Wildgate Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, & PC)

Launching into space to extract an ancient artifact is something you have probably already heard of (and played through) in gaming. However, Wildgate is putting its own unique twist on space extraction by firstly, placing a timer within which you must escape through, you guessed it, the “wild gate.” All the while, rival ships will be looking to stop you by whatever means necessary. They may board your ship, sabotage core systems, kill everyone, and steal the artifact for themselves, essentially Sea of Thieves in space. 

It has indeed been a smooth ride for developer Moonshot Games and publisher Dreamhaven following their hugely successful beta run. Nearly every previewer and early tester of Wildgate has come out singing high praises of its chaotic and intense gameplay. Being a team-based, co-op game, though, several things could go wrong at launch, including a small player base. 

Without friends to team up with, you might be looking at matching with random online players who you find difficult to collaborate with. Worse? There might be sweaty players from the beta, beating down on your self-esteem and willingness to stick around for longer than the refund period. Despite these, will Wildgate still succeed? How worthwhile is playing the game, all things considered? Let’s delve deeper into the pros and cons in our Wildgate review below. 

First Things First

Upon booting up Wildgate, you’re tasked with two main things: choosing a character and ship. There are seven playable characters at launch, donning the most eccentric alien fantasy and sci-fi-based aesthetics. Their designs call back to hero shooters, with unique backstories and abilities. However, the most significant distinctions lie in passive abilities. For instance, a propensity for ship maintenance, stealth, telekinesis, and speed. Otherwise, characters share active abilities and weapons, allowing you to freely experiment and craft your unique playstyles. 

For a multiplayer PvP game, though, the character roster may feel limited. It’d be great if there were a bigger selection pool, and most especially, having distinct active abilities. Moving on to the spaceships, there are five total. Each is unique in appearance and abilities, with some bigger, faster, more durable, or wielding more weapons and shields. From here, you can invite three of your friends to join you, with cross-play and cross-progression available. With the limited player base, though, at least at launch, you’re more likely to match with online players. 

You’ll have to be lucky to match with compatible random players because beating Wildgate requires serious teamwork and collaboration. One of you can break from the mold and do whatever they want. However, with four other teams looking to gut you and your ship, your best bet might be watching one another’s backs. It’s all easier said than done, given the constant communication you need to engage in. However, find a team that’s easy to work with, and Wildgate’s gameplay will deliver on its promise. 

Boots Dirty

You can split the core roles among yourself, with someone to fly the ship, of course, while others head out and explore space for valuable resources. Every role is vital in coming out of the ship-to-ship combat in one piece. It doesn’t mean, though, that you can’t employ different strategies. Some spaceships focus on the offense, instantly waging war against other teams. After all, the last spaceship standing wins the game. However, offense can return to bite you when you run out of ammunition mid-combat. 

Alternatively, you can sneak around the expansive map, collecting resources. You especially need fuel to run your ship and boost its performance, but also ice for healing. These can be split among your teammates. As one player flies the ship, you need another to launch probes that explore and scan the map for the location of rival ships and points of interest. And another needs to head out and collect fuel, ice, and ammunition. It all runs smoothly, even when going out to mine for resources, thanks to a teleportation feature back to base. 

All the while, you run into enemy and rival ships. You might have to invade alien territory, pillaging their resources once you defeat them. Keep in mind, though, that at any moment, rival ships may attack you and steal the resources for themselves. There’s always a constant need to watch your back, even when running into environmental hazards. You might encounter thick asteroids, space storms, radiation zones, fog, and more hazards that might impede your ship and crew’s health. And since the environment is procedurally generated, you never quite know what’s coming. Thus, every run always brings its own unique challenges and unpredictability. 

The Ancient Artifact

On the one hand, you can attack all the other teams and become the last ship standing. Otherwise, you can track down an ancient relic called the “Artifact,” of great significance to this world. Once secured, you must escape through the “Wildgate,” with the Artifact within a set timer. It won’t be easy navigating hazardous space while fending off rival ships. Yet, this is where Wildgate’s gameplay truly picks up pace. On the outside, you engage in exhilarating ship-to-ship combat. Since you can only maneuver on a static plane, it makes combat easier, simply launching powerful grenades and turrets at enemies. You can tear down their shields, bursting through the ship’s shell to kill the pilot, all while taking damage yourselves.

With how chaotic dogfights can get, you want to engage in them with your ship thoroughly locked and loaded. You want to explore the map for more powerful cannons with devastating damage output. Your defenses need due attention, too, upgrading your shields to withstand enemy attacks. Meanwhile, you can work on upgrading your engines and fuel efficiency, too. And at this point, it’s the team with the superior attack and defense strategy that succeeds, alongside a generous supply of ammunition and ice. With the basics sorted, you can then ram into enemy spaceships, deploying mines and traps, while employing cloaking and other evasive maneuvers. 

All Hands on Deck

Ship-to-ship combat is satisfying, as you watch rival ships succumb to a flurry of chaos and rage. But while up-close-and-personal with the enemy spaceships, they might decide to infiltrate your ship and cause all manner of trouble. Enemies can start fires, disable weapons, destroy upgrade systems, overheat the engine, and kill your crewmates. And after wreaking havoc, they leave with your most valuable resources and equipment. Fortunately, Wildgate’s sound is shockingly accurate, to the point of hearing approaching footsteps. As enemies try to infiltrate your ship, you can hear them clunking away at the ship’s exterior. You can hear them successfully break in, and explosive sound effects as they cause all manner of damage. 

Notably, though, when enemies overload your reactor, there’ll be a countdown. So, your ship won’t immediately blow up, and you can instantly respond and repair the damage to avoid losing the match. Amid all the chaos and attempting to neutralize the damage, Wildgate comes out as one of the most fun shootouts you can engage in. Even the first-person combat is satisfying, with weapons packing a heavy punch. Your strategies and collaboration pay off, sustaining the match with intensity and adrenaline spikes. Even though some instances are relatively more tense than others, with the latter stages of the match demanding everything you’ve got, to make it through the Wildgate or survive the onslaught of rival ships, it’s overall a blast journey with friends or otherwise.

Verdict

Wildgate is far from perfect, and dare I say, solely because of its multiplayer offering. Everything else works without a fault, whether it’s the satisfying combat systems, in both first-person and ship-to-ship dogfights, or navigating hazardous regions of space. Flying the spaceships is smooth, with your adrenaline flow pumping harder during dogfights. You employ every attack and defense strategy you’ve got, dipping into all of the resource gathering and teamwork preparation you have done in the early stages of gameplay. All your actions have meaning, whether they pay off when facing a rival enemy or encounter hostile alien territory. 

Infiltrating rival ships and sabotaging their core systems feels very much like the chaos and mayhem of Sea of Thieves. It’s all hands on deck when you’re attacked from all sides, and you must divide and conquer if you’re to come out alive. It’s unfortunate then that Wildgate has a limited player base at launch. So, if you don’t have three friends to play with, you’ll have to match with random players online. And in gaming, random online players aren’t always matches made in heaven. Not to mention the vigorous coordination and collaboration you need to survive Wildgate, that doesn’t always come easily among strangers. 

Perhaps if Wildgate were free-to-play, it’d have incentivized more players to try it out, because the gameplay is certainly a blast. For now, though, it’s hard to say whether buying it will prove completely worthwhile. Perhaps with future post-launch content, adding a more diverse roster. Perhaps with some kind of regulated matchmaking, ranking players’ levels and compatibility, whatever way that might work. We’ll have to wait and see.