/7 — A mediocre game with lukewarm ideas executed poorly.

Price: Free to play (all platforms)

Reviewed on PlayStation 5; available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC (Windows)

Before it came out, Highguard was on nobody’s radar. It was slated to be just another free-to-play, multiplayer shooter in an already saturated market.

However, Geoff Keighley, host of The Game Awards, revealed the game by showcasing its trailer at the very end of the 2025 award show, a slot usually reserved for the biggest projects and franchises in gaming.

Though he hailed it as a “new breed of shooter”, gamers disagreed. Some had little to no interest in the game, writing it off as generic, while others outright dragged it through the mud and called it the worst game of the year.

Having played it, I can say that it isn’t 2026’s worst game (we’re not even out of February), but it isn’t very good either. It’s the very definition of the phrase “middle of the road”. It’s just average. The best thing about it is that it’s free.

It’s just mid

Highguard is a free-to-play multiplayer first-person shooter where two teams of three (or five) clash and try to raid each other’s bases.

During the matches, set on very large maps, players can move around and secure gear, weapons and resources, to prepare for the raid on the enemy base.

Player characters known as Wardens have to invade an enemy team’s base and either destroy two generators or an anchor stone. They have special abilities such as being able to throw lightning-infused spears, erect ice walls and turn invisible.

It’s a simple enough concept to grasp, but if you noticed that I didn’t mention the premise, you’re very observant. There isn’t one.

There’s no lore or explanation to expand the world in which the game is set, such as why Wardens have superpowers or why one of the guns in this fantasy world looks very similar to an AK-47.

A little lore compendium would be nice, but I can understand if Wildlight Entertainment prioritised gameplay over the setting.

This is evident in the maps, which are too large for a total of six players (more on that later) and have a very samey colour palette of light blue sky, green hills and beige buildings across them. If you asked me to tell you which maps are which, I’d struggle to.

They also have a somewhat confusing aesthetic: a mix of medieval castles mixed with luminescent structures seen in modern fantasy. This is fine on its own, but the weapons used by Wardens draw a lot of inspiration from current and futuristic firearms.

They’re cool designs, definitely, especially the Vanguard assault rifle and the Big Rig machine gun. But they look really out of place compared to the environments you fight in.

The Dynasty rifle is the biggest offender, which is very recognisably a Kalashnikov pattern rifle. I’m a gun nut, sure, but someone who doesn’t know guns could point to it and say that it belongs in the real world, not Highguard’s.

Knock knock

Highguard’s main game mode involves raiding the enemy team’s base, but to do this, there’s a little bit of setup and preparation required.

Each team’s base has two generators and an “anchor stone”. Destroying generators will reduce the other team’s score and start the next round, while destroying the anchor stone will win the match outright.

When the match starts, you’re encouraged to reinforce walls in your base, preferably around the generators. However, I cannot recall a game where reinforcements have stopped enemy players, so while it’s a nice idea in concept, it makes little difference to the experience, other than occupying a 10-second preparation phase.

From here, you’re sent out to collect weapons, armour and other gear and loot from around the map. At the same time, the location of the ‘Stormbreaker’ is revealed — it’s a sword that allows one team to start raiding the enemy base by splitting open the base shield. It takes about 90 seconds to appear, and once it’s picked up by a player, their location is revealed to everyone else in real-time.

This is where most of the gunfights take place, around the Stormbreaker carrier and the area where it appears. For the most part, the shooting is tight and responsive (lag notwithstanding), reminding me of Apex Legends to a degree. Using anything longer range than an assault rifle is tough, but then that could just be a skill issue.

Gunplay is coupled with character abilities such as electrified spears that deal damage within a certain radius, or an eagle that reveals enemy positions. These are not that different from anything in any other game, but unless you’re in a game with friends, you cannot synergise the abilities of your team. Whether your friends would find this worth playing is a whole other discussion.

For the most part, I enjoyed the game, but in short bursts. It’s not great, nor terrible, it’s just alright.

Call the warden!!!

As for the Wardens themselves, I’m torn on their design. It’s not terrible, like the infamous characters from the short-lived Concord, but it’s generic and inconsistent.

It varies from case to case, but I can say that of the eight playable Wardens, two or three of them look pretty cool.

Atticus — the Warden I played with most — looks good for the most part, with a uniform that looks like a hybrid of fantasy and sci-fi: he has body armour that looks somewhat futuristic, but a high collar and flowing cape to contrast.

Slade, another Warden, resembles Ken from the Street Fighter franchise. A little too much.

Like the game itself, Highguard’s character designs are like the game itself: neither great nor terrible. None of them are ugly, but none stand out enough to be iconic. If you showed me a picture of one of these Wardens, I wouldn’t recognise them. I’d probably be able to tell you which game they’re from, so that’s something?

This town’s too big for the two of us

One of my biggest complaints with the game is the size of the maps. For two teams of three, they are far too big and a lot of time is spent simply moving around. It also doesn’t help that Wardens have an extremely slow sprint and movement speed.

Wildlight knew this, which is why each player is given an animal called a Mount to ride around on, slashing travel time. These include horses, mythical creatures, or my personal favourite, the panther.

Mounts are essential to maintain a fast pace for gameplay, otherwise there wouldn’t be any gunfights. This is likely why the Stormbreaker carrier is highlighted to all players, so that action can be focused and players don’t waste time meandering around the maps.

While reviewing Highguard, an update was released allowing games between two teams of five, likely to address this very complaint. However, I felt no difference in gameplay; gunfights still take place in the same areas and maps still take an age to traverse.

If I had to take something positive from this, it’s that the developers are at least responding to complaints promptly.

It’s just ok

Highguard isn’t the “new breed of shooter” promised by mainstream gaming media, nor is it as awful as internet comment sections and content creators would have you believe. It‘s just very average.

I’m really not sure what possessed The Game Awards to reveal Highguard at the very end of the show, since it doesn’t do enough to deserve that spot. Nor am I sure why the backlash has been so severe, since it’s free-to-play, it’s not a bad game at a functional level and there’s no barrier to entry.

It’s fun in bursts, but has the depth of a puddle. If you want to try it out, go for it since it’s free.