Highguard hands-on: PvP 'raid' shooter from Apex and Titanfall developers

Kotaku had hands-on time with Highguard, Wildlight Entertainment’s new “PvP Raid Shooter,” at a launch event in Los Angeles. Matches break into roughly three segments: players pick characters called Wardens, vote on one of four Keeps to defend, then spend a short minute allocating limited resources to reinforce three objective points that the enemy will try to destroy by planting bombs.

After that, teams gather resources across the map until the Shieldbreaker — a flag-like objective — spawns; bringing it to the opposing base damages health and knocks down shields to trigger a raid, while a Siege Tower appears as the raiding team’s spawn. Keeps vary in layout and trade-offs (the source describes Hellmouth as suspended over lava and Bellringer as more open with towers and a zipline), and players can buy gear from an in-world shopkeeper, Flynn, who is accompanied by a cross-eyed Owlbear Koala named Gregory.

Wildlight, formed by people who worked on Apex Legends and Titanfall, aimed for weightier but responsive gunplay, a polished UI and strong art direction. Wardens show distinct kits and personalities — examples cited include Kai’s ice walls and frost-giant ultimate, Una’s spirit grenadiers, and Scarlet’s ability to turn destructible walls to sand — and matches are paced to avoid long stalemates: devs target at most 30-minute games with more typical lengths of 15–20 minutes.