Escape from Tarkov | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Battlestate Games |
Publisher(s) | Battlestate Games |
Designer(s) | Nikita Buyanov |
Composer(s) | Nikita Buyanov |
Engine | Unity [1] |
Platform(s) | Windows |
Release | 27 July 2017 (closed beta) |
Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Escape from Tarkov is a multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video game in development by Battlestate Games for Microsoft Windows. The game is set in the fictional Norvinsk region in northwestern Russia, where a war is taking place between two private military companies (United Security "USEC" and the Battle Encounter Assault Regiment "BEAR"). Players join matches called "raids" in which they fight other players and bots for loot and aim to survive and escape.
The developers of Escape from Tarkov refer to the game as a realistic and hardcore first-person shooter, survival video game that borrows elements from massively multiplayer online games. [2] [3] In its current state, Escape from Tarkov incorporates three different modes for the players to play: online PMC raids, Scav (short for "scavenger") raids, [4] [3] [5] and a temporary offline mode. [2] In these raids, players can choose to play solo or in groups and spawn on one side of a variety of maps to choose from in the game. [6] Once in-game, the players are given an extraction point on the other side of the map, and must fight against other players and non-player characters to reach that point in order to escape. In addition to these standard extractions, players are also given the opportunity to use other extraction points near the middle of the map, but must meet various requirements depending on the specific extract. [7] In addition to combat, players can also find loot such as firearms, equipment, and armor. Once extracted, can store their loot in a stash to use in future raids or sell it to other players in a virtual flea market. [7] [8]
When players die in a raid, they lose everything, including loot and the equipment they brought into the raid. [6] Players can insure weapons and equipment they brought in which enables that gear to be returned to them if not taken by other players or bots. [3] [7] [9] In scavenger raids, players are given a random set of equipment, instead of items from their personal stash, and enter a raid that is already in progress at a random location. [4] [6] After finishing a scavenger raid, there is a cooldown timer until the mode becomes available again for the player. [5] Each raid lasts between 15 and 45 minutes depending on the map, and may contain up to 14 players. [6]
While not in a raid, players can sell unwanted loot to traders or other players via the flea market and purchase new equipment. These traders also task the player with completing quests which increase their trader loyalty, enabling access to more items and quests. [3] Players have an upgradeable "hideout" living area, which is an underground bomb shelter that – once upgraded with scavenged or purchased materials – gives the players in-game bonuses. [10] These bonuses include reducing the cooldown timer to play as a Scav, increasing experience gained, and the ability to craft items. [5] [11]
Escape from Tarkov's gameplay has been compared to military simulation games such as the ArmA series. Weapons can be built by the player by customizing all its constituent parts, such as selecting the dust cover, grip, stock and scope, [6] a degree of complexity uncommonly seen in the first-person shooter genre. They can equip their character with military equipment including armored vests, armored rigs, and ballistic helmets. [12]
In-game, the player has fine-grained control over their character's movement speed and crouch height. To check how much ammunition is still in their weapon requires checking the magazine manually – no on-screen counter is provided. [6] The game also has a health system, whereby each of the character's limbs has hit points. Taking damage requires specific types of medical supplies to address wounds, such as bandages for bleeding. [6] The game models realistic ballistics, including features such as ricochets and bullet penetration. [12]
Scavenging items from containers and bodies takes time, as each item is revealed individually while the player searches. [6] The player must also monitor their energy and hydration levels over the course of a raid. [13]
Escape from Tarkov is set in the fictional city of Tarkov, the capital of the Norvinsk Special Economic Zone in northwestern Russia between the years 2015 and 2026. [1] Political scandals and collapse of corporations have resulted in the social breakdown of Tarkov and warring factions have turned the city into a shell of itself with sections of the city being under control of aggressive locals called Scavs. There are currently nine available maps for players; each one being a different abandoned region of the city: Customs, a large outdoor industrial park; Factory, the interior of a small chemical plant; Interchange, a huge shopping mall; The Lab, a secret research facility operated by an organization called TerraGroup; Lighthouse, an expansive map with a cargo train station, water treatment plant, chalet homes, and an island with a lighthouse; Reserve, a secret military base; Shoreline, a large map with multiple areas including a hydroelectric power plant, villages, and a health resort; Streets of Tarkov, a section of the downtown area of Tarkov, Woods, a formerly state-protected wildlife reserve; and Ground Zero, a business center of Tarkov, where the TerraGroup headquarters is located and the place where everything began. There are three more maps under development, Suburbs, Terminal, and Town.
An option that combines all the locations into one, providing open world gameplay, is also planned. [14] [15]
There are two PMC factions for players to choose in the game: United Security (USEC), a Western-based company, hired by a corporation known as TerraGroup to cover up the company's illegal activities, and BEAR, a company created by the Russian government to investigate these activities. [16] Each faction has its own gameplay advantages as well as unique cosmetics. For example, USEC-based players are specialized in Western or NATO-based firearms, while BEAR-players specialize in Russian firearms. [16] [17]
The primary opposing, playable NPC faction is the Scavs, which are aggressive locals of Tarkov that are typically hostile to both BEAR and USEC. [1] Scavs are divided into several factions. Normal Scavs have low tier gear and weapons, and are the primary AI opponent and are playable on a cooldown timer. Cultists, Scav Raiders, and Bosses have better equipment than Normal Scavs, each having better artificial intelligence behavior and specializing in a specific location in Tarkov. Rogues are a group of ex-USEC PMC operatives who have decided to band together to control the water treatment plant on the Lighthouse map, and are tolerant of USEC PMCs, with their detection range of USEC characters slightly lower than that of a BEAR, but will still engage them if provoked or if the player comes too close to them. Scav Raiders are a group of ex-USECs and BEARs who banded together, and can spawn on the maps Reserve and Labs under certain conditions. They can have higher tier gear and modified weapons. Cultists are rarer enemies which have a chance to spawn at night on the maps Customs, Factory, Shoreline or Woods. They can carry good gear and high-tier keys. Battlestate Games will occasionally alter the spawn rates and maps on which the factions appear during special events. [18] [19]
Escape from Tarkov began development in 2012. [20] Battlestate Games lead developer Nikita Buyanov stated that he and the staff gained their experience through working at Absolutsoft on their previous work Contract Wars. [1] Both Escape from Tarkov and Contract Wars are set in what the developers refer to as the Russia-2028 universe. [21] Some development staff also have experience from real-world military experience, with one being a former Spetsnaz operator. [21]
The developers recorded some weapon sounds by recording real weapons in abandoned warehouses. [4]
Over the course of the game's beta period the developers have released regular game updates, including new features, maps, characters, and equipment. [22] [23] Major updates often release with a "wipe", in which in-game progress for all players is reset. [24]
Battlestate Games have stated that Escape from Tarkov would be a traditional full purchase release without any free-to-play or microtransaction elements. There is a possibility of a release on Steam sometime after the game's official release in addition to downloadable content. [25] The early-access version of the game is released in four editions (Standard, Left Behind, Prepare for Escape, and Edge of Darkness), with each increasing edition having more starting equipment and a larger stash for the player to use than the previous. [2]
Escape from Tarkov was launched as a closed alpha game that was first made available to select users on 4 August 2016. [26] Battlestate Games then announced that the game would go into its extended alpha stage on 28 December 2016, which would be available to select users who preordered the game. [27] This was the stage where Battlestate released the game in four preorder tiers, with the Edge of Darkness edition guaranteeing players access to the alpha build. [27] All players who had access were subject to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and video coverage of the gameplay via streaming was limited to a few select players until 24 March 2017, when the NDA was lifted. [28]
The game entered closed beta on 28 July 2017, being made available to all players no matter the pre-order edition they purchased. [29] It received a substantial spike in popularity in early 2020 on Twitch, when a promotional event took place providing players with in-game items for watching streams. [30] The increase in popularity led to server issues and long matching times. [31] The game hit its peak concurrent player count of 200,000 in May 2020, following the release of a major update. [32]
The developers have also published multiple live-action miniseries, the first of which is titled Raid, which consisted of five episodes from 29 March 2019–25 February 2021, released for free on YouTube. [33] Battlestate also released a film version, comprising all of the episodes together, which has over 28 million views. [34] Their second series, The Chronicles of Ryzhy, began on 16 October 2022, and concluded its first season on 9 December 2022. [35] The second season is currently ongoing, and began on 7 April 2023. [36]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2024) |
In a 2018 preview of the closed beta, Heather Alexandra commented, "Tarkov is punishing, but there's a lot of fun to be found in mastering its complexities and slowly becoming a hardened mercenary." [37] In PC Gamer , Steven Messner described the game as unearthing "a new vein of potential for online shooters", [38] and commented positively on the way the game's systems lead players to value their equipment and recall stories about how they were acquired. [39] Messner also emphasized that the survival elements and high difficulty level turn every win into an achievement and every loss into a lesson.
Such reviews from reputable gaming journalists have increased interest in the game among gamers, making it one of the most talked about games of 2018.
The game has faced issues with cheaters and real money trading – the practice whereby players sell in-game currency for real-world money, violating the game's license agreement. In 2020 the developers cracked down on the practice of purchasing currency by trading expensive items with other players in-game, warning players to avoid "constant distribution of items in raids to other players". This caused confusion among players, as concerns were raised about the boundaries of legitimate item trading. [40]
Battlestate Games has been accused of abusing YouTube's DMCA system to remove negative videos of Escape from Tarkov. YouTube user Eroktic released a video accusing the company of leaking user information, resulting in Battlestate Games issuing DMCAs on 47 YouTube videos posted by the user, two of which were removed for allegedly spreading false information and the rest for spreading "negative hype". [41] While Battlestate Games initially stated that they had only used DMCA claims on one user, it was later revealed that another YouTuber had received claims – both reported losing viewership and income as a result. [42] The Battlestate Games Twitch account was temporarily banned in December 2019 after an employee pointed an empty gun at his head and pulled the trigger while streaming on the website. [12]
In a 2016 interview, one of the game's developers stated that there would be no women or playable female characters in the game because "women can't handle that amount of stress. There's only place for hardened men in this place." [43] After apologizing for the comments, Battlestate Games clarified their position in 2020, stating that while the employee's comments did not reflect the company's position or opinion as a whole, there would be no playable female characters due to "game lore and more importantly, the huge amount of work needed with animations, gear fitting, etc." Battlestate Games also stated that the employee would be reprimanded for his comments. [44]
In April 2024, Battlestate Games announced a new purchasable version of the game referred to as the Unheard Edition, which includes features such as exclusive equipment and access to an exclusive PvE server. In January of the same year, another version of Escape from Tarkov, the limited-time Edge of Darkness Edition, which was cheaper than the new edition, had been discontinued. [45] Prior to that, Battlestate Games had stated that owners of the Edge of Darkness Edition would receive "free access to all subsequent DLCs" for the game. With the announcement of the Unheard Edition (whose PvE mode was labeled a "feature" and thus non-DLC), this was then revised to six months of free access, resulting in criticism from the game's player base and accusations of turning the game into a pay-to-win title. [46] [47] On 27 April, the developers announced that purchasers of the Edge of Darkness Edition would now be given full access to the PvE mode once version 1.0 of the game released, slated for later in the year, and that those players would also be granted a 50% discount in upgrading to The Unheard Edition should they choose to do so. [48] The following day, Battlestate Games revised their statement to make access open sooner, but in waves as more server capacity is added. On 18 July, Battlestate Games launched the PvE mode as a purchasable expansion for players who did not own the Unheard or Edge of Darkness editions. [49] [50]
Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is on the defeat of the character's enemies using ranged weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range weapons, and can be used in combination with other tools such as grenades for indirect offense, armor for additional defense, or accessories such as telescopic sights to modify the behavior of the weapons. A common resource found in many shooter games is ammunition, armor or health, or upgrades which augment the player character's weapons.
ArenaNet, LLC is an American video game developer and subsidiary of NCsoft, founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain and located in Bellevue, Washington. They are most notable as developers of the online role-playing game series Guild Wars.
Max Payne 3 is a 2012 third-person shooter game developed and published by Rockstar Games. The game was first released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on May 15, 2012; a Windows port was released on May 29, followed by an OS X port on June 20, 2013. It is the sequel to Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne and is the third entry in the Max Payne series. It is also backwards compatible on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
Fortnite: Save the World is a cooperative hybrid-third-person looter shooter tower defense sandbox survival video game developed and published by Epic Games, part of the game Fortnite. The game was released as a paid-for early access title for macOS, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on July 25, 2017, with plans for a full free-to-play release announced in late 2018. Epic eventually opted to move the game to pay-to-play in June 2020. The retail versions of the game were published by Gearbox Software, while online distribution of the PC versions is handled by Epic's launcher.
Destiny is an online first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was released worldwide on September 9, 2014, for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles. Destiny marked Bungie's first new console franchise since the Halo series, and it was the first game in a ten-year agreement between Bungie and Activision. Set in a "mythological science fiction" world, the game features a multiplayer "shared-world" environment with elements of role-playing games. Activities in Destiny are divided among player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) game types. In addition to normal story missions, PvE features three-player "strikes" and six-player raids. A free roam patrol mode is also available for each destination which feature public events. PvP features objective-based modes, as well as traditional deathmatch game modes.
Tom Clancy's The Division is an online-only action role-playing video game developed by Massive Entertainment and published in 2016 by Ubisoft, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. It is set in a near future New York City in the aftermath of a viral pandemic; the player, a Special Agent of the Strategic Homeland Division, is tasked with helping the group rebuild its operations in Manhattan, investigate the nature of the outbreak, and combat criminal activity in its wake. The Division is structured with elements of role-playing games, as well as cooperative and player versus player online multiplayer. This game also marks the debut of Massive and Ubisoft's Snowdrop game engine. Some of the game's characters are featured in XDefiant.
Rust is a multiplayer survival video game developed by Facepunch Studios. It was first released in early access in December 2013 and received its full release in February 2018. Rust is available on Windows and macOS. Console versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One developed in conjunction with Double Eleven were released in May 2021. Rust was initially created as a clone of DayZ, a popular mod for ARMA 2, with crafting elements akin to those in Minecraft.
Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms.
Destiny: The Taken King is a major expansion for Bungie's first-person shooter, Destiny. Released on September 15, 2015, as the third expansion of Destiny, it revolves around Oryx, The Taken King and his plot for revenge after players slew his son Crota in Destiny's first downloadable content (DLC) pack, The Dark Below. Players must face the "Taken", Oryx's army of corrupted aliens forced to fight for him. The Taken King adds content across the game, including new missions, a Player versus Environment location, Player versus Player maps, player gear, weaponry, and a new raid. Upon the expansion's release, retailers also issued Destiny: The Taken King Legendary Edition which includes Destiny,The Taken King, and the previous two expansions, The Dark Below and House of Wolves.
Destiny 2 is a free-to-play online first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was originally released as a pay to play game in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. It became free-to-play, utilizing the games as a service model, under the New Light title on October 1, 2019, followed by the game's release on Stadia the following month, and then PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S platforms in December 2020. The game was published by Activision until December 31, 2018, when Bungie acquired the publishing rights to the franchise. It is the sequel to 2014's Destiny and its subsequent expansions.
Overwatch and Overwatch 2 are online team-based first-person shooters developed by Blizzard Entertainment, and released worldwide in May 2016 and October 2022, respectively. Players select from one of over 30 heroes, broadly classified into the three roles of Tank, Damage, and Support, and work with their team to attack or defend map objectives. Each hero has a unique set of weapons, abilities, and skills, which players use to coordinate with their team to overpower the other. Overwatch supports both casual and ranked matchmaking, as well as a rotating set of arcade modes, and the game has since become a popular esport, featuring the Overwatch League that started in 2018. The game has been both a critical and financial success for Blizzard, exceeding over 30 million players and obtaining over US$1 billion in revenue within its first year.
Apex Legends is a free-to-play battle royale-hero shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in February 2019, for Nintendo Switch in March 2021, and for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in March 2022. A mobile version of the game designed for touchscreens titled Apex Legends Mobile was released in May 2022 on Android and iOS. The game supports cross-platform play, excluding the aforementioned mobile platforms.
World of Warcraft Classic is a 2019 MMORPG video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Running alongside the main version of the game, Classic recreates World of Warcraft in the state it was in before the release of its first expansion, The Burning Crusade. It was announced at BlizzCon 2017 and was released globally August 26, 2019. The Burning Crusade Classic and Wrath of the Lich King Classic versions of the game were later released to allow players to progress to those expansions.
Legends of Runeterra is a 2020 digital collectible card game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by the physical collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, the developers sought to create a game within the same genre that significantly lowered the barrier to entry. Since its release in April 2020, the game has been free-to-play, and is monetised through purchasable cosmetics. The game is available for Microsoft Windows and mobile operating systems iOS and Android.
Overwatch 2 is a 2023 first-person shooter game by Blizzard Entertainment. As a sequel and replacement to the 2016 hero shooter Overwatch, the game intends a shared environment for player-versus-player (PvP) modes while initially having plans for introducing persistent cooperative modes, though the plans were later scrapped in 2023, focusing the game on its PvP elements.
The Cycle: Frontier was a 2022 first-person shooter video game developed and published by Yager Development. Yager describes this game as a "competitive quest shooter" and labels it with the cross-genre "PvEvP", a combination of player versus environment and player versus player. The game was released on Windows via early access in August 2019, and was launched in full on June 8, 2022.
V Rising is a 2024 action role-playing survival game developed by Stunlock Studios and published by Level Infinite. It was first released in early access for Windows in May 2022 before officially releasing two years later, with a PlayStation 5 version under development. Within a week, it had surpassed one million sales.
Looter shooter is a subgenre of action role-playing games that incorporates shooter gameplay and procedurally generated weapons and equipment. A main goal of games in the genre is obtaining better items through grinding for random drops, typically with rarities ranging from common to legendary. While it saw its genesis in the 2007 Hellgate: London, it was not popularized until the release of Borderlands in 2009, and was even more popularized with the release of Destiny in 2014. The genre went on to encompass some of the most successful AAA games on the market. It is common for looter shooters to be games as a service, but this model emphasizes that players ignore other games, and can lead to player burnout.
Dark and Darker is an upcoming multiplayer dark fantasy video game developed by South Korean studio Ironmace. The game was released into early access on August 7, 2023.
Pioner is an upcoming open-world first-person shooter video game developed by GFAGames for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X. The game is set on a post-apocalyptic Soviet-era island. It is scheduled for release in 2024.
This article incorporates material derived from the " Gameplay modes " article on the escapefromtarkov wiki at Fandom (formerly Wikia) and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License (2018-10-172).