Discussing Escape From Tarkov in 2025 is an interesting concept. The extraction shooter has been around for an incredibly long time – around 8 years – as an alpha (and beta), and through this, has also had a hand in shaping the current gaming landscape. While it didn’t entirely come up with the idea of the extraction shooter – the genre can be seen as far back as The Division’s Dark Zone in 2016 – Escape From Tarkov can definitely be credited with popularising what was otherwise just a game mode into its own genre. All the strides that have been made with extraction shooters since its 2017 alpha release might even give one the impression that the genre has left it behind. However, with the full release now here, nothing can be further from the truth.
One of the most important things to remember about Escape From Tarkov is the fact that it is very much in the simulationist camp of gaming. The shooter wants to simulate as much as it possibly can while still being fun to play. This means that every aspect of gameplay, from using guns to looting containers or bodies, and even just managing your inventory, has an extra layer of interaction that might come across as tedium to some. However, this is very much integral to the experience that it’s trying to present. You’re not a super-soldier that’s taking on entire platoons on your own; you’re simply trying to scavenge for crafting materials, food, water, bandages and guns, just to survive.
“A number of different gameplay systems tie in to how the gunplay feels as well.”
Since it is a first-person shooter, the gunplay is a great place to start. You’re not going to get crosshairs that help you line-up shots without aiming down sights. And even then, you’re going to have to deal with a host of things, from recoil, to simply your own arms swaying ever-so-slightly. Each gun feels distinctly different, and the fact that different ammo is needed for different kinds of weaponry is more than just additional inventory management; munitions’ calibre plays a major role in how a gun feels to use, with larger calibre bullets doing more damage, but also adding more recoil with each shot.
A number of different gameplay systems tie in to how the gunplay feels as well. Durability, for instance, is a major consideration. Maintaining your gun is important, after all, and the lower its durability gets, the higher the chances of minor malfunctions like jams. These, in turn, can even lead to larger malfunctions. Rather than being yet more busywork, the durability and weapon malfunctions add quite a bit to the tension of a typical gun fight. That low-durability AK that you picked up off the floor might be great once it’s repaired, and it might even be an upgrade right now, but using it as soon as possible also means that you’ll have to quickly check for any malfunctions that need fixing. After all, you never want to hear an empty “click” when you pull the trigger while taking on three scavengers by yourself.
“Rather than being yet more busywork, the durability and weapon malfunctions add quite a bit to the tension of a typical gun fight.”
Escape From Tarkov also has some elements of survival, inspired by titles like Rust, where hunger, thirst, and even your own health is an important factor. All of these systems can also tie in to the gunplay, since going hungry or thirsty for too long will start to affect your vision, making aiming more difficult. Even the player damage model is quite in-depth, with each limb having its own health. Taking too much damage on your legs or hands will have tangible effects on gameplay too, slowing you down by a considerable amount and increasing your weapon sway while you’re aiming-down-sights.
Just about every one of these mechanics are explained through a tutorial mission that the game throws you into the moment you start it up for the first time. However, this definitely needs some more fine-tuning and tweaking, as it can often feel just about as obtuse as the overall game itself. While it is happy to let you know that you can loot containers by pressing F, it doesn’t really do anything to show you what a container might look like. Similarly, picking up a gun might prompt a tutorial on weapon durability, but actually fixing your new gun’s issues is a different matter entirely. As someone new to the game as a whole, my first run through the tutorial ended with disaster, since I also wasn’t shown where I could go aside from a vague “make your way to an extraction point” objective; I also wasn’t given access to a map to try and get my bearings. Generally speaking, the onboarding experience for new players is terrible, and Battlestate Games will definitely want to bring in some improvements.
“Generally speaking, the onboarding experience for new players is terrible.”
All of these core mechanics tie into the central gameplay conceit of Tarkov – the raids. The central narrative of Escape From Tarkov revolves around the player, working for either United Security or Battle Encounter Assault Regiment, trying to figure out a way to escape from the titular city. To achieve this, players set off on raids into Tarkov with the main goal being to reach the other end. Along the way, players will get their hands on loot that can take the form of new equipment, weapons, food, water, or even just valuables that can be sold for some cash. An added wrinkle to these raids is the fact that the map is also populated with AI-controlled scavengers, as well as other players with similar goals. Dying before you can get to the extraction point means that you lose everything you brought with you on the raid.
The tension from this pseudo-permadeath mechanic where even setting up a starting loadout means you’re risking valuable equipment that could be lost thanks to an errant gunshot is at the heart of Escape From Tarkov. The fact that you can lose just about everything, combined with the survival-styled mechanics and the simulationist approach to gunplay also lends the extraction shooter a horror-like vibe. Sure, you aren’t going to have to fight off zombies or anything. But the slow and deliberate pace of gameplay where you have to constantly be on the lookout for enemy soldiers while also trying to bandage up a bleeding wound and managing your inventory at the same time feels like Tarkov at its absolute best. And while the risks associated with losing everything might sound harsh, bouncing back isn’t too difficult since you can buy a few starter weapons and slowly sneak your way through a raid to build your resources back up.
“The tension from this pseudo-permadeath mechanic where even setting up a starting loadout means you’re risking valuable equipment that could be lost thanks to an errant gunshot is at the heart of Escape From Tarkov.”
Tarkov itself is a fantastic map full of interesting potential arenas for combat. It’s a dense place filled with buildings – ruined or otherwise – all over the place. Along with this, even the streets don’t offer much in the way of reprieve since they’re also loaded up with long-abandoned vehicles. While this means that close-quarters combat is quite common, there are also a few spots that offer opportunities for longer-ranged fights, especially if you manage to get into one of the taller skyscrapers. Generally speaking, the map has been designed in a great way where a few players with sniper rifles don’t end up just instantly killing everything they see. Rather, there are quite a few opportunities for flanking, or even digging in for prolonged fights.
The regular enemies you fight aren’t really anything to write home about; they don’t really get more interesting than “guys in military gear”, and tend to offer little in the way of challenge unless you start getting vastly outnumbered. This is when even some of the basic tactics that these AI enemies are capable of start feeling a lot more dangerous, since they will happily flush you out with any grenades that they might have, and even use flanking maneuvers.
PvP is where Escape From Tarkov started losing me, personally. Since there are other players in the map, you’ll constantly be on the lookout to either take them out before they can spot you, or to at least hide and make sure that you don’t get seen. Since the shooter has been out for almost 7 years, the player base is already quite experienced with the intricacies of its gunplay. This means that new players are at a severe disadvantage right from the get go. Add on top the ever-present problem of cheaters and what was turning out to be a fun-but-stressful experience into a borderline rage-inducing one. The title does ship with its own PvE mode, but that’s locked behind an additional purchase. To players who might not be entirely into taking on other players in high-stakes games like this, the best way to experience Escape From Tarkov turns out to be a community-made mod called Single-Player Tarkov.
“Since the shooter has been out for almost 7 years, the player base is already quite experienced with the intricacies of its gunplay.”
As its name might imply, Single-Player Tarkov – or SPT – takes away PvP from the gameplay equation. Rather, it simulates other players with some competent AI, making them slightly smarter than the typical NPC enemies you are bound to have encountered throughout the game. It wouldn’t really exist without the core game itself, since it essentially builds on the foundations that have already been laid down by developer Battlestate Games, but if you’re having trouble getting Tarkov, then it might be worth a look.
Aside from the core extraction shooter mode, Escape From Tarkov also has a side game dubbed EFT: Arena. As its name might imply, the game mode aims to offer a more fast-paced experience for players that might not enjoy the “raid” aspects of Escape From Tarkov, and would instead prefer to get right into the PvP. While it does make use of the same core gameplay elements as the base game, EFT: Arena definitely feels like it still needs some more time in the oven. It offers little in the way of interesting gameplay moments or elements, and even its maps – carved out from the overall Tarkov map – tend to feel bland without the larger background of the city available to explore. Arena is, ultimately, not quite why you would even want to pick up Escape From Tarkov to begin with, and serves as little more than a way to warm up before you set off on some actual raids.
When it comes to technical performance, Escape From Tarkov offers something of a middle ground. While I wasn’t able to go over the 100 FPS that I’m typically used to in shooters, the base game itself ran quite well on my system – an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, 32 GB of DDR5-6000 RAM and an AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT GPU – and while I did get a few stutters here and there, things sorted themselves out after around few minutes of gameplay. That’s not to say that there are no technical problems; there is a massive discrepancy between the minimum hardware requirements and what the studio recommends. This means that many players – myself included – can’t exactly max out the graphics settings and still get stable frame rates.
“Escape From Tarkov is an excellent game that feels like it might be let down due to the fact that it revolves around online PvPvE gameplay against other players.”
Along with this, there were quite a few problems when it came to its servers. Like many players since the 1.0 launch, I also faced quite a few issues with matchmaking, which on one occasion went on for as long as around 40 minutes before I gave up on that session. The visuals are great as well, and really sells you on the devastation that the city of Tarkov has faced. The biggest things holding the title back, for the time being at least, are its server issues.
Escape From Tarkov is an excellent game that feels like it might be let down due to the fact that it revolves around online PvPvE gameplay against other players. Sure, the PvP can feel great at times, but I do believe that, until the server issues and presence of hackers and cheaters gets sorted out, it remains a major downside of the shooter. This, along with the fact that the tutorial is quite confusing on its own means that Escape From Tarkov can be an incredibly difficult game to get into, especially for players new to the genre. However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t any redeeming factors; the core gameplay and minute-to-minute tension is essentially unmatched compared to anything in the market right now. While there are plenty of great extraction shooters out there, Escape From Tarkov offers an incredibly unique experience thanks to how well all of its mechanics work in tandem to create a tense but rewarding gameplay experience.
This game was reviewed on PC.
