Highguard regarded bland. Highguard sounded bland. After my first half-hour with it I nonetheless wasn’t satisfied it didn’t really feel bland. However I caught with it. I performed a pair dozen hours with buddies. I fell in love with it. I’m going to overlook it.
Wildlight Leisure’s ill-fated multiplayer shooter goes offline at this time endlessly. In simply three months the sport went from closing out the 2026 Sport Awards to being cemented in well-liked on-line gaming lore as “Harmony 2.0.”
It’s bizarre to like a sport that finally ends up disappearing so rapidly and below such messy and poisonous circumstances. The vibes surrounding Highguard had been rancid from the soar. However the vibes within the PS5 celebration chat the place I performed with two shut buddies had been terrific as we loved a few of my favourite multiplayer moments of the final yr.
The issues that turned some gamers off concerning the sport had been exactly what stored me sticking round. Highguard is gradual to play, complicated to know, and, broadly talking, fairly devoid of swagger. However that lack of spark, that zestless-ness, ended up making Highguard my good late-night chillout with bros.
I’ve taken to considering of it because the gaming equal of my go-to mild/low cost beer (Yuengling, PRB, Narragansett). It’s acquainted. There’s no massive funding. It takes the sting off and I can play a few additional rounds with out feeling hungover the following day from overly sweaty defeats. The truth that most individuals had been enjoying Marvel Rivals, Overwatch, or Valorant as a substitute solely helped.
The looting part is undercooked however I’ve grown keen on the push to loot chests and bash crystals whereas vying with the enemy workforce over the Shieldbreaker spawn level. I’ve my favourite heroes—Condor and Una—and my favourite weapons—Vanguard and Kraken. I like the race to the enemy preserve as tiny groups of three converge on the wide-open fields simply outdoors the place the Shieldbreaker must be planted.
One of many particular issues about Highguard is its mounts. As a substitute of simply counting on a dash, you may as well immediately summon varied animals to experience at high velocity towards aims or away from enemies. Duels on foot are one factor, however circling behind cowl whereas rotating on mounts and attempting to hit a transferring goal whereas firing from the hip is frenzied, chaotic, and oddly satisfying.
Weirdly, it jogs my memory of enjoying Military Males 3D with my cousin on the unique PlayStation. That versus mode was 1v1 throughout massive, lengthy hall maps. We spent hours attempting to seize flags, sneak previous one another, and get the soar from behind regardless of how severely restricted the mechanics had been. That sport additionally received panned. GameSpot gave it a 4.6 out of 10. I nonetheless cherish it.
For me and a few shut buddies, it scratched the itch I nonetheless sometimes should play Dota 2 or another MOBA. However there’s no sophisticated leveling tree to observe throughout matches, no NPC waves to handle, or any of the opposite parts that ratchet up the technique, stress, and drama.
Highguard was extra muted. That didn’t win it an enormous following but it surely did make it an ideal end-of-the-day palette cleanser for me after I wished to play a few matches with buddies, which might inevitably yield a handful of thrilling moments with out all the work and time commitments that the majority different shooters prefer it require.
In contrast to the handfuls of different failed live-service video games I barely ever performed, this one managed to stir some magic for me, nonetheless briefly. I’m genuinely unhappy to see it go. Tonight I’m pouring one out for all of the Wardens who really feel the identical.
