The visionaries at Wildlight Entertainment are hesitant to claim they’ve pioneered an entirely new subgenre with Highguard, yet the gameplay suggests otherwise. Now available on PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X, the studio defines Highguard as a “PvP raid shooter”—a title that reflects its unique, objective-driven combat loop.
In its flagship mode, two trios battle for dominance over the Shieldbreaker, a specialized weapon designed to dismantle the opposing team’s base defenses. The mechanics function like a reverse game of Capture the Flag; instead of retreating to safety with the objective, players must spearhead an assault on the enemy’s stronghold. Once the perimeter is breached, the match evolves into an infiltration mission where the attacking team must sabotage internal objectives, echoing the tactical tension found in classic Demolition modes.
“The term ‘raid shooter’ is essentially a branding necessity that I try not to overthink,” Jason McCord, design and creative director, explained during a Los Angeles press event. “The reality is that we simply focused on creating something fresh. Eventually, we realized we needed a way to label it.”
Chad Grenier, co-founder and studio head, clarified that the team wasn’t aiming for industry disruption for its own sake. “We aren’t necessarily trying to invent a new genre; it’s just that no existing description fits the game. If the industry adopts the ‘raid shooter’ tag, we’d be honored, but our goal was simply to be accurate to our vision.”
For newcomers, the multi-phase structure of the raid mode may present a steep learning curve. Even the developers acknowledge the depth of the system they’ve built. “We’re still identifying the core pillars of the experience,” noted lead game designer Carlos Pineda. “Even with two years of internal playtesting, we feel like we’re just getting started.”
Finding the right balance for Highguard was a long, iterative process. Early builds featured massive matches with eight different teams, each defending their own base. McCord described those early sessions as “absolute chaos.” Matches would often stretch over two hours without a clear winner, prompting the team to scale down the scope. After testing everything from 6v6 to 4v4, they found that 3v3 provided the necessary clarity for players to maintain situational awareness during high-stakes skirmishes.
Despite the smaller team sizes, the environments remained vast. To bridge the gap between objectives, the team introduced animal mounts—a feature that began as a whimsical prototype. “We were initially just moving at high speeds to test the map,” McCord recalled. “Then a designer prototyped a rideable bear. We immediately saw the appeal of traversing a beautiful, fantasy world on the back of a powerful creature and decided to lean into that fantasy.”
Highguard’s aesthetic is a striking juxtaposition of traditional fantasy and gritty military tech. McCord describes the setting as “World War I Plus Plus”—a world where radio and radar are highly advanced, but digital screens and Wi-Fi don’t exist. While magic permeates the atmosphere, the combat remains grounded. The studio maintained a strict “no magic hands” rule, ensuring that powerful, tactile firearms remained the primary tools of destruction.
Although the game features a roster of eight distinct “Wardens,” the developers emphasize that Highguard isn’t a hero shooter in the traditional sense. The characters were designed to augment the specific needs of the raid mode rather than drive the gameplay themselves. Abilities are tactical rather than flashy—for instance, Scarlet can phase out walls to create new points of entry during a siege.
Refining the game meant leaving some ambitious ideas behind, including a robust base-building system. Grenier noted that players found the building mechanics distracted from the thrill of the assault. By pivoting to pre-built fortifications, the game achieved a much faster, more satisfying rhythm. However, nothing is truly lost; the team plans to introduce seasonal content and limited-time modes in upcoming “Episodes,” where even unconventional ideas like horse racing might eventually find a home.
Source: Polygon
