4Game

To me, what makes a game competitive is the skill involved that it takes to become a good player. Learning the mechanics, learning the insides and out of the game, and learning how to adapt and overcome challenges presented. The fact that everything is lethal in this game highlights that fact. Take Landmark for example when he raids with a shrimp pistol. He is able to out play multiple people, teams, and even kill bosses with it. Against all odds, he is able to come out on top. Sure some of his kills can be considered “lucky”, but his level of skill play is usually unmatched by the vast majority of players. There aren’t many people that I know, or have saw, that can just instantly pick up this game and dominate lobbies. It takes time to learn the skills necessary to survive the harsh world that is Tarkov. Shoot, it’s taken me 4 wipes to even consider myself an above average player, based on SR and KD(which I know is skewed because it also counts your scav AI kills).

Although these two titles have nothing in common(other than guns), CS:GO is considered a competitive game. Which also emphasizes on map knowledge, mechanic learning, and gun play. Skills have to be honed for awhile to even feel like you are good or decent.

I see a lot of people say Tarkov is not competitive, but no one follows it up with a legitimate reason on why it isn’t. The same people would say CoD is also a competitive game, but to me, CoD isn’t. At its core, it is just a game of faster reflexes(at least imho). The mechanics are easy to learn, just jump/slide around corners and flick faster. Add on top that controllers have a clear advantage with aim assist, nothing about CoD screams competitive. And this is coming from someone who buy CoD each year and holds a 2+ KD on average, all the way back to CoD4(besides BO1, fuck that game, but that’s a whole other story). I just simply get bored of CoD because there isn’t much to learn.

Tarkov has mountains of knowledge to learn, and being 4 wipes in, I’m still learning so much that I can’t simply stop. The way each mechanic meshes into each other, how to fight PMCs, or how to traverse the maps… there is always something new to learn. Something new to gain advantage over other players. The fact I can go in with just a pistol and possibly dominate lobbies based purely on skill and no cheese mechanics screams competitiveness to me.

I’d love to hear everyone else’s input. Do you think Tarkov is competitive? Why or why not?

Edit: it seems I have misjudged overall skill with competitiveness. As many has brought up, too many variables to consider the competition nature of games. I guess I’m just too competitive myself haha.