👀Wardogs looks familiar... and great!
Have been following news around this Wardogs game for a little while & the devs just put out a sweet new video explaining some more general game background & its design philosophy. Going to be very cool to see a more hardcore analog of Battlefield, built from the ground up entirely for an experience that is between it & Arma in its gameplay but certainly one that feels closer at home with Battlefield & may attract some fans without leaning into that more sim-like direction of Squad, Arma, Tarkov etc. that some players don't always want the realism or depth of when looking to play a contemporary shooter like these. It is having a playtest and maybe some Early Access later this year and then hopefully in the next 12-24 months of development reaches fullest release & even gets console port at some point.
The game is 32 v 32 v 32 (yep even supports 100 players outside of BR modes) and the base game mode seems to be quite similar to Arma 3 King of the Hill, with 3 teams competing over designated Capture Zones. There's actually a video on their YouTube going over this similarity & they confirmed they've been working alongside the original developers of Arma 3 KOTH Sa-Matra & Roid Rage In their development of Wardogs to further evolve the gamemode. So not unlike Conquest, but probably with less flags per map in Wardogs to encourage more push-pull gameplay with strong combat fronts instead of the way Conquest with 5+ flags tends to be dominated by constantly going for another point, which to some end hurts pacing or at least at times detracts from that "all out warfare" it aims to portray. While being King of the Hill naturally like Conquest will deal with having teammates on point in a Capture Zone, but there also seems to be a level of greater depth interacting with sub-objectives like these screenshots of entering a pin on a computer terminal almost like something out of Helldivers 2.
Right off the bat, it looks very similar to Battlefield 6 even down to its UI. At first glance on those TVs in background with full HUD visible, you might even think it is just Battlefield 6 with its destruction, combined arms gameplay, and the same map in bottom left corner, compass up top, player equipment info in bottom right etc. But where Wardogs further differentiates itself is that it borrows a gear system similar to those found in extraction shooters & puts a heavier focus on individual player attrition and team logistics overall. With that being said, it still seems to feature a traditional class system like Battlefield with Assault/Medic/Recon/Support setup but also Pilot and I believe Tanker as well, so that will probably limit what gear you can choose from & there are XP paths gained in these for further unlocks. There are pros and cons with kitting yourself out like reductions to player movement speed with added gear weight, as well typical trade-offs in building weapons and more that will allow you to have drastically different possibilities for kitting yourself out & of course all-dependent on your available funds. Thankfully they've already stated there will be no way to just purchase cash with microtransactions so no pay to win, nor will there be ability to buy the gold bars for its grounded cosmetic items, so any ones you see are actually earned.
At the forefront of its difference is that it also features a much more realistic portrayal of equipment, with focus on true-to-life ballistics for weapons regarding projectile travel & penetration and grounded physics that still foundationally feel fun to engage with. But it doesn't lean so fully into these like Arma where it could almost be considered a sim, but just uses them as its backbone to provide a certain realistic flavor throughout the experience while still keeping its unique identity & gameplay loop that bit closer to Battlefield's direction of constant chaos erupting and generally being easier to pick up & play AND STILL HAS DESTRUCTION
You gain "money" for killing enemies and completing objectives & spend it on equipment for your own loadout, which naturally means you also lose it when you die, but you're constantly gaining money and the economy is presumably going to be set up in a way where it's not like you would be screwed with no gear and no way to quickly get some cash. It also sounds like there's some exchange of cash to gold bars for grounded cosmetic items and only these cosmetics would persist between seasonal resets but not the gear itself, in an effort to keep the playing floor more level between those that only hop on once in awhile & those that play nothing but it. I'm imagining there will be some rudimentary free base kit as well because at the end of the day this isn't an extraction shooter it's a wargame & you need to get back in the fight. Speaking of that also sounds like you won't be able to just spawn right on friendlies so will encourage greater teamplay & tactical decisions; I see they've got defib revive system just like Battlefield & seems some level of building + dismantling will be possible like BFV or Hell Let Loose.
I think this is a really promising-looking title to compete with Battlefield's all-out war gameplay but better suited for those seeking a bit more realism & depth while not fully leaning into the complexities of Squad or Arma. I look forward to seeing its development progress; I believe there is going to be more of an open Early Access in August & planned for full release at some point probably a year or so out from there. And yes, that was a new Xbox Dev Kit they seem to be testing on too so presumably we get console release at some point in the close(r) future!
I love Battlefield 6 but generally tend to lean further into seeking that realism direction or tactical decision-making plus an overall deeper metagame, so Wardogs sounds incredible in my eyes & I think a lot of Battlefield players would feel the same!