Earlier this month, Wildlight Entertainment invited a complete host of media and content material creators to take a hands-on take a look at Highguard–a 3v3 “raid shooter” whose huge reveal was the nearer to final month’s Game Awards. Reaction to that trailer was decidedly combined. This article isn’t about my ideas on the sport itself, which you’ll find right here, however quite what it felt prefer to attend an occasion for a sport which was already being handled by some on-line as gaming’s subsequent Concord. What’s it prefer to be one of many first folks outdoors of the studio to play one thing that so many had already written off regardless of probably not understanding what it was even making an attempt to be?
The Highguard Launch Event, as my lanyard calls it, was an all-day affair held in Los Angeles that was scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to six p.m. Making the trek from Long Beach, I boarded my Lyft (paid for by Wildlight) at about 7:45 within the morning, and regardless of my finest efforts at being punctual, didn’t arrive on the venue till about 9:15. Being caught in a sea of automobiles on the I-110 gave me a whole lot of time to consider what the day forward had in retailer.
While gamers experiencing the sport for the primary time at present can have a wholly totally different expertise, myself and the opposite people who skilled the sport that day solely had the TGAs trailer to base our expectations on, and it hardly advised us something in regards to the sport in any respect. None of us knew what a “PvP raid shooter” was, nor did we all know something in regards to the moment-to-moment gameplay past a brief description on the Steam retailer web page: “From the creators of Apex Legends and Titanfall comes Highguard: a PvP raid shooter where players will ride, fight, and raid as Wardens, arcane gunslingers sent to fight for control of a mythical continent.”
9:16 AM – January 21 – NYA West, A Hazy Recollection, And Coffee #2 (and #3)
The very first thing I observed upon arriving was a faint feeling of deja vu. I’d been to this venue earlier than, I assumed. It took me a couple of moments to understand that I’d been on this similar a part of city for EA’s personal preview occasion for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor again in 2023; I puzzled if the members of Wildlight accountable for selecting the place had nonetheless been at Respawn again then. After checking in at reception, I walked right into a foyer crammed with fellow members of the press from everywhere in the world. I grabbed my second espresso of the day, some yogurt, and an apple Danish from an assortment specified by entrance of me; apart from the espresso I’d grabbed earlier that morning I hadn’t but had any breakfast, and the longer-than-expected commute had me ravenous.
Kotaku / James Galizio
Conversing with different members of the press, I confirmed what I’d already assumed; none of us fairly knew what we have been about to play. Despite this, there was a quiet hope that maybe the trailer was a misstep, and that the sport itself would possibly impress. I spoke with GameSpot‘s Jordan Ramée and one other L.A. native freelancer pal of mine, Luis Joshua Gutierrez, amongst a couple of others, as I scarfed down my meals and occasional.
Out of the nook of my eye I observed Geoff Keighley. The Game Awards host was the one individual outdoors of the event staff who would possibly be capable to reply our questions as to what precisely Highguard is, as he’d performed it the earlier summer season earlier than asking the staff to let him put it in his December showcase. Had he chosen a shock hit, or connected his model to a different live-service dud?. I downed Coffee #3.
9:52 AM – So, What On Earth Is A “PvP Raid Shooter,” Anyway?
The occasion operating barely forward of schedule, we have been shepherded into an auditorium. Once everybody had been seated, we received the entire spiel–who Wildlight are, how Highguard got here to be, and what being a “raid shooter” really entails. Roughly 4 years in the past, when Wildlight was solely about 5 members huge, the staff spent a while taking part in shooters all day in the hunt for inspiration. As the staff put it, “we were trying to figure out what the question was that we wanted our game to answer.” Inspiration itself got here from the expertise of using to and raiding bases in Rust; the staff needed to determine a option to distill these experiences into one thing repeatable, with out all of the busy prep work that survival crafting video games require.
Of course, everybody needed to know why the staff had opted for radio silence because the sport’s reveal; the reply to that was twofold. We got one half of the reply there after which, with the opposite coming only a bit later within the day. Originally the staff had meant to shadowdrop the sport, a lot as they’d accomplished with Apex Legends after they had nonetheless labored at Respawn. As it so occurred, the Game Awards trailer solely got here to fruition on the eleventh hour after Geoff Keighley had supplied up the spot upon being impressed by the sport throughout his private demo earlier within the yr.
Kotaku / James Galizio
In hindsight, given how sophisticated the sport’s programs are to clarify and the TGAs’ strict runtime, it’s little shock the trailer struggled to land. The radio silence, then, was equal elements a return to the unique plan in addition to an acknowledgement that the sport would maybe finest converse for itself. Still, quite than being tossed in totally blind and letting the sport make its personal impression, press and influencers needed to watch a radical overview of the shooter’s mechanics and programs earlier than getting our arms on the controllers and keyboards laid out for us.
Entering the auditorium, I noticed the venue was cut up in two halves. On the proper have been teams of PCs, 6 a bit, paired with some very costly Dell 4K OLED displays. While by default gamers might play with mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse, Wildlight shortly famous that anybody who wished to play with a controller might request both a PlayStation 5 Dualsense or an Xbox Wireless Controller, and they’d convey one proper over. On the alternative wall was a set of 3D fashions of in-game belongings, heaps of idea artwork showcasing the sport’s world and its characters, and extra.
11:30 AM – Probing the Vibes
With lunch scheduled for midday, I solely had time for a handful of matches. IGN‘s Travis Northup had his first interview with the team scheduled early, leaving myself and the other member of our impromptu group–GameSpot‘s Jordan Ramée–to wander over to the art that caught our eye. I wondered how the artists that had drawn these felt about the reception to the game’s reveal.
It occurred to me at this level that the occasion took up a substantial amount of house, particularly when contemplating the modest variety of press in attendance. There have been a pair dozen of us, on no account a small quantity, but the venue was so massive that it bordered on feeling empty. I puzzled if the staff had anticipated or deliberate for a bigger viewers after they’d booked the situation; there was actually room for double, perhaps even triple the variety of attendees. Maybe the group through the influencer session, held a day earlier, had been lots larger. I grabbed Coffee #4 from a concessions desk whereas ready for the lunch unfold to be arrange.
Kotaku / James Galizio
After gorging myself on sandwiches, wraps, an vitality bar and no less than another cup of espresso I performed a couple of extra rounds of the sport earlier than heading off to a set of interviews with a number of the sport’s core designers, in addition to the studio’s cofounders. As the day progressed, it was fascinating watching people slowly come to grips with a number of the intricacies of the gameplay loop. You can learn my hands-on impressions right here, or determine for your self now that the total sport is reside.
5:12 PM – Winding Down, and Cacio e Pepe Pizza
The occasion was set to go till 6PM, however with the recollections of my agonizingly lengthy trip to the occasion I had no intentions of grabbing my Lyft residence proper in the midst of L.A.’s infamous rush hour site visitors. There have been no plans for an afterparty, although we had been given per diem playing cards to assist pay for meals and different facilities and some of us had the identical thought—we selected grabbing some pizza and drinks from a bar shut by that got here really helpful.
While ready in line to order my first drink, I witnessed what felt like a microcosm for the day’s occasions as a complete when the bartender tripped up and spilled a drink order for one get together. She shortly adjusted, repouring their beers and bringing them over efficiently with the second try, finally no worse for put on. I doubt the 2 gents who’d ordered them even keep in mind the spilled drinks; I get the sensation that Wildlight is banking on one thing related. If Highguard can finally converse for itself, then will it matter in the long run that they tousled with the reveal trailer? No one will keep in mind. Well, besides perhaps Geoff Keighley.
Scanning by means of the menu, my eye was drawn to an unorthodox-sounding pizza taste; Cacio e Pepe, just like the pasta dish. Evidently I used to be the one one on the desk that was accustomed to the flavour, and we ordered the pie to offer it a shot. It was scrumptious, and I’d solely want it hadn’t been devoured so shortly–I’d have liked a slice or two for the trip residence. Sometimes it’s good to take an opportunity on one thing totally different.
