EFT: Arena is a multiplayer first-person shooter in a hardcore setting Escape from Tarkov. It is not necessary to go into the forest, but you will have to clear the map from agents of the opposing team – at the beginning of the game, which will take place before the end of this year, there will be only two modes, one of which one is a local variation on the Team Deathmatch theme, called TeamFight in the game. At the beginning of December, developers from Battlestate Games talked about this mode in more detail (there will also be Shootout, but at the last minute they decided not to present it to the press).
PvP in Tarkov
Hardcore is a key feature of EFT: Arena. We can say that this is the main feature of the project, which should “sell” the game to the fan base of the original game and attract new gamers to the universe, who are tired of quick and easy gunfights.
All the eSports games that exist now are not hardcore, they are simplified. And we’re taking all the amazing mechanics from the original Escape from Tarkov and using them in Arena. Yes, everyone dies there, everything is complicated there. Armor, weapons, ammo, all this is super difficult and advanced.
The disadvantage of this approach is the dynamics of gaming sessions. We are not concerned with Fortnite, Warzone or recent Xtract. Prepare for the fact that the agent under your control will be inert and somewhat clumsy (and in reality, try to put on a suit of armor weighing 30 kilograms and run around in it), and sometimes even resemble an iron. Moving, shooting, running, jumping and making rapid movements will not work. Arena is about something else: about tactical combat and the search for the ideal combination of combat properties, weapons, ammunition and of course the player’s skills.
The general dynamics below average are compensated by the size of the maps – they are small, you simply cannot get lost anywhere. That’s why there are no drawdowns during fights: situations where no one is around for several minutes in a row do not occur. A stray bullet finds its hero quickly and anywhere on the compact map.
Essentially, TeamFight mode is the classic rounds-based Team Deathwatch with a little twist involving capturing a point. This is necessary to cheer people up so that they don’t sit in corners. A point has been activated, you must capture it.
Even if you have played dozens of hours in other PvPvE games, in Arena you will literally have to relearn everything (especially shooting). It will only be easier for those who have experience with EFT, then the physics of the weapon will be familiar.
Have you tried the original Escape from Tarkov?
The second mode promised at launch is Shootout. According to the authors, several teams compete: one plays, then the second, then the third – there will be a small tournament.
We are trying to do something new, this is a big experiment for us. But what we will not tolerate is a relationship in the form, they say, we are doing something incomprehensible, something unplayable. Keep in mind what it is [Arena — прим. редакции] Finally, Escape from Tarkov with all its mechanics, with all its difficulties, simply wrapped in the format of quick sessions in the form of a team-to-team battle.
In short, let’s kill everyone! We will definitely work for everyone!
And what else?
There will be no classic Tarkov survival, looting every tree stump and taking long walks through the forest. In Arena this element is of course completely omitted. As the authors say, this is exactly what the original game’s “midcore audience” wanted, who just want to have fun in fast-paced online games. Flown in – crashed – disabled. Pure gunfight “Tarkov style”, without anything superfluous.
Battlestate Games is seriously focused on eSports and wants to make its game a serious global eSports discipline.
The original EFT gets feedback from Arena. In the latter you can make money with EFT, and in EFT you can use your profile from Arena. Presets are transferred.
If in the original EFT there was no matchmaking in principle, for the sake of realism everyone was thrown into one “skating rink”, and for “Arena” the developers had to create a matchmaker from scratch. A newcomer will not be thrown among veterans of exorbitant rank. In any case, that shouldn’t happen.
Body armor, grenades, first aid kits, special equipment – everything affects your speed. Only the appearance has no direct influence: but even here, if you choose green clothing (preset) and fly into the forest map, you will naturally blend in with the area.
There aren’t that many presets to begin with. You start, begin to open them and gradually dive into them. Every preset we have is new, every shooting range is a little harder, a little harder. Then special equipment appears. This way you gradually become involved. One of the goals of the arena is not to make the game absolutely easy to understand, but to maintain the desire to understand it.
The weapon may jam. Especially if you let it overheat.
Absolutely all features that will appear in the original game in the future will be transferred to Arena. The projects will go hand in hand.
The PvE mode with bots will arrive later as the game develops. It won’t be possible to ‘test’ bots at launch and then just jump into sessions with real players. In real battles you will have to overcome the bumps right away.
There are also no plans for any preparatory training in all the complexities of the battle at the outset. But a training location will soon appear in Escape from Tarkov itself – yet another reason to get acquainted with the original game.
Opening presets, ranks, seasonal system, rating tables – the authors promise a full range of pleasures. By the way, in one of the modes (which has not yet been revealed, but apparently not in TeamFight’s) there will be a change of preset during the fight.
About a year after Arena’s launch, the developers plan to add a zombie mode. In total, the authors dream of a whole set of modes – up to 7.
Now there will be two modes, then we will add four or even five! There will be a PvE mode, duels, PvE against bosses – a lot of things. Now we’re just testing the basics. “Capture the flag” can in principle also happen.
There will be separate quests related to Arena in the main game. What won’t be for sure are donations and stupid skins.
I really don’t like the word “skins.” Our skins are simply variants of camouflage, clothing and alternative headgear. But not idiotic, but decent. You won’t see clowns in the spirit of Call of Duty. And no donations, just “cosmetics”.
The situation is simple: you started playing with basic presets that cost 0 or 100 rubles. You climbed to the next level, started spending money, they started bending you over, you lost everything and fell to zero again. You start again. Everything will be non-linear and more complex than in typical competitive shooters. The build is purchased again for each battle.
Do you enjoy overcoming difficulties in games?
The anti-cheat in Arena will be from EFT, but heavily modified and updated. And there will be no support for gamepads – the controls are too overloaded. Although the developers laugh, some even manage to play the original game on the steering wheel.
Simply put, the Battlestate Games team has Napoleonic plans. The list even includes the console release of both games, although there are no specific dates yet. And Arena itself will be available to players before the New Year holidays. The very first to fly in are those who have purchased the maximum game package.
Source: VG Times