I fucking hate living in today's world.

You can't even talk about different games while playing certain ones, like what bullshit is that? I really feel like corporations are policing people's lives nowadays, what with Nintendo being shitty to everyone, CoD not letting you talk about certain other games in-game, YouTube and other social media companies censoring any goddamn word that has even the slightest negative connotations (kill, suicide, pedophile, etc.}

Like the world just feels so infantilized and people can't actually be people anymore, like we all need to be told what to do.

And in the end, I think it could all be explained with the rise of fascism literally everywhere right now. This world and existence fuckin sucks.

Yeah, unless they move their focus towards more casual gameplay as opposed to the sweatfest that is PvP, the game will only alienate PvE players and be reduced to a swarm of toxic PvP-players.

To be fair, I told my friends that I thought The Finals would last only 7 months, but it stabilized around a little north of 10k concurrent players, which is probably fewer than the devs were hoping for but enough to keep it going.

They are inherently a sweat fest by their very nature and they appeal to a crowd that enjoys high risk high reward gameplay. Theres nothing wrong with you for not being into it. Not everybody’s dream job is being a fireman and running into burning buildings before lunch either.

But it’s one of those niche genres that scratch an itch that more casual games don’t.

As a guy with over 2.5k hours in Hunt, I think it really comes down to people just enjoying different things. I can no longer play standard match based shooters, anymore, as I find the lack of consequence leads me to not caring about the outcome of games.

Incidentally I've also returned to playing Eve, because losing a level 50 hunter you spent a few hours leveling up? That's nothing compared to losing a ship you spent half a year working towards.

Basically I'm addicted to lossy progression in games. Not claiming it's an end-all-be-all mechanic, but damn if it hasn't made me love games again.

I think this was is sufficiently different, if you like any kind of shooter I'd say give this one a shot.

It's a game based around starting a round that loads you into a map, completing X objectives on that map, and then leaving the map alive to make progress, all while being swarmed by enemies. It's a bit rouge-like in that way.

Basically a bunch of players are dropped into a game map, and normally your objective is to go around and collect as much loot as possible, then after some time or you're ready to leave, you need to find the extraction point - this will save your loot and that run is over.

Some extraction shooters are PvE, and some are PvP, some are both. If you get killed with all your loot before you get to the extraction point you lose it all. It can be pretty stressful, and unbalanced if its PvP where some players play much more then you do therefore have better weapons etc

Seriously. Let's say the words Extraction Shooter 12 times, and not bother with a quick mention of what the fuck an Extraction Shooter is. Brilliant!

I feel like the "PvE-only was too boring" argument doesn't even work. Just add a special kind of extra-dangerous enemy that's more alert to your presence and acts more tactically compared to the dumber robots, to add the same tension players would add.

You aren't alone on that. One of my friends got it with his new gpu. He tried it not knowing it had PVP and was really enjoying it. Then another player made his life miserable. He quit and won't play again.

It's too bad too because me and 3 other friends were also on board with the idea of buying it when he was talking about it. But then we found out it was PVP only and that completely killed it for all of us. So they lost out on about 5 players and 4 purchases from our group just because there wasn't a no PVP option. And I mean it really doesn't seem like it'd be hard. Just turn off the connection to other players. If they wanted to go above and beyond, make it so you can play with a small group of friends. But at the very least being able to turn off PVP would've been a good idea.

It's the best extraction shooter I've played in the genre by like a country mile. Obviously we haven't seen what the full economy looks like or endgame but there isn't a single component that doesn't outclass the competition in my opinion.

Like the immersion is top tier with the sounds, the graphics, the feedback, the movement. It feels really good.

The gameplay is also top notch and does things others in the genre don't do. Namely:

• variable game length that feels rewarding. I can do a 5-10 min run and get quick and dirty loot with a free load out or I can stay in the map for the full 45 and look for exactly what I want.
• the items themselves are compelling game play pieces. Like the rare weapons are full on laser rifles and mini missile grenades - they're cool and change how you play, not your power level. Like in Gray Zone Warfare nothing I get feels meaningful different or cool, other than the bullet spongy nature of higher level zones and even that's not super noticeable. I had no reason to want to chase loot in that game.
• the meta game is sick, probably comparable to Tarkov (although I didn't play enough to actually compare this). Every match I feel like I'm working towards a goal of making the gear floor higher and gear ceiling easier to attain. Again, we need to see what the full game is like but collecting recipes, upgrading my workbenches, and collecting targeted materials feels good.

I'm positive I'll get 3+ months of good fun out of this before I might start mixing other things back in. If the end game is really good I'll be able to make it 5+ months with no content additions I think. The real question for any multiplayer game is can they add material at a fast enough pace to keep it compelling long term. We'll have to see, but they have dozens of levers to pull on compared to a traditional fps or PvE game. New ARC, new bosses, new map mods, new events, new maps, new guns, new gadgets, new subsystems, new modes. Lot of different angles they can add to in parallel.

Im just waiting for a sequel to battlefield 2142. 2142 was peak fps for me and nothing has come close since.

That and most of them now are GaaS scams.

The developer behind this game (Embark Studios) is trying to push the genre forward with new gamemodes and approaches to combat design.

Like the Finals has it's own unique gamemode (Cashout) that doesn't really exist anywhere else, and is a ton of fun with the amount of unique encounters you can have throughout the game (with the fully destructible environments with physics allowing you to completely up-end the map layout). There's no "one answer" to solve a problem, and while mechanical aim and good listening for the enemy players will obviously help you, you'll need to change your mindset from the shooter status quo because the objectives and combat can flow quite differently.

Arc Raiders is still in testing, but it's designed to be an entirely 3rd person extraction shooter with an emphasis on sound design and careful maneuvering and movement (make too much noise, you attract a robot or a human's attention. Move too slowly, you may be leaving loot behind or losing out on a good position like the high ground). It even features Uncharted style mantling and climbing, which I absolutely adore.

There is a lot of shooter slop these days, I agree. But these guys are definitely trying to change that.

Yeah I had some fun with Day-Z and Player Unknown's Battle Royale, but the repetitive rounds in those sorts of mods got boring to me pretty quickly. Especially the scavenging for gear each time, I just wanted to battle but it feels like work.

I have the same sort of issue with RTS games where you are in a race to build your base and units, I don't enjoy speed harvesting and building.

You should check out Embark Studios' (ARC Raiders dev) other game, The Finals. Literally the most innovative FPS I've ever played, it completely reinvents the competitive shooter genre.

I mean Fortnite‘s release window couldn‘t have been worse and it defined the entire genre going forward. In the end people will stick with what‘s best and it could be any of those three and more. I think there is something poetic about Embark going head to head with Battlefield 6 as if to prove themselves. Arc Raiders has good momentum. Now it needs to land properly and we‘ll see from there.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3167020/Escape_From_Duckov/

It seems reasonably well received, so why not.