Wildgate, a venture into the stars and a new adventure for ye pesky space pirates who look to plunder, jetpack and blast away legion raiders and splodgy green alien lifeforms. Wildgate is developed by Moonshot Games, which have had their first outing with the space-bound title and look to cement their space on the market, pun intended. The space-based looter-shooter, which focuses on online gameplay where you have to loot, scavenge and find the artefacts set out per game to send your crew back to safety through the aptly named wildgates. It essentially follows the same recipe of Sea of Thieves but without the story to back it!
Speaking of story, there doesn’t seem to be much of one, barring the fact that you, as a prospector, are setting out to scavenge Typhon Reach, a cosmic vortex which is brimming with lost artefacts waiting for said prospectors to relocate them. However, where Wildgate did pull me in was its array of interesting characters.
From a suave jacketed robot gifted with the ability to not require oxygen to a jacked alien known as Ion with four arms and plenty of firepower to get the job done, as he can charge down ship doors whilst raising Hell. I was impressed at the choices and the different abilities each unique character had! The story behind some of the characters is cool and keeps the keen mind engaged to make a favourite out of the ragtag prospectors.
Where Wildgate really drew me in was the gameplay. The gameplay solidifies itself by engrossing you in the world of a scavenger, looting the brink of space for forgotten artefacts to make a pretty penny back at Lucky Docks. As I was saying, the gameplay crosses between a looter-shooter and a tactical combat game, from tight gunfights with Aliens and legion raiders to vast combat between spaceships. There is something that has always kept me on my toes.
However, I did humbly forget my ship was a thing, and it got blasted away whilst I was up to my knees in loot! In my opinion, the ship controls and how the ships are piloted are a bit janky. If there was a right stick to swiftly move the ship around whilst controlling the throttle with the left stick option, I’d be leaping towards it.
What it does lack, though, is the charm and replayability that would usually keep me interested in a game long enough to push on and try new things. I often found myself having to play the PvE versus AI mode rather than the advertised PvP mode as there seemed to be a lack of player count, and this was at several points during the days I played mind you.
The combat impressed me though, as there are a bunch of uniquely designed guns to use, and the little gadgets I had, such as a nifty teleporting device and a bomb trap, had everything to keep me satiated during battle. However, I found myself bored with the game after only a round or two of space adventuring.
Wildgate features two main modes: a solid PvE mode, where you can choose to engage with a crew of your own friends, or random scavengers from across the globe. You undertake the challenge of overcoming the legion and returning artefacts through the Wildgate, and to accompany this is a PvP mode; a mode that, unfortunately, seems lacking for players to ever really get into a consistent rhythm, as when I searched for a match it took more than 10 minutes, only to not find a suitable crew. Therefore, I opted for the PvE mode, which still holds a good tone for the game. However, I feel the game hasn’t caught the eye of too many potential prospectors.
Off the pilot’s seat for a second though, the game runs pretty smoothly. It has the feel of Sea of Thieves and Starfield blended together to make a Sea of Starfield baby, with similar art style and graphics to Sea of Thieves while the gameplay took note of Starfield’s combat and ship mechanics. BUT… and let me say a big but, where Wildgate takes its own stride is where it had me gazing off into the stars from the balcony of my ship, whilst then also remembering I have to beat other teams to the artefact to race to the wildgate, the portal of which you win a match through! Wildgate has that cartoony, character design and world design that Sea of Thieves has but has a smoother feel when it comes to getting around with your jetpack strapped to your back in the cosmic wonder that is the Reach.
As always with my reviews, you should expect a soundtrack paragraph and, as always, here it comes. The soundtrack on the title screen and mode select, has a keen and explorative tone, calling you in to explore the sea of stars, known as the final frontier. Not just that, within the game, there is a soft track that glazes in and out of the background as you float around on your jetpack and take in the vastness of the ever-changing Reach. Not only does Wildgate have its calming tone, but it also has action tracks that were playing as I was blasting at the legion raiders trying to thwart my attempt at stealing valuable loot!
Overall, Wildgate does a good job of holding your attention for a few matches, but after that it becomes pretty stale. The combat flows, and the exploration is solid, but there just seems to be something missing that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, other than the other players that were notably missing. Wildgate deserves to be looked at and, in all seriousness, should be put either on Game Pass to be taken full advantage of, or it needs a sale to interest more players in checking out the unique looter-shooter. There are pros and cons to be had with this game all around, from janky ship controls to unique characters. However, those unique characters’ charm can’t quite carry the game over the line to success!
If the developers put out more content for this title, then people will be sold as there is definitely a hidden gem in the rough here amongst a plethora of space-themed games, but it needs some more polish before it will keep players interested long enough to retain a sizable enough player base.
Overall Score – 6/10, good effort at a space adventure with a looting twist hidden there but lacks the players and adventure to keep people playing for long, which makes for an unfortunate outcome for the release as the game has the potential to become better with more heads turned and if it did key things better.
Wildgate is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam and PlayStation 5 for the price of $29.99.
