At first glance you’d be forgiven for thinking that Escape From Tarkov (EFT) was just another Battle Royale game jumping on the bandwagon of popularity. And while the core experience may have some aspects that are similar, the game as a whole is much, much more.

I first became aware of EFT around a year ago when a streamer I follow began to play it regularly. His gameplay was a mixture of tactical shooting and loot management and what I saw immidiately appealed to me. However, the more I watched, the more I realised this wan’t just another run and gun game, but an in depth, hardcore, progressional shooter.

The main thing that drew me was that Escape From Tarkov adds a lot of detail and realism where other shooter looters generally opt for making the user experience as easy as possible. Things as simple as reloading your gun can become a major problem if you don’t bring the right ammo or magazines with you. There are many charts on the Escape From Tarkov Rediit page that break down ammo damage against various armours and helmets and countless videos on youtube about bullet drop, quests, gun creation, the best places for loot, how to kill scav bosses and so on.

This really is a game with a lot going for it and considering it’s only in beta with less than half of the planned maps available, there is much promise for the future. But I forgot about EFT for a while after seeing it on that stream, until recently when some of my friends began to play. They streamed their raids on Discord, showing their teamwork (max squad size is currently five), some high tension shooting and more loot than you could shake a M4A1 at. I was hooked, I wanted in. And so begin my adventures in Tarkov.