Chances are, it’ll be a long time until we see someone else come along and attempt weird genre fusions like Highguard again, for fear of risky, new projects being handed a death sentence.
Highguard’s gone from one controversy to another since its announcement at The Game Awards, from its awkward reveal to the developers being weirdly silent until launch. A not-insignificant number of people immediately wrote it off, calling it dead on arrival—the next Concord, if you will.
I can understand why people have been so quick to judge—Highguard is an awkward hodgepodge of genres that was poorly unveiled, and a sharp departure from the developer’s penchant for movement shooters. I, for one, wish he had a spiritual successor to Titanfall, and Highguard isn’t that. However, Highguard deserves its fair shot for its own merits.
Its genre fusion isn’t slick, but it is interesting; I can’t say I’ve ever played anything like Highguard before, even if all the bricks are inspired by other games. Are we really hating on Highguard for being a generic copy-paste that’s not trying anything new? If so, how come recent hits like Marvel Rivals and even Arc Raiders, to an extent, haven’t faced similar criticism? I love these games, but let’s not pretend they’ve reinvented the wheel any more than Highguard.
By marking Highguard as dead on arrival and review-bombing that into reality, yes, Wildlight’s pet project will inevitably die, even if the developer claims it doesn’t need “super huge” player counts to be successful. And chances are, it’ll be a long time until we see someone else come along and attempt weird genre fusions like Highguard again, for fear of risky, new projects being handed a death sentence before being given a fair shot. Don’t forget that the current climate is already stacked against new ventures.
With time, I’m hopeful Highguard’s performance issues can be fixed, more content can be added, and potentially even more impactful changes to its core gameplay—I’d like larger teams and better looting, for example.
As it stands, it’s far from perfect, but sacrificing it for fun isn’t helping anyone and removes the opportunity for Highguard to build on its foundations. Sure, you might not like it now (that’s fine, I don’t even love it), but maybe you would later down the line in a potential future. Voice valid criticism, and let things play out whether you love it or hate it, but review-bombing sends a bad message to the industry that will backfire for everyone.
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