Wardogs Screenshot
Image: BULKHEAD & Team17

Update []: At the time of writing, Wardogs is suffering from an overwhelming success, with over 340,000 players at peak, many stuck in queues trying to get in and play. As such, the game is, unsurprisingly, being review-bombed into the dirt. We'll circle back on this one once the fires die down a bit.

Original Story: Today's big release is a big-money game. Not in the sense that it took a hojillion dollars to make, but because everything in WARDOGS has a price. After several enormously popular playtests (drawing more players than both Battlefield and Call of Duty), the game makes its debut into early access today, bringing a refreshingly different and deeply cutthroat spin to the tried-and-tested sandbox FPS that the Battlefield series defined so well.

The big twist here is that everything in Wardogs–and I do mean everything–costs money. A hundred players split across three teams are fighting over randomly placed control points in a large open map. Each player starts with $10,000, which they spend on their initial gear. And then on bidding for a helicopter pilot player to give them a lift to the front-lines. And then potentially tip them on landing. And if you get shot? You can bribe nearby players to revive you. Every bullet fired has a cash value, and players have to invest money in cover to get between them and that oncoming fire.

That pool of money is only for that one match, though, making the stakes only moderately high instead of ulcer-inducing, and the chance of clawing your way back from bankruptcy a bit higher. The combat in Wardogs is a little more realistic than Battlefield, but not quite as demanding as the notoriously hardcore Squad, for instance. Combat can be very long range, but once a team has built a fort around a control point, close-quarters fighting is needed to take anything for your team, so it's not a snipefest.

It also feels like there's a bit of Foxhole inspiration here, in that logistics are important as well. Players can build bases (ideally around the capture points) to help reinforce and push the advantage once key ground has been taken, but construction efforts require logistics, with the resources needed to build those structures needing to be driven across the battlefield, and potentially hit en-route. A miniature all-fronts war in a single match.

Interestingly, this isn't close to studio Bulkhead's first rodeo. They previously developed the popular-at-the-time WW2 shooter Battalion 1944, which is now available free, albeit unsupported, as well as twitchy FPS speedrunner KILLRUN. While decent, neither really found much traction, unlike Wardogs, which already has countless players rushing to the servers even in early access. Third time's the charm, huh?

Wardogs is out now for £37/$40, with a Supporter Pack edition costing a bit more, and adding a handful of cosmetic goodies. The studio also promise that the game won't be monetized beyond this through its entire stint in early access, which is nice to hear. There are plans to raise the game's base price as it closes in on V1.0, but that won't be for a while, as they they estimate at least one year in early access, maybe two.