Escape from Tarkov is a first-person shooter set in a semi-open world with RPG and MMO elements. It is difficult to say more precisely: the game combines several genres at once. The closest analog will be DayZ, in which all zombies were replaced with armed bots, and instead of a zombie virus - a complex military-political situation in a closed region. But even this analogy is rather approximate.
You take on the role of a mercenary for one of the two PMCs operating in the territory of Tarkov and its environs - USEC or BEAR. At the time of the current version of the game, this choice has almost no effect on the gameplay: the tasks and starting equipment at the beginning of the game will only change slightly. Also, the choice of grouping affects the customization of the character's clothes and the set of phrases: for USEC, they are all in English, and for BEAR, in Russian.
Globally, your task is to survive and escape from Tarkov. But, no matter how ridiculous it may sound, there is neither Tarkov himself (only the surroundings) nor the opportunity to escape from him in the game.
The task of each of your sorties is to get supplies to your cache, complete some tasks issued by the merchants, and not die in the process. Each raid is a large map (except the rather compact Plant and Laboratory) with many points of interest, on which you will spend about half a game day or 25-50 minutes of real time maximum (depending on the location). If you do not leave the location before the timer expires, you will be lost. That is, you will perish.
In general, everything. Regardless of how you die: from a bullet, hunger, bleeding, poisoning, or the passage of time - you will lose your equipment. It will be returned to you only if you insure it with the merchant, and at the same time, other players will not take it from your corpse.
I lost my things on the left in one of the raids, dying from a bullet. But they were insured, and no one took them away, so they returned after a day of real time. The main thing is not to forget to pick them up. Otherwise, the merchant will keep everything for himself.
The most obvious obstacle on your way to the goal, whatever it may be (swag or mission), are other players. In a closed war zone, you are unlikely to negotiate with other survivors peacefully (although this is possible) - people will be much more willing to start shooting at you. It will not be possible to divide the loot and quest items honestly; you will have to fight for food and other valuables.
Related: Escape from Tarkov: The complete problems to design, technical and scandals.
In addition to living opponents, whose number is unknown (both a full lobby and no one can be thrown into your match), the Wilds (in the English version of Scavs, popularly - disks or disks) - local criminal punks wander around the map. The bandits are armed with bad barrels with cheap cartridges, often not equipped with armor, medicines, and grenades. They are controlled by artificial intelligence. There is, however, one nuance, which will be discussed a little later.
Wild is the first surprise of Escape from Tarkov. These are perhaps some of the most dangerous bots I've seen in video games. Yes, they have their patterns; sometimes they can blunt into the wall, as any "artificial idiots" do, but still - they are quite smart.
Unlike bots in other video games, the AI of Escape from Tarkov does not lend itself to the player at all: Wilds shoot directly in the head if possible. They crush with the rush, use shelters, a retreat for treatment, and even do a drop-shot (quickly lie down and shoot from a prone position to get out of the fire). No "showdown to make the player feel cool" - the Wild will do whatever it takes to ruin your day.
And here's the nuance. You can go into raids not only for PMCs but also for the Wilds themselves. You appear on the map as a bot at a random moment in the match and play on the side of the bandits - other Wilds will not attack you until you attack them yourself or ruin the reputation with the Buyer. You are given this opportunity every 20 minutes in real time (if you upgrade your base or gain reputation with the Buyer, the waiting time will be less).
The Wilds name generator is rich in a variety of options and sometimes creates absolutely wonderful combinations.
If you leave the map alive, all the things of the Wild one can be taken to your cache and used by the main character. If you don't come out - well, nothing, it's free. Go again in 20 minutes, not a big loss.
This mechanic brings the game to life noticeably. After all, around you are not just bots that spawn in fixed places - each of them can be a living person who knows how to play and where to shoot. Moreover, such "petitioners" (as the community calls them) can be a full team of four people, with voice chat and cooperation.
Good luck getting the stew out of the location when four players are chasing you, who have nothing to lose and who may have already taken cool equipment from the previously killed PMC.
With proper luck on a free "petition," you can take out even more loot than on the main character. It is enough to find a mountain of corpses of players who did not have time to steal before competitors.
The list of your troubles does not end there. In addition to petitioners and simple Savages, who for all their intelligence are still rather weak and dull by the standards of Escape from Tarkov, there are other types of AI in the game. For example, raiders are former military personnel and PMCs who have embarked on the path of banditry. Unlike Tarkov's punks, they are armed no worse than the players:
- Strong body armor and helmets
- Stimulants
- A pack of grenades
- Weapons modified by body kits
- And, most importantly, an unsurpassed level of proficiency in this very weapon.
The wild one can still miss you, hesitate, hesitate and give you a head start for a second - after all, ordinary bots shout some nasty thing at you before shooting, thereby substituting themselves. On the other hand, Raiders shoot almost without warning and are almost better than the players themselves. Shots, grenade throws, drop shots, the use of cover, squad cooperation, and aimed shooting in the head - the raiders do not spare anyone. On the other hand, their loot is much more valuable: expensive armor, good weapons, and random values in bags like rare stimulants, money, access cards, and others.
But the worst thing is the bosses that appear on locations with a 30-40% chance. These are elite opponents with significantly increased health, special habits, and habitats. There are now six of them (the latter was added with a recent patch), and each is unique in terms of behavior and equipment.
At the Customs, the starting location of newcomers, Reshala lives - the commander of local Gopnik's who likes to run away and attack you from the flank, while his "retinue" of bots with fairly good equipment takes the brunt of the blow.
The Reserve, a military base, is inhabited by Capercaillie - a former military man with a personal detachment of raiders, heavily armed to pierce any armor.
The navigator from the Forest location is an excellent sniper guarding his common fund in the center of the map. If you do not close the distance and impose close combat on him, he will shoot him in the head on the approaches.
The orderly is the boss of the Shore, a former scientist at TerraGroup Labs, who injects himself with a bunch of stimulants before the fight, making him indestructible. It won't be easy if you do not have time to shoot him before the injection. And he also has a funny detail: his entire retinue of assistant bots is named after medical workers (Lor, Proctologist, Oncologist, and so on).
The main star of the entire gang of bosses is Killa, the boss of the Interchange location. A crazy Gopnik who was able to acquire equipment for the internal troops of the Russian Federation and occupy a local shopping center, from which he steals tracksuits.
He is often armed with an RPK-16 with a 95-round drum magazine loaded with armor-piercing ammunition. Protected by incredibly strong armor (the most protected part of it is a 6th class visor painted like "Adidas"), it shoots accurately, spares no grenades. He's also just a dude - you can recognize him by the three white stripes on his clothes.
It is noteworthy that Killa is similar to the Tachanka from Rainbow Six: Siege. Not for nothing: the character was invented under the inspiration from the
Tachanka cosplay, where his armor was redrawn to match the colors of "Adidas."
In the last patch, a new boss was added to the Factory location -
Tagilla (yes, seriously). Killa's younger brother and the same fetishist for armored masks with an interesting pattern. He was armed with a shotgun and a huge sledgehammer. Unlike other bosses, he tries to run up to you at close range and beat you to death with a hammer instead of shooting.
And if this is not enough for you, then in addition to the Wilds, petitioners, raiders, and bosses, there is another danger in Tarkov - sectarians. As mentioned earlier, the EMP explosion that cut off Tarkov from the outside world contributed to the emergence of a set of madmen, which believed at the end of the world. Cultists get out of their burrows at night, can see perfectly in the dark, walk silently and use stimulants that lower their body temperature - because of this, they are not visible on thermal imagers.
Psychos in masks and robes quietly run up and cut you with a poisoned knife, the poison of which can kill in a matter of seconds (if you do not have a mountain of medicines or a rare antidote). The chance of them spawning at the location is even less than that of the bosses.
Cultists add horror to the game at night in those locations where they live (Customs, Shore, Forest). They are silent, invisible, and deadly. At the same time, those who have guns shoot no worse than raiders. Defeating a gang of fanatics is a greater feat than killing a boss.
Even leaving the location is another difficulty on your way. Because you don't know how to get out of it, and no one will tell you about it. In the same Hunt: Showdown, extraction points are marked on the map, and you can even notice them on your own by bright lanterns. Well, and purely logically: a horse-drawn carriage or boat will take you away from a dangerous, scary place.
In Escape from Tarkov, the exit points are often not distinguished by anything - only a few are marked with green lights or look logical (a humming car somewhere on the edge of the location, which requires you to pay for the exit).
This is, in fact, rather a bad game design: there is no information inside the game, there is no visual indication (although there are already assets for this - the same green fires that are logical and understandable), you need to go to fan forums. If you need to go to a third-party resource to understand the most basic things in a video game, this is a poorly made mechanic.
Outputs range from the usual "wait in the zone for a few seconds to get out" to some special conditions. For example, some allow you to escape if you leave with the Wild (or vice versa, playing as the Wild, you leave with the PMC). Exit through the rocks on the Reserve requires an ice ax with a coil of paracord - and you do not have to wear armor. And the exit through the sewer hatch is possible only if you are not wearing a backpack.
Some exits have to be activated by hand: turn on the light at the substation near the shopping center on the Interchange, supply energy to the D2 bunker on the Reserve, and go out through its dark and narrow tunnels (where a camper greedy for your little things always sits). Turn on the elevator or open the garage door in the Lab.
Most of these actions summon raiders to the map or warn all opponents of your presence with some sound or effect? In general, even just quietly leaving the location in Escape from Tarkov is a whole headache.
Amid all this "circus," you somehow need to get out of the location alive. At the same time, it is advisable to have time to put something valuable in the backpack - weapons, cartridges, food, medicines, items for exchange and crafting, electronics, keys,
EFT money, or jewelry. In addition, there are also tasks on the map, which we will also talk about. By the way, do not forget - your PMC is also a person, so hunger and thirst are added to all your problems. If you stayed at the location and did not take a snack with you, you will die of exhaustion. Welcome to Tarkov!
Due to the variety of variables, each of your outings is a special, memorable experience. The danger in Escape from Tarkov is everywhere and always. Until you learn by your bitter experience were to walk more calmly, and where the enemy is less common, they can kill you everywhere. An enemy PMC can run out to meet you at any moment - if it does not already aim you out of the bush. A Wild or, even worse, a petition can sit around any corner. Or you can bump your forehead against the same Killa while robbing an electronics store at night.
The game keeps you in constant tension. Your heart beats like a jackhammer. Your hands are sweating and trembling. Every strange sound, rustle, knock on wood, small step on glass, hit on metal, or the rustle of a bush causes panic. And when it comes to an open battle (or if you carry a swag for a couple of million in-game rubles in your backpack), an almost adrenaline overdose sets in, due to which you will lose sleep the next night.
Forget the stress of multiplayer games, Battle Royale, or stuff like Hunt: Showdown - Escape from Tarkov has a whole new level of emotion. It is always nervous here. It is always scary here. The heart is always pounding here - well, or at least until you play a couple of thousand hours and get used to it.
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