Ex-Blizzard Boss's Wildgate Plays Like The Star Trek Game I've Always Wanted

I began my hands-on preview with Wildgate--one of the first projects from former Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime's Dreamhaven firm--worried that it might be trying to do too much. The briefing just before the preview session began mentioned a lot of different elements at once: 20-person multiplayer, space exploration, two types of combat, procedurally generated worlds, and the list goes on. If even one of these elements didn't deliver, the entire experience will be worse for it.Somehow, Wildgate sticks the landing so far. The ability to seamlessly shift between exploration and combat is impressive, progression feels earned rather than forced, and the format lends itself to all sorts of different strategies based on the players joining you on the expedition. After playing a few matches against both AI and human opponents, Wildgate is showing some real promise as the next big multiplayer experience. Wildgate matches throw five teams of five players each into a wide-open 8x8 grid of space in pursuit of the Artifact, a mysterious item of vast power. The main objective for each team is to find the Artifact and take it through the Wildgate, thus escaping with the big prize, but a team can also win by being the last ship standing at any point in the match.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Mar 25, 2025 - 19:59

I began my hands-on preview with Wildgate--one of the first projects from former Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime's Dreamhaven firm--worried that it might be trying to do too much. The briefing just before the preview session began mentioned a lot of different elements at once: 20-person multiplayer, space exploration, two types of combat, procedurally generated worlds, and the list goes on. If even one of these elements didn't deliver, the entire experience will be worse for it.

Somehow, Wildgate sticks the landing so far. The ability to seamlessly shift between exploration and combat is impressive, progression feels earned rather than forced, and the format lends itself to all sorts of different strategies based on the players joining you on the expedition. After playing a few matches against both AI and human opponents, Wildgate is showing some real promise as the next big multiplayer experience.

Wildgate matches throw five teams of five players each into a wide-open 8x8 grid of space in pursuit of the Artifact, a mysterious item of vast power. The main objective for each team is to find the Artifact and take it through the Wildgate, thus escaping with the big prize, but a team can also win by being the last ship standing at any point in the match.Continue Reading at GameSpot