So you’ve just been shot in Battlefield and now you’re lying in a mass of other players’ bodies, all of you hammering the ‘REVIVE MEEE’ request button as medics buzz about, helping everyone but you. If only there was a way to show them how important you are, that your life is clearly worth more than Skidz69 over there. How about money?
Wardogs is a Battlefield-style shooter where you can pay for just about anything, from a fancy loadout, to a literal taxi ride to the conflict zone. Earning cash for doing what you want is a really smart way of incentivising the whole battlefield role fantasy, whether you’re building fortifications and sure-ing up your faction’s forward operating base, or dragging downed players out of the fire and rezzing them.
Though factions can win and lose, Wardog’s only true language of success is profitability, more cash to buy fancier hardware, which you use to earn more cash. It’s a wonderfully fitting and nihilistic approach to all-out warfare—each life is an investment in what you’re going to do that run. Whether it pays off is where the true play comes in.
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And since cash is king, you can use it to grease the wheels a little when you’ve been downed. Simply offer a bribe by tapping F1 when you’re corpsified and you’ll place a number over your head, showing how much extra money the medic will get if they prioritise rezzing you over your comrades.
Personally, I love immediately maxing out the cash reward for my revive and watching as multiple medics come running, braving enemy fire, and even battling each other to get that $500. I had one medic literally drag me away from another who was about to rez me, like a seagull snatching a half-eaten sandwich.
It reminds me of Trauma Team in Cyberpunk 2077, like there’s something hilariously bleak about getting injured in battle and holding up a gold card which gives you precedence for medical care. Either that or getting in a bidding war with another downed comrade as you both vie for a medic’s attention.
Being a medic in Wardogs is pretty profitable, though, especially if you offer a post-revive heal for a tip, and you’re good at scrounging up extra medical supplies from corpses and backpacks. The icing on the cake for me is that the revival animation is rubbing your hands together, surely in anticipation for the big bucks you’re set to earn from each new casualty.
Though Wardogs’ launch yesterday was a bit shaky server-wise with 300k players hopping in (despite this being an early access), it’s easy to see why so many people are really gelling with the game, including me. Its whole economy system is such a smart way of encouraging the battlefield role fantasy that’s so appealing in all-out warfare games.
It may be early days, but it’s not hard to imagine how Bulkhead will be able to scale this concept during the game’s time in early access.