Episode 599: WARDOGS Alpha Review: Battlefield But Dying Actually Matters

Imagine Battlefield, but dying matters. That's the WARDOGS closed alpha in one sentence — and after a weekend in it, we're calling it the most polished alpha we've ever played.

WARDOGS is Bulkhead and Team17's 100-player tactical shooter: three factions, one randomized control zone, first side to 100 points wins. You start with $10,000, you buy your loadout from in-game vendors, and when you die you lose the gear AND the money you spent on it. The money carries between matches. You can loot the guy you just killed and walk away with a level 30 kit you couldn't buy for another six hours.

In this episode: what the alpha actually plays like, why the economy isn't the gimmick people think it is, how three-way faction warfare changes your strategy, the 256 square kilometre map, destructible towers, the reviving system Battlefield should steal, TTK and gunplay, why an Arma 3 King of the Hill mod is the reason none of this feels half-baked — and the two things that genuinely pissed us off.

Plus the final verdict, the scores, and the one thing that could still ruin this game.

Raz thinks it's a flawless alpha. Jake wants free look. Neither of us can stop playing it.

0:00 - Intro

1:14 - Patreon, free trials and the hangout

3:58 - What WARDOGS actually is

4:21 - Two things we had wrong before playing

6:07 - Unlock fees and gear progression

7:51 - The NDA that stopped us streaming

8:23 - Control zone, hot zone and how you score