Escape from Tarkov is a 1st person shooter from Battlestate Games, and they originally released the game into a closed Alpha state back on the 28th December 2016. In this FPS, the player is tasked with surviving the armed conflict going on within the confines of the closed-off borders between Russia and Europe. Similar to games like DayZ and PUBG, Escape from Tarkov makes for an interesting twist of Battle Royale and survival FPS, at least on the light side of things.
How to Download Escape from Tarkov
You can pre-order Escape from Tarkov on the official site and this gain access to the beta. To proceed, click on the Download button at the end of this review. The game is available for PCs running Windows. As of the time of writing, you cannot play the game on PS4 or Xbox One.
The Game Review
Set in the fictional area of Norvinsk in north-western Russia that is loosely connected to Europe, allowing for a small pass between the two. The capital city of Norvinsk is named Tarkov and following a major political scandal, Norvinsk was in the throes of armed conflict, thus forcing the gates of Tarkov to be closed for good, trapping all remaining civilians inside. For the player, they are expected to pick from one of two military factions, with the sole goal of eventually escaping from Tarkov; through any means necessary if required.
Playing like a typical online FPS, the game revolves around the player choosing between one of two factions, the PMC and the SCAV. The SCAV are given a random assortment of loot at the start of the game, whereas the PMC faction will be a personal loadout that the player chooses. Once the player has chosen a faction, they are tasked with getting to the extraction point alive and whatever they’re carrying on them will be transferred to their personal stash of loot. With this being an online game, the player will come across other players that are bound to want to take their loot and even AI characters that will typically shoot on sight, unless you are a member of SCAV.
As players run around the map, looking for loot, surviving as best they can, if they manage to make it to the end and keep all of that loot, they can proceed to sell it or place it on their favourite weapons, improving them exponentially. There are a lot of different upgrade options for the weapons in Escape from Tarkov and as time goes on, their loadout is bound to just get stronger and stronger, allowing for each new run to become that much more successful.
In terms of comparisons, Escape from Tarkov takes the idea of DayZ, PUBG, and other Battle Royale type games and creates its own interesting idea for the genre. While each run doesn’t reset the player’s complete progress, by failing to make it to the extraction zone, they won’t be improving and escaping with all of that awesome loot. When it comes to the environments in this game, the game takes aspects from both DayZ and the Stalker franchise.
Escape from Tarkov may fool players into thinking there’s a story, but the gameplay loop is one the fans of the Battle Royale genre will quickly come to appreciate. That, combined with the setting that is a somewhat dystopian Russia, and players will have an interesting and engaging time with this one.
