Escape from Tarkov is an online multiplayer game, featuring elements of both first-person shooter (FPS) and life simulator games. The game is known for its hyper realism which is designed to resemble authentic combats and their short- and long-term consequences.
Escape from Tarkov is being developed by the small Russian studio Battlestate Games for Microsoft Windows. You can play the beta mode right now, which has been live since 2017. Find out how the beta performs and what to expect by reading this article.
Escape from Tarkov: Summary
It’s always difficult to summarise a multicomponent video game, and even more so when that game has no clear objective. Escape from Tarkov was such an out-of-the-box game when it came out that it spawned a whole new genre – the extraction shooter.
The extraction shooter game focuses on survival, rather than defeating enemies, with the goal being to reach an area to extract, hopefully with a bag of goodies.
Escape from Tarkov takes place in the fictional Novosibirsk area of Russia where two private military contractors, United Security “USEC” (fictionalised American company) and Battle Encounter Assault Regiment “BEAR” (fictionalised Russian company) fight for control of Tarkov after the city experienced a full-blown societal and economic collapse. There are also combative locals known as Scavs.
The main mode is a player-versus-player extraction shooter. Players log into a raid as PMC (private military company) operators and aim to extract successfully after looting the area and shooting other players or NPC Scavs that come their way. They can choose to follow a mission (e.g., finding a specific item and extracting it) or loot and shoot other players.
Although players are asked to pick between USEC and BEAR when they first make an account, the game doesn’t penalise you when you kill your own because Tarkov is essentially lawless.
In addition to PMC raids, there are also Scav raids. You can assume the body of an NPC Scav while a PMC raid is taking place. Unlike PMC raids, you can’t bring your own equipment or weapons on a Scav raid; you have to either use what you get or loot. Scav raids are not mission-based; players do them to get new loot.
Any extracted loot can be stored at your hideout. It can also be used to upgrade your hideout with the game letting you build amenities such as a water collector, intelligence center and booze generator.
You can also sell lot you find during raids or any products you make in your hideout on the flea market. The flea market allows players to sell items to other players for a price of their choice.
Apart from PvP raids, there are now also PvE (player versus environment) raids. The game mode works the same way but there are only NPC characters controlled by powerful AI.
The Realism of Tarkov
We have played many different FPS games, including extraction shooters, but none of them have come as close to real life as Tarkov.
Take the flea market for example; all transactions are made with in-game money but this money is based on existing currencies such as Russian rouble, euro, and Bitcoin whose value in real life equals their value in the game, so currency exchange is dynamic.
The most impressive and realistic part though is the combat.
To begin with, while other games represent your overall health and allow you to move and shoot just as well with half the health as with full health, damage sustained in Tarkov affects the gameplay. For example, if someone shoots you in the arm, it would be harder to later handle the gun and aim. Interestingly, your vision can get blurry from the pain. Funnily enough, blurry vision can also be a side effect of stimulants you take to revitalise your character. Your hearing can also be negatively affected if someone shoots your helmet.
To restore your health, you can take meds but also perform surgeries on the affected area. Leaving the raid doesn’t return you to full health, you’ll have to find ways to restore it in your hideout.
About combat itself, Tarkov again impresses. The game weapons are based on real-life weapons and just like them, they can jam and break, so you have to manually repair them on the spot. Moreover, you don’t get crosshairs by default; for that purpose, your gun requires a scope which you have to calibrate manually.
Once you face an enemy and shoot them, there is no way for you to know they are dead as the game doesn’t display a kill count during the raid (though there is one after you finish a raid), you have to check yourself.
Abilities such as hearing, healing, scoping with your gun are not a given, rather you have to improve them yourself. For example, new players will not hear their surroundings that well as seasoned players because their perception skill is low.
Conclusion
Couple all these interesting bits with the story-driven missions, and you have a game which might not have a single clear goal, but it sure feels like real life. Escape from Tarkov is only in its beta and it’s already more complex and richer than games developed by big studios.