For those of you unaware, the next Call of Duty is supposedly going to have a Tarkov mode. Unlike Battlefield Hazard Zone, this one allegedly has an economy, hide out, etc. in addition to all the other core elements of Tarkov.
I’m really excited and think this could be a good thing.
Firstly, I think the main draw of EFT is the concept of “the raid”. Its easily one of the most thrilling experiences I’ve ever had in gaming. Gambling your kit, and successfully extracting with a boatload of loot, or getting clapped and losing it all has contributed to some of my highest highs and lowest lows in gaming. Unfortunately, I’m not necessarily obsessed with a lot of the other mechanics that you’re kind of married to in Tarkov.
One of the biggest ones that I know a lot of people agree with is the recoil system. Yeah, I get it, its “realistic” or whatever, but I greatly prefer a traditional FPS recoil system. But that’s a whole other can of worms. I understand that a lot of people enjoy it, and that there is a market for mil sim/realistic shooters, but I think its something myself and others put up with just to get the EFT experience. (I might be totally wrong, that’s just my personal take).
I think an apt comparison would be the Battle Royale genre and Fortnite. If Fortnite were the only Battle Royale game on the market, many people would want to play for the core boots on the ground 1v99 experience, but have to tolerate the building mechanics that allow people to pull off crazy moves. No doubt, all the crazy building is impressive, but a bunch of people would simply up with it, but crave a simple boots on the ground shooter. Luckily for them, there are about a million other BRs out there. Unfortunately, there are few alternatives to the EFT experience.
To put it simply, I think it would alleviate some of the identity crisis the game has going. If it goes the stereotypical CoD route, the crack head, caffeine riddled Chads would have a game that encourages fast, lead raining PvP. The dorky, terrified rats would have a game where they can sit in a bush for 3 hours for the sake of picking up a tape measurer and be thrilled. BSG could finally stop trying to cater to both crowds, and could finally lean into a direction they want to go in.
I also would think that CoD’s AAA studio budget would be very beneficial. Warzone can crank out many insane and new events and getting new maps regularly. No shade against BSG, its just that a AAA studio can pull of some insane shit that a smaller studio can’t.
I don’t think it will be all sunshine and rainbows though. Call of Duty is much more casual than Tarkov, so I don’t think the grind will be quite as deep, or the rewards quite as sweet. I think the highs and lows of Tarkov will always be much greater, but CoD might provide some competition, which is always a good thing for the consumer.
