Respawn Entertainment the studio behind Apex Legends as well as Titanfall has now officially presented its next big thing. The name is Highguard, an ‘all-new PvP raid shooter’ is the description. Twitter announcement also elaborated on the key points: the participants are Wardens, the war is for the mythical artifact called the Shieldbreaker, you invade an enemy stronghold, and the destruction is there. The hint is this that it is something never seen before and extraordinary. Nevertheless, the online gamers’ reply is utterly opposite. It has been a brutal fight with no opportunity to argue for any similarity whatsoever. The unveiling of the game has not only been characterized by skepticism, memes, and even hostility but all at once.
So, what really is Highguard? Team shooter where the objective is to capture the opponent’s stronghold is what it sounds like from the announcement. You can ‘mount, fight, and pillage.’ There is a vehicle shown that looks like some kind of armored animal? Maybe a donkey? That detail is not so clear. It appears that the main loop consists of capturing (the Shieldbreaker) and then using it as a device to invade and destroy the other side’s base. The first-person MOBA analogy that players instantly drew was to a more objective-oriented hero shooter type. One player, Farbklex91, directly asked: ‘I need someone to explain to me what a raid shooter is. It looked like a MOBA shooter. Is that an extraction shooter?’ That is exactly where the confusion becomes widespread.
And that confusion was soon turned into criticism. The negative vibe in the replies is hard to be overstated. In fact, it is shockingly so. One reviewer who goes by the name Kerguelen added just the popcorn emojis to his comment, ‘This is going to crater so hard.’ Another user, Birnel, predicted the duration of its whole life cycle: ‘Launching Jan 26 closing June 26.’ Ouch! ‘Dead on arrival’ or one of its variations was, in fact, a frequently uttered expression. GShooter786 candidly declared: ‘This game is already dead.’ Terry L. gave it a timeline: ‘Server dead in 3 months type game.’ It is so clear that there is a lack of trust.
That said, a significant portion of the negativity is not directed at Highguard per se but rather to what it is not. And it is not Titanfall 3. Players have desperately asked for the return of their beloved mech-piloting franchise. Those who have been wishing for the reanimated Titanfall saga will see the unveiling of a new and mysterious IP from the development studio as nothing short of a stab in the gut. ‘This is the Slop we are getting instead of titanfall 3 :(‘ was Annony’s comment. Hooddreamer_ was even more direct: ‘ANYTHING except Titanfall 3. Can’t wait for this shitstain to fail.’ That is heartfelt hatred and a tough position to recover from. It has created an extremely unfavorable first impression where the game is not judged based on its merits but rather as the one that killed a dream.
Apart from the aesthetics of the game, the lack of originality which was thought to be the main issue was also the focus of other complaints. ‘Just more of the same,’ said Shiny Scyther. Average, dull, and painfully generic are the terms used by several users. NoOneC00l gave a very colorful review: ‘THIS GAME LOOKS LIKE ASS CHEEKS HOLY.’ While some were saying it was similar to other recent high-profile failures, they were also making jokes. ‘Concord 2 baby! Let’s go!’ one might say in reference to suggestions like Sony’s recently cancelled live-service hero shooter. Jeuka93 called it ‘Concord 2 sword and board boogaloo.’ If the launch of your new game is immediately referred to as a notorious commercial failure, then that’s… not a good sign.
However, just a handful of people dared to express optimistic or curious viewpoints. Goat-San appeared to be fascinated: ‘I see a new main game for me.’ The_Zarinka tried to be positive by connecting the present project with Respawn’s past successes: ‘Apex was truly awesome, Titanfall was legendary, Highguard is shaping up to be absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!’ And Elder_Gamesman pointed out a different mood, claiming it gave them ‘Paladins vibes’ and that was nice. But these remarks were submerged in a sea of total and unquestionable disbelief.
Some of the critiques were more meta. X17Dell51937 accused the announcement post of being deceiving, claiming that it was the ‘PlayStation‘ of misleading trailers. The game is also expected to launch on Xbox and other platforms.
