Sea of Thievesis a fantastic game, a masterstroke from developer Rare that freed the legendary studio from the Kinect prison that Microsoft had imprisoned it within. However, its gameplay loop of looting and sailing never really clicked with me.
I’m all for co-piloting a large ship with a group of friends, sailing the high seas and engaging in a respectable amount of piracy. However, I have a competitive streak, and Sea of Thieves' continuous and co-operative gameplay didn’t really scratch that itch.
There’s a bigger focus on emergent gameplay in Sea of Thieves, more akin to Rust or Ark: Survival Evolved than the sort of thing I’m looking for. But there were glimmers of potential worth acknowledging — the teamwork in piloting the ship, the excitement of entering combat with other players.
One night, some friends asked me if I wanted to try out one ofSteam Next Fest’s many betas. They had already been playing this particular game for a couple of nights, so I was hesitant; you never want to be the one who’s worse than everyone else, right? But on this particular occasion, I decided to dive right in.
Calm Before the Storm
The game in question wasWildgate, a debut title from Moonshot Games, an internal studio operating under Dreamhaven, a publisher founded by former Blizzard executive Michael Morhaime.
Wildgate is described as a “PvP multiplayer shooter”, but that doesn’t really do it justice. It’s an engrossing space combat game: an extraction shooter meets Sea of Thieves. Four players pilot a spaceship, spawning into a sizable map with the objective of either eliminating every other team or escaping through the titular wildgate with an artifact that spawns after a certain amount of time has passed in the match.
Wildgate is played from a first-person perspective; players physically move around ships, dungeons and in space (though oxygen is limited for non-robotic characters).
At the beginning of each round, the objective is to gather resources. This is done by clearing out enemy dungeons filled with non-player characters, and by mining asteroids made of ice or fuel, two key components. Ice heals your ship, and fuel allows you to boost — both of which are very important for space combat.
Once your ship is adequately geared, you’re able to go hunting for enemies. There’s a probing system where you can pilot drones to scout out the surrounding area, alerting you of dungeons, resources, and most importantly, other spacecraft that might be gearing up for a similar fight.
These ships are not X-Wings; they have turning circles like World War 2-era tanks, and your guns are not always ideally positioned. Having advanced warning of an oncoming craft is crucial so you can fine-tune your ship’s position, giving you the best chance of success.
Piracy in Space
Combat is where Wildgate shines. The space combat is frenetic with plenty of variables. You can try and punch through your opponent’s shields, destroying their craft with your own guns, which can be upgraded with loot found in dungeons. Or you can take an even more chaotic route, ramming your ship into theirs with an intergalactic death wish.
There are several ships, each with a different layout. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses that need to be adapted to. For example, one ship has six guns on its front, so attacking it from behind or on its sides is crucial to beating it.
My personal favourite but ill-advised strategy is to leave my ship completely, grappling across the dark of space to land on my enemy’s spaceship. If your opponents aren’t diligent, you can sow a lot of chaos from this position. For example, one time I successfully shot the pilot in the back of the head, killed a gunner and then sat in the pilot’s seat, lowered their shields and set their ship on a course that exposed their less-defended side to my crewmates, all in about 20 seconds before being killed myself.
You can always teleport back to your ship, so there’s little danger of getting stuck in dungeons when you and your friends are under attack
This strategy can especially be useful as a Hail Mary when you’re outgunned. If you can disrupt your opponents, you might buy your pilot enough time to escape and live to fight another day. I loved being a gunner, but there’s something special about a game-saving solo play.
Of course, these fights don’t happen in a vacuum… Well, actually, they do because it’s space, but what I mean is that three other ships could potentially enter your one-versus-one. You need to be reasonably sure you can destroy your enemy promptly before committing, because there’s nothing worse than winning a close encounter, only to have a healthy ship emerge into vision over the tip of an asteroid. There’s little chance of surviving these encounters.
As your ship takes damage, you’ll need to go around putting out fires and repairing broken windows, doors and machinery. The game becomes a balance of repairing, returning fire, dealing with boarders, piloting and ensuring you’re not getting flanked by another opponent. There’s a lot of intricacy to these fights, and I found myself fully engrossed in every round.
There’s also the option of escaping with an artifact that spawns after a certain amount of time has passed. It’s an extraction shooter-inspired solution to games that run too long.
Wildgate’s beta didn’t attract a massive number of players,peaking at around 14,000 concurrent playersduring the event. I sincerely hope that the game can maintain an active audience, because there’s a very strong core loop here.
Wildgate releases July 22 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It will cost $29.99.
