First Impressions - WARDOGS

My first few matches in WARDOGS played out a lot like my first few raids in Escape from Tarkov. I’d buy whatever gear I could afford, head straight for the map’s hot zone, and promptly get sniped from a mile away. Sometimes, I’d manage to loot a nice piece of equipment before my demise. Occasionally, I’d even land a kill. Regardless of what was happening during my character’s short, miserable life, though, I was almost always smiling instead of reaching for the Alt and F4 keys. WARDOGS isn’t perfect. But if people are still playing it a few years from now, it could become one of the genre’s staples.

‍

In short, the game is Arma 3’s King of the Hill mode in the form of a standalone game. In long… it’s still basically a fleshed-out version of a mode from Bohemia Interactive’s decade-old shooter.

The basic idea here is simple. You and 30-odd teammates are tasked with surviving on a giant map while doing your best to ensure two enemy teams don’t do the same. Killing opponents, healing friendlies, building bases and fighting enemy players nets you cash to spend on weapons and vehicles. When you die, you lose whatever was in your inventory. Then you’re sent back to a spawn area, where you can buy new equipment and hitch a ride in a chopper or truck with a support-minded player eagerly waiting to take you back into the fray. Teams gain points for every warm body they keep alive on the battlefield, and whichever one does that for long enough wins.

There’s a lot more happening during any given match. But none of it really matters. What does is that, once a game gets going, WARDOGS makes it easy to kill a few hours. That doesn’t mean the rest of the package is bad, mind. The arsenal at your disposal isn’t huge, but what’s here feels great to use. The visuals and audio are pretty good, while class and character progression nets you meaningful rewards. There are no major bugs or server issues to speak of, either. For something still in Early Access, WARDOGS doesn’t feel particularly bare-bones.

‍

But, again, that’s not what makes WARDOGS great. The fact that you can blow holes in small structures or use hilarious animations to revive your teammates doesn’t sell the game, either. Instead, WARDOGS occupies an almost perfect middle ground between full-blown milsims, slightly more accessible hardcore experiences like Squad or Escape from Tarkov, and casual shooters. You’re rewarded for almost everything you do, whether that’s transporting supplies to your team’s forward operating bases or taking down enemy helicopters. And despite all the military hardware and tactical gameplay, most players are more interested in making jokes than pretending they’re actually at war.

In almost every match, you can expect to spend some time in the middle of a firefight. You’ll probably die a bunch, bullshit with your teammates, insult your enemies over text chat, and swing a virtual hammer for a bit. There’s plenty of downtime and action, but very little of either feels like it exists solely to waste your time. There’s always something for you to do that’ll reward you with experience points and cash, even if that’s driving a logistics truck while listening to your in-game radio blast Ride of the Valkyries. All of that makes it a hell of a Friday night shooter.

‍

That doesn’t make it flawless, though. Map design is the game’s biggest problem. All three of them are simply too big. They discourage huge battles and promote sniping or one-on-one gunfights. For an FPS that exists in the same genre as the aforementioned Squad, that’s hard to overlook. There are also assorted balancing issues, like long-range rifles being effective at almost any distance, and a few conspicuous omissions, like the ability to permanently purchase weapons.

Those issues can probably be addressed with future patches. What can’t be fixed is WARDOGS’ potential to be just another flash in the pan, however. BattleBit Remastered, ARC Raiders, Helldivers 2 and countless others occupied the space the game is in right now. They were all massively popular casual-ish experiences, until they weren’t. Now many of them are left with a tiny fraction of their peak playercounts, along with much of the community activity that made them enjoyable. For a lot of titles, that wouldn’t fundamentally change the experience. It absolutely does for WARDOGS, though. The game only works when its servers are full of people willing to fly helicopters, build bases, insult other players and, most importantly, shoot at one another. A year from now, WARDOGS’ biggest problem may not be its maps. It could be you trying to find 99 other people to play with.

If its playerbase sticks around, WARDOGS could become one of the staples of the genre. And even if the game doesn’t last, it’s fun as hell right now. It’s a good shooter that lets you play however you want and still make meaningful progress. The game doesn’t care if you’re swinging a hammer at a forward operating base, racking up a high K/D ratio, or simply flying more competent players around while blasting music through your microphone. There’s always something to do, and it's almost always entertaining. The question isn’t whether WARDOGS is fun right now. It’s whether, in a year, it’ll have a playerbase.

WARDOGS is currently in Steam Early Access. Check back on Jump Dash Roll for a full review when it launches!