WildGate Community Preview Impressions (2025)
Overwatch meets Hunt Showdown meets Sea of Thieves?
Introduction
Boy, do I have a recommendation for you! Over this last weekend, my girlfriend and I got into the community preview for a game called WildGate. At first, when I saw this, I wasn’t too interested. But upon seeing there was a way to get into it early, I jumped on it (I always jump on things early, and I honestly can’t resist the prospect of an open beta).
What got me interested was looking a little closer at what the game was. The game looked to be a four-player Sea of Thieves-like experience—except you’re on a spaceship looking for loot, and the game is PVP.
Gameplay Overview
What do I mean by that? Sure, Sea of Thieves is PVP, but Sea of Thieves is an open-world, “level up yourself” kind of experience. WildGate takes Sea of Thieves combat and combines it with the combat of something like Overwatch or Hunt: Showdown.
Five teams of four people spawn into the map. You complete objectives to power up your ship, get ready for combat, and then engage in combat similar to Sea of Thieves—but, in my opinion, the combat here is much better.
To tie all of this together (and complete the comparison to Hunt: Showdown), there’s a MacGuffin you have to collect and get to the extraction point—generally in the middle of the map—to win the round. Instead of the open nature of Hunt: Showdown, you actually have a shared, single-winner objective. The other way to win is to be the last ship standing, which means you could just focus on PVP and destroy all enemies.
I find this system to be a really good middle ground for open, five-team PVP combat. The MacGuffin-style extraction system works well to encourage teams not to play too cautiously. Most games I’ve played end with one team standing, but occasionally, if teams are overly cautious, a team will collect an artifact (the MacGuffin) and extract through the WildGate before anyone can catch them.
Combat Mechanics
So, how’s the combat? In my opinion, it’s pretty good. While I don’t think all the guns are effective or interesting, the general feel of them—and the feedback you get for attacking enemies—is very satisfying. I didn’t try all the weapons, but most seemed underpowered compared to the default assault rifle. For the future, I’d like to see that changed to make more weapons viable.
Ship-to-Ship Combat
Let’s talk about ship-to-ship combat. The ship guns (even the starter ones) are extremely fun. This system shines compared to Sea of Thieves, where cannons are satisfying but difficult to use.
Another interesting aspect is that ships operate on a fixed plane. You can strafe up and down, but you can’t rotate freely (no “six degrees of freedom” like in Eve Online). This simplifies movement, making combat feel more like piloting a tank—a smart choice for accessibility.
However, the inability to strafe left/right is a mixed bag. It balances combat (you can’t endlessly face enemies), but maneuvering around obstacles can be frustrating. Crashing into asteroids or platforms happens often, and unsticking your ship is ridiculously hard. Real spaceships could use side thrusters—WildGate could benefit from that!
Boarding Mechanics
Boarding is another highlight. Pressing C instantly teleports you back to your ship, encouraging exploration and risky boarding attempts. That said, affecting enemy ships beyond killing their crew feels limited.
You can:
1. Remove support buffs to weaken their ship.
2. Steal advanced weapons to reduce their firepower.
3. Overload their engine (triggering a timed explosion).
These actions are dramatic but situational. For example, during electrical storms, disabling anti-electricity modules matters—but most losses came from straight-up PVP failures, not sabotage.
Character Abilities
WildGate’s characters resemble hero shooters but lack unique active abilities. Instead, passives define them, while active abilities (grenades, shields, traps) are shared across all characters.
The standout? The robot character. It ignores oxygen management and auto-refills abilities by teleporting to the ship. Other characters require constant oxygen refills and ability restocks, making the robot way more convenient. My girlfriend and I both gravitated back to it every time.
AI Encounters
Fighting AI monsters is fun but tough solo—it requires teamwork. The only bad encounter? One that drains oxygen rapidly. Playing as oxygen-dependent characters here is *annoying* (you pause every 10–15 seconds), but the robot trivializes it. Otherwise, these battles are a blast.
Sound & Art Style
The sound design is phenomenal—it clearly signals events and actions. The art style, while similar to other hero shooters, ensures characters and interactables pop against environments. It’s vibrant, readable, and harmlessly familiar.
UI Critique
The main menu UI needs work. Buttons for loadouts, customization, and characters look too similar. I often got lost trying to equip weapons vs. gadgets vs. skins. Other hero shooters handle this better.
Conclusion & Final Recommendation
WildGate’s preview shows huge potential. The ship combat is addictive, the extraction objective creates tension, and the robot character is a QoL godsend. Some tweaks—better weapon balance, strafing options, UI clarity—would polish it further.
Sign up for future community previews! You get three keys for friends, and it’s a blast even now. I can’t wait for the full release to dive in without weekend restrictions.
Thanks for reading—have a wonderful week!