Highguard is arguably among the most anticipated releases of this year, so fans were extremely excited going into launch. The game has now officially released, but unfortunately, the reception is nowhere close to what many players may have expected.
Highguard has launched to mostly negative reviews on Steam. This is something that is extremely rare on any major platform, especially for a new release of this scale. Most players are highlighting that the game should not be a 3v3 experience, along with other major issues, such as poor performance.
Highguard Launches To Mostly Negative Reviews
Before launch, this game was being compared to the likes of Overwatch, which won Game of the Year in its release year. Due to those comparisons, the reaction at launch is even more surprising. The developers seem to have messed up pretty badly with this one. Highguard has over 12K reviews, and most of them are negative.
Highguard is a 3v3 game, and almost everyone is saying that this is not the right format for the overall design. Players mention that you end up spending most of the time simply running around the map, which, for many people, feels ridiculous and unfun.
The game clearly wasn’t designed or prepared for this level of scrutiny. Everything is blurry and unclear. The map is the size of Latvia but you only have 3 players so most of your time is spent running around the map looking for something to kill.
– Steam Review
According to several reviews, the map size is more suitable for 5v5 or even 6v6 matches. So, the 3v3 setup may have been a bad idea. This mismatch appears to heavily impact pacing and overall gameplay enjoyment.
Some reviews have even highlighted that the game looks blurry and unclear during matches. This is a huge issue for a shooting game where visibility and sharp visuals are absolutely critical.
And that is not all. Other players have complained about the structure of the game itself. They mentioned that it feels awkward and poorly designed, making the overall experience feel strange and uncomfortable.
An Unoptimised Mess?
One reviewer mentions running the game on a system with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, RTX 5080, and 64GB of RAM, yet the game still runs very poorly, despite being installed on an SSD.
According to the reviews, the game is definitely not in a condition to be played properly right now. Since Highguard is a free-to-play title, the developers should have delayed the release instead of launching in this state.
The current condition of the game is very poor, and it seems unlikely that the developers will be able to fix all of these issues in a short amount of time without major updates and significant changes.
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Obaid Ur Rehman is a lifelong gaming enthusiast with a deep passion for writing about video games. While he enjoys all genres, he specializes in RPGs and Soulslike titles. After tackling some of the toughest bosses, he often unwinds with a cozy game to relax. Outside of gaming, Obaid enjoys watching anime, bingeing TV series, or staying active at the gym.
