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
11:01 - You can't group with your friends
12:59 - "It's so fun I don't recommend you play it"
14:33 - Jake's first impressions
18:07 - The best-performing alpha we've ever played
20:20 - How three factions changes your strategy
23:38 - Battlefield, but dying matters
25:43 - Looting kills and juicer kits
30:39 - Does the control zone actually move?
33:44 - Destructible towers and the M1 Abrams
35:59 - FOBs, spawn trucks and sandbags
40:00 - Infantry desperately needs free look
42:57 - The tutorial is actually good
43:58 - Does 100 players feel full?
47:26 - The log truck last stand
50:19 - Snipers and no scope glint
52:12 - Onboarding and the backpack system
55:15 - The loadout presets they need to add
57:06 - The kill cam that shows too much
58:18 - The milsim/arcade sweet spot
1:02:27 - Why it works: 10 years of Arma King of the Hill
1:04:45 - Visibility matters more than audio
1:08:50 - TTK, armor and ammo types
1:11:04 - Weapons: AK vs T21
1:14:15 - Gunfights that are actually gunfights
1:16:44 - Movement and traversal
1:20:56 - Reviving, defibs and why Battlefield gets it wrong
1:25:01 - Spawn trucks and the ride back to the fight
1:26:26 - Vehicles handle weird
1:28:58 - The first Unreal Engine 5 game that actually runs
1:29:32 - The money mechanic explained
1:35:02 - Is there gear fear?
1:37:56 - Why the economy isn't a gimmick
1:42:34 - What a max-level meta kit will cost
1:44:52 - Wipes, seasons and gold bars
1:47:31 - Selling ammo to your own team
1:49:42 - 256 square kilometers
1:56:30 - Time of day and future maps
1:57:59 - Who is this game actually for?
2:02:12 - Why Tarkov is too complicated
2:06:58 - Will we still be playing in six months?
2:10:00 - The one thing that could ruin it: anti-cheat
2:12:11 - Final verdict and scores
2:15:21 - Outro
_Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._
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