Wardogs isn’t quite like anything else that I’ve ever played. It is, at first glance, nothing more than your standard multiplayer FPS. It has the same guns that you’ve seen in Call of Duty or Battlefield. It has many of the same vehicles, even. Then you play it a little bit, and then a bit more, until the differences become entirely obvious.

Above and beyond winning matches or killing foes, your aim in Wardogs is to earn cold, hard cash. You’re a mercenary, explicitly so, drafted into one of three Private Military Companies (PMCs) vying for control over the map. There are many different ways to make your daily bread. That’s good, since you’ll need money for almost everything from progression to buying your loadout each time you respawn. You could opt to go to the frontline along with most people, directly battling your opponents and netting a tidy sum in the process. The gunplay is satisfying, and the time-to-kill/time-to-die is rapid enough to make it an exhilarating experience. You can also make a heap of cash up on the frontline as a medic.

But if you don’t fancy that, there’s an almost Foxhole-like bevvy of support roles that you can step into.

All about the Benjamins

From flying helicopters full of newly-spawned players to the combat zone, driving trucks laden with supplies to your team’s Forward Operating Bases, or putting those supplies to good use by constructing defences, there’s no shortage of lucrative possibilities in Wardogs.

You’re ranked on the scoreboard by how much cash you’ve made, so it’s not unusual to see top-ranked players with no kills; they’re probably working as a dedicated air taxi service and getting paid well for it

The maps are large enough that you really do depend on these non-combatants, too. It reminds me of MAG back on the PS3, or the sprawling landscapes of the Arma/Operation Flashpoint series. You don’t always have to wait for a taxi, though, as a vehicle parked in your FOB can be spawned at once your team racks up 20 points. To get those points – 100 of which wins your team the match – you need to have more players in the circular Control Zone than either of the other teams. Every 30 seconds, a point is awarded to the team with the most players in the zone.

It’s strange, really, that in two of the best games of Wardogs I’ve played so far, I’ve not actually been playing offensively. In one, I was a driver, ferrying supplies back and forth to keep my team stocked up on ammo, building supplies, and fuel. In the other, I was technically playing recon, but spent most of my time with a virtual eye glued to the spotter scope, keeping watch rather than using my rifle.

Scoping it out

There are definitely issues with the game as it stands. The lack of Linux support is a big one, and is particularly frustrating since Linux users are able to play earlier playtest builds from before the anticheat software changed.

Another issue is tied to the game feeling unnecessarily harsh for your first few levels. You can’t buy body armor or a helmet right from the get-go, so your lives tend to be as nasty, brutish, and short as any envisioned by Thomas Hobbes. It’s immensely discouraging. The fact that your starter weapons, while technically lethal, feel as effective as a peashooter doesn’t help. Luckily, you’ll likely be able to buy such essentials after an hour or so of play. The vehicles feel pretty wonky on keyboard, too, giving the impression that you’re sliding around an ice rink.

Having 100-person servers split into three teams is also a little odd, resulting in two teams of 33 players and one of 34 given that the science of making one person take up a third of a player slot yet evades us. Short of the developer just upping the server count to a number more easily divisible by three, this slight imbalance is just one of the game’s many quirks right now.

Playing with friends or a clan is probably the best way to go. But once you dig into Wardogs, especially if you’re happy using a mic and joining random squads, you’ll find a generally very pleasant community even going in solo. There have been a few of the inevitable exceptions, but I’ve felt more welcome than not so far.

Players come here for different purposes, because Wardogs really is a mishmash of genres. Depending on your role, you could be playing it like a stripped-back survival game, a truck simulator, flight sim, or an FPS. You could quite easily dedicate your entire playtime to becoming a fantastic driver or pilot, saving lives on the frontline while barely firing a shot. You could also become a saboteur, a sniper, or special forces operator. Whichever roles you choose to take on, there’s always a way for you to make money as a mercenary.

Time will tell if its diversity will be enough to keep players coming back for more. But since Wardogs launched into Early Access, I’ve struggled to play anything else.

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