PvP shooters convey action and excitement and raise the adrenaline level. Wardogs, a new shooter on Steam, is no different. However, the game manages to evoke this feeling even in situations where you carry your firearm on your back.
During the weekend from August 21 to August 23, 2026, the closed beta of Wardogs, a new first-person shooter, took place, which will be released on September 10 on Steam. The gameplay is heavily inspired by the “King of the Hill” matches from ARMA 3 and offers various vehicles such as transport trucks, tanks, and helicopters in addition to infantry battles.
A match typically consists of 100 players divided into 3 teams, collecting points by staying in a zone and battling for control. Within the zone, there is also the so-called hotzone, which holds even greater importance. The team that holds the zone earns a point, and the team that first reaches 100 points wins.
Your chances of victory increase if you and your team have better equipment, vehicles, and so on. You can and must purchase these once you have unlocked them – every time. To unlock weapons, vehicles, and other items, you pay a one-time purchase fee and then a smaller amount if you want to use the coveted item on the battlefield. If you fall in battle and aren’t revived, you lose your carried loadout.
The money to purchase items is earned during gameplay through all sorts of actions such as kills, revives, staying in the zone, transporting passengers, and much more. The money earned is credited to you even after the round ends and does not get lost, allowing you to build a financial buffer.
I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky
I played my first match in Wardogs “normally”: I entered the zone, revived teammates, was revived, made a handful of kills, and took a look around. To wrap up the evening, I went to the shooting range, where you – unlike in Battlefield – can test everything the game has to offer. There, I trained myself with the helicopter controls.
While I managed my first flying attempts at the shooting range quite well, landing was still a bit bumpy. So I wanted to enter my first round on Saturday as a regular foot soldier and equipped myself accordingly. A helicopter was already ready, which I could take as a passenger – at least I thought so.
As we gathered around the “pilot” in a group of five, he informed us that he could neither fly nor want to. He had only bought the chopper so that someone could fly him into battle. I pulled out my controller and took the controls of the Little Birds. “I guess I’m flying this thing now,” I thought and took us into the sky.
Flying itself is quite straightforward, and at least during the beta, not that many heat-seeking missiles were fired. Landing also went smoothly, although I had to get used to the swaying of the chopper. In the end, my passengers got out safely and even gave me a small tip. And because the helicopter was still alive, I flew back to headquarters. “If I get a Little Bird as a gift, I might as well use it,” I said to myself.
For about 35 minutes, I then flew back and forth between our headquarters and the zone, picking up passengers and safely delivering them to the target area. I even dropped off a squad under heavy enemy fire at a contested church. I flew to the side of the building where it seemed safe, hovered just a few meters above the ground instead of landing, and disappeared immediately as my passengers jumped out. Not only that, but I saw them rush for cover, and shortly thereafter the cash register rang:
My passengers all survived and got a lot of kills. For their survival and for each kill, I was rewarded with money and pilot XP.
My mission as a flying Uber finally ended at the hands of a rocket launcher, but until then, I had a lot of fun, was surprisingly successful, and earned over $30,000. But because that was quite exhausting – being responsible for the survival of up to 5 comrades and the preservation of their equipment – I decided to take on a different role afterward.
Minecraft for MilSim Players
To relax myself after my pilot career, I grabbed a hammer and helped to expand a tower. I raised walls and sandbags, placed NATO wire, and built a few additional cover options for our sniper on the roof.
After a few minutes, a teammate also arrived at the tower with our team’s spawn vehicle, which we then secured with a few additional walls so that it couldn’t be camped by attackers in the worst case. However, that didn’t happen anymore.
The round lasted another 20 minutes, and my team won easily. The tower had become an important strategic point where our team found tons of resources, including bandages and ammunition.
Excitement without Shooting
The match ended, we won, and I… I didn’t fire a single shot in nearly an hour. It may not have been the most classic shooter gameplay, but especially the flights as a pilot felt extremely exciting and nerve-wracking.
Extraction games can’t create a similar feeling because they are only about my equipment. Competitive shooters are rarely truly “exciting” for me anymore, mostly because I’ve put thousands of hours into these games. I get frustrated about defeats because I’m damn competitive, but I simply don’t feel any fear of death in these games anymore.
Overall, I played over 20 hours of Wardogs in 3 days. I kept flying the Little Bird and distributed passengers and supplies or helped build an outpost when I could use a break from the regular shooter gameplay.
Conclusion: Already one of the best shooters of 2026 – but with caveats
I had an incredible amount of fun in the beta of Wardogs and honestly just want to keep playing until September 10. The gunfights were just as entertaining as flying or building. Overall, the game is very atmospheric, especially when an enemy is continuously using mortar or artillery and bombarding the map or bullets are whizzing by your head.
The King of the Hill gameplay and cash system really appeal to me, even though I’m not a big fan of military simulations. Wardogs is a bit more relaxed than Squad or ARMA. At the same time, it is significantly more tactical than Battlefield 6, for example. The greatest strength of Wardogs lies in its strategic approach and varied gameplay. I can decide for myself how action-packed I want it to be and how I play the game in the coming minutes.
Moreover, there is a counter for almost everything, and every task has a purpose. It’s not just about rushing into the next gunfight. Pilots, builders, logistics, tank drivers, scouts… everything has a purpose. While Battlefield can become genuinely exhausting after a few hours of gameplay and I need a break because I sprint from one gunfight to the next, in Wardogs, I can calmly build an outpost or play Uber/logistics, thus helping the team.
Another shooter that I play mainly in PvE and still gives me incredibly exciting situations is Gray Zone Warfare. This is mainly due to the jungle setting and the accurate enemies. More about this here: The NPCs in a shooter on Steam are so merciless that I want to play 10 hours a day again
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