One of the games I've been playing the most this Christmas break is Escape From Tarkov. This is quite surprising to myself even seeing as list time I gave the game a try it felt like I would never play the game again after quitting. Yet here I am having a total blast.
Escape From Tarkov is an amalgamation of genres. I can't really explain the game any better than what Battlestate Games do themselves.
Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore and realistic online first-person action RPG/Simulator with MMO features and a story-driven walkthrough. BSG
The game is set in what I believe is a fictional region of Russia. You can choose to play the game as either the USEC faction or the BEAR faction. This doesn't really matter much because it's a free for all no matter what faction you play as. I've chosen the USEC faction for no apparent reason.
The goal of the game is to, well, escape from Tarkov. Spoiler alert; we never escape from Tarkov. We do this by loading into one of many maps to go on a raid. The goal of a raid is quite simple. Loot and survive. The latter is where it becomes challenging.
You're never safe in Tarkov. 8-14 players load in to each raid trying to loot what they can while surviving. No ones gonna take any chance with anyone so it's a shoot on sight situation. The danger is strengthened by the NPC faction called Scavs (scavengers) who will flokk to any location on the map where there's a lot of noise. So will loot hungry players.
I guess this would be the polar opposite shooter to Call of Duty. It's a hardcore slow paced game. You only have on you what you bring into the raid and what you can find there. If you chose to bring only 20 bullets you only have 20 bullets. If you don't bring a medkit you're not healing any damage you take. If you don't bring a bandage and start bleeding you'll bleed out. If you don't bring a splint and break your leg you're gonna be slow limping to the extraction point and most likely die en route.
There's several reasons why I didn't like the game when I used to play it before. The thing that got to me the most was all the time spent in menus only to go into a raid and die in the first five minutes.
Outside of raids the game is pretty much an inventory management simulator. All of your items can be stored on your person or in your stash and you want to have then in your stash if you don't want to risk losing them in a raid. If you die in a raid you pretty much loose it all. With a limited stash size you'll need to spend quite some time organizing your stash to make sure you have enough space for the things you want to keep.
Another part of this is gearing up for a raid. With around 2000 different items in the game you have quite a few choices. There's a ton of guns that can be modded in a plethora of different ways. Then you have to choose the right type of ammo. There's just so many things to think of.
Then, when you've done all that you pick your map to raid. This also takes a while as the maps need to load and you also need to be matched with other players. This takes around 5 minutes but sometimes more. If you end up dying within the first few minutes, then congrats! You've just spent 20 minutes preparing for this raid and you got to play the game for 3 minutes. Go do it again!
This will be the general early gameplay loop for people who don't know the game well. It was for me. Now that I understand the game better and also have way more patience than I used to I'm not only surviving for longer in raids but I'm also getting more kills and extracting more often.
Having patience isn't only key outside of raids but also in them. You're not meant to be running around like a mad Call of Duty lad in Tarkov. You're meant to take it slow. Check your corners. Check your six. Don't start a fight you're not 100% sure you can win. Actually, don't start the fight at all unless you have to. The good loot your adversary might have isn't worth losing everything you have over.
The above alongside map knowledge has really helped me this time around. When I spawn in I take my time to orientate myself. I have a map up on my second monitor to help me with this. I then check where my extractions are so I can plan my raid out. When moving I take my time, sprinting only in the open and walking slowly around buildings and such. I hide in the grass to scope out situations or when I think someones around. I often lie in the same spot for minutes. This has helped me survive a lot.
I'm currently level 6 and rising with every raid. I've finished a few quests and done a few upgrades to my hideout. I just got my compass which was my first goal and my next goal will be to get my workbench going, while also working towards getting my lucky scav case. This last one will help with inventory management big time.
This somehow turned into a post that talked about the game in general instead of how I got back into it. I guess it's just one of those games that needs a fair bit of explanation.
I've managed to get two of my friends to buy this as well so we're gonna be running some raids together. Hopefully that should make things at least a little bit easier. Unless we end up killing each other. That could happen seeing as there are no team markers or anything.
Thanks for checking out my post! I'll be posting updates on my journey through Tarkov as I make some progress. Expect to see more of this game!
All images in this post are screenshots taken by me.
