Highguard is out now after a really weird period of time in which it seemed like everyone had an opinion on a game that we’d only seen two minutes of via a Game Awards finale trailer. Anyway, it’s finally here, and I’ve played about six hours of the new free-to-play FPS so far. While I’m not an expert, I have put enough time in solo and with friends to come to one conclusion: 3 players versus 3 players is a problem.
How a match in Highguard works is that two teams of three spend a bit of time setting up defenses at a base, then everyone rushes out into a big map to find loot, and eventually they all race to a large sword that forms somewhere and which can be used by one team to break into the other’s big base. Then a raid happens, with the attacking team trying to blow up key locations like in a match of Counter-Strike with limited respawns, while the defenders try to take them out and stop the assault. Eventually, one team will win, and the other will lose. These matches can be tense and come down to one awesome play by one player. And this is a problem in a 3v3 format.
I think a key aspect of online competitive multiplayer games that doesn’t get talked about much is that you need enough players to let people “blame” someone else.
Battlefield 6, for example, is really good at providing you and your friends plenty of other people you can blame for losses or slow victories. And even Call of Duty, which has smaller lobbies, still has more than 3v3 in most modes, which lets less skilled players feel less pressure to perform perfectly. “It’s okay, there are a few other people. I’m not ruining the match!” And as someone who is good at some shooters and bad at others, being able to blame others or not feel like I’m the sole reason we lost is very helpful.
Highguard’s 3v3 format and focus on tactical teamwork means there’s nowhere for people who are learning or less-skilled players to hide. I had a match in which a teammate I’d been randomly matched with seemed to be still getting the hang of the game, which makes sense as it just launched, but they failed in some team fights and screwed up a key 1v1 battle, and it led to us losing. The other rando I was with wasn’t kind on the mic. Will that less-skilled player want to come back?
3v3 also just feels like too few people for Highguard’s massive maps. The moment one person splits off, they are likely to run into two or three enemy players if they push too far, and that’s a fight they’ll likely lose. With 4v4 or 5v5, people could split up but still have at least a partner to help. It could make base defense more exciting as you could more evenly split yourselves between the bombs and make rotating less necessary, which would help when playing with no-mic randos.
I’m not suggesting that developer Wildlight can just go in, flip a switch and instantly turn Highguard into a 4v4 or 5v5 game. But, if the team is looking for a way to bring in more players and make it easier for casual shooter fans to enjoy what it offers, I think upping the playercount in a “casual” mode that also contains a few other tweaks could go a long way toward helping Highguard stick around and even grow.