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“Tarkov”, but playable and convenient. Review of the free extraction shooter Arena Breakout: Infinite
There is a high probability that many of those reading this material have already heard about Arena Breakout: Infinite from various bloggers and gaming publics who advertised it. I am sure that users could get tired of it pretty quickly, which is why they would call Arena another “donation dump” promoted by famous people. But even before that, in the spring, when Escape from Tarkov got stuck in a scandal, the game promoted itself as a full-fledged competitor, which is why the expectations for it were corresponding.
Arena Breakout: Infinite is an extraction shooter from Chinese developers Morefun Studios, which is financed by Tencent. In general, this project is not much different from Tarkov and its “killers”. This is the same session shooter in which the player must engage in raids with further searches for resources and skirmishes with other players. Between raids, you can manage available resources, trade and prepare equipment for the next raid, which can easily be lost after another death.
Four months have passed since then. During this time, all the announced “killers” of Tarkov have already been released or beta. However, nothing has been heard about most of these contenders today. Gray Zone Warfare left the information field very quickly. Project L33T turned out to be an outright scam project from the author of another scam called The War Z. Hunt Showdown 1896 was mired in a scandal with the redesign of the main menu and a close partnership with Nvidia, which is why owners of AMD video cards experienced serious problems with shadows.
And now it’s time to evaluate “that very competitor” who built the entire PR campaign on this. Let’s see how Arena Breakout: Infinite differs from Escape from Tarkov, what it brought to the extraction shooter formula and what claims there are to this project.
No sense of deja vu?
Arena Breakout: Infinite has been in closed beta since June and anyone can already take part in its testing. Speaking about the feelings in the closed beta, the Extraction shooter seemed the most attractive and promising, in comparison with its original. Its system requirements are lower than the “domestic analogue”, and the gameplay and style are in no way inferior in pace and attractiveness. Although the latter is usually justified by the fact that the Arena code was “stolen” from Tarkov.
From an ethical point of view, such an act should cause incredible condemnation and a call for the “cancellation” of the Chinese. But this case caused the opposite effect. The reason for this was the reputation of the Escape from Tarkov developers, which was completely ruined (so to speak, punished for their impudence).
The current Tarkov code does not enjoy any respect among gamers and programmers. Synchronization problems, bugs, crashes, lack of optimization in a number of locations and a leaky protection system have existed in Tarkov for 8 years already and a banal copying would not have given such a positive effect. In addition to a major overhaul, the Arena Breakout developers had to drag it all from Unity to Unreal Engine (from the C# programming language to C++). Otherwise, this project could also quickly fold from the same problems that Battlestate Games is still working on.
And during this open beta, it becomes clear that Morefun Studios understands why people love Tarkov and what annoys the target audience. That’s why Arena Breakout has become so understandable, optimized, refined and… For now, cut down.
We added what was needed and removed what was unnecessary.
When it comes to saying that the Chinese understand the Extraction shooter genre better than the British, it’s worth starting with the fact that Eastern developers clearly understand how games-as-services should engage. The first thing that greets a new player is the tutorial. It’s made in the form of a small single-player mission, in which we get acquainted with the mechanics, tactics, and the local region. Moreover, this tutorial ends similarly to unsuccessful raids – with the death of the operative. Quite an interesting way to show that in this game you will die often.
In addition to training, this Extraction shooter added all those mechanics that seemed “unrealistic” to the developers of Tarkov: a full-fledged map with marks and identification of squad members. The first was generally unthinkable in Tarkov, since real maps cannot carry such information. The lack of identification of partners harms the “hardcore” nature of the project.
The developers of Arena Breakout do not share such views and made it so that the player does not have to spend a long and unnecessary time wandering around the location in order to figure out what is where and how to complete this or that quest.
The system of displaying partners has had a positive effect on the selection of random allies. If in Tarkov the search for an ally inside the game ended with a bullet in the back of the head at the very start, then in Arena partners can mark the point where they need to go, agree with everyone and go together to complete quests.
Speaking of partners, it is worth noting a number of innovations that increase the value of teamwork and are absent in Tarkov. The first thing we are talking about is the reanimation of fallen comrades. In Arena, this mechanic is copied from the royal battles, but with one limitation: a headshot is still fatal. But even so, the survival rate of squads is several times higher than in Tarkov. Another feature is the observer mode. If the player has already been completely killed, he can sit in the observers and direct the survivors.
In order to increase the importance of teamwork, the developers have completely reworked the principle of insurance. In Escape from Tarkov, you can pay certain merchants so that after some time they can return you an insured item that was lost in a raid. In Arena Breakout, no merchant will look for your missing items. But your partners can. Everything they loot from you will immediately return to you by mail. Quite an interesting method of insurance, which creates the main dilemma in this extraction shooter: what is more valuable – loot or a comrade’s equipment that cannot be appropriated for yourself.
Fights with other players have also undergone a solid revision. The Chinese have been famous for their ability to make online projects for many years. Therefore, fixing the network code of Tarkov for Morefun Studios was not difficult, which is expressed in a normal hit registration system and display of players in the raid. In addition to the normal infrastructure, the developers added an incredibly useful thing called Killcam – a recording of the killer, which will make it clear how it happened that he outplayed you. Quite a useful tool, thanks to which you can identify a dishonest player.
The game is very willing to provide information on the results of the match. Killcam is not the only source that allows the player to think about where he made a mistake. During each raid, the game records all your actions. At the end of each raid, all this data is provided to the player in the form of a map with a route, on which the main events are marked. Thanks to this information, you can more carefully work out a plan of action in the future.
Speaking of “cutting”, it is worth noting that the developers decided to completely cut the operative’s skills. In Tarkov, they allowed the player to better perform certain tasks depending on the skill itself: from the duration of the run and maximum load capacity to the ability to instantly study the contents of containers and protection from fatal damage. This also includes the fact that in Arena Breakout there is no shelter, which requires constant resource and financial investments for pumping. The entire game is completely and entirely focused directly on raids. At the same time, the found loot is still necessary for barter with merchants, selling to other players at auction and for quests. Therefore, their importance is no less than that of the found equipment.
But the cuts in the arsenal are of much greater importance in terms of optimization. Arena Breakout: Infinite did not position itself as “gun porn” with hundreds of guns and thousands of attachments. That is why there are only 47 types of firearms and about one hundred attachments of various types. And in defense, it can be said that most attachments have their own unique characteristics. In Tarkov, the diversity is justified by the fact that some attachments are expressed in different colors, others differ only in length, and others were added “for fun” …
peaking about simplifying the gameplay, it is worth mentioning that the developers did not share the views of BSG in terms of armor and weapon durability. If firearms do not have such an indicator at all, then on armor it is expressed in the “outdated” version of Tarkov. In other words, there is no fancy armor plate mechanics and no special unprotected areas. All means of protection in the Arena have one durability indicator and you do not need to monitor it through the inventory. The durability of your armor and helmet is displayed under the health indicator.
Arena Breakout as a “reinvented wheel”
As has been stated many times, Arena Breakout: Infinite is aimed squarely at the Tarkov audience. That is why there are so many similarities with the original source material. The identical inventory screams about it. The game interface was also repeated, which has indicators of arm and leg endurance, as well as the status of the fighter’s limbs and various buffs/debuffs. But that is where the direct similarities end. The developers decided to rework all other mechanics in favor of maximum convenience.
The most striking example of interface optimization was the assignment of all medications to one button. A simple press performs a priority action, which the game will consider the most important for the character at the moment. At the same time, pressing and holding will give the player the opportunity to look at the entire available arsenal of medications and choose the one that the player thinks is necessary. In addition, the developers have revised the principle of replenishing limb health. If in Tarkov the player could treat only one limb at a time with first aid kits, then in Tarkov one press can replenish health until the supply of medication runs out.
Similar convenience was brought to the mechanics of refilling stores. In Tarkov, this is considered a kind of ritual that is performed in the most hidden corners of the map. The reason for this is that this can only be done with an open inventory, which obscures the view of what is happening and does not allow the player to move. In Arena, everything is much simpler and more pleasant: the player does not become defenseless at such moments and can calmly move in a safe direction.
Speaking about managing your own resources in a raid, it is worth mentioning that the developers have come up with a practical mechanic for capturing valuable equipment. Tarkov veterans have long known that many unloading vests and backpacks with contents can be placed inside each other. Thus, players can take out much more valuables. In the Arena, you can also do this, but not every vest or backpack you find will be so valuable that you can use them for such manipulations. Therefore, the developers have implemented a compact folding function for fabric items so that they do not take up much space.
Arena Breakout currently only allows you to play on two maps: Farm and Valley. At first glance, it may seem that such a number of maps will quickly alienate potential Arena veterans. But the developers have been busy and have divided the raids not only by location, but also added difficulty levels: Regular raids, raids in the “Blockade Zone” and raids in the “Forbidden Zone”. The difficulty completely affects the equipment of bots and loot on the map. Well, to get there, you need to fulfill 2 strict conditions: take equipment for a certain cost and pay for entry. It is worth noting right away that others must also acquire the appropriate equipment. Therefore, PvP in these zones will be much harsher and riskier in terms of lost loot.
And finally, I would like to say a few words about the local anti-cheat. Anti-Cheat Expert works much better than the free version of BattleEye. But even so, Arena Breakout has already developed its own layer of cheaters. My friends and I have encountered them a couple of times and felt their “magic” ourselves. On the other hand, our complaints about them often found a positive response from the support service. Thus, it becomes clear that the developers are not pulling the wool over the eyes of their audience, stating in their press materials that they know about similar problems in Tarkov and make their protection such that it can see even those swindlers who use special hardware.
The Dilemma of the “Free” Shooter
Now that I’ve covered all the new features and positive aspects of Arena, it’s time to move on to the most controversial new feature, which is why Arena Breakout: Infinite is now “another disgrace” – its donation. Yes, this game literally has a Pay-2-Win system that allows you to buy in-game currency, which can instantly be used to buy the best equipment and ammunition.
But in reality, few people will say that all these purchases can be quickly reset if the person behind the monitor is not the most experienced. Thus, even the poorest player can suddenly become super rich if he can hit the donor in the head or many times in the legs with a cheap weapon. In addition, the cost of all this protection and weapons can quickly pay off for the reason that the extraction of this very currency in raids is an extremely useful and simple activity. If you know good places and avoid crowded places, then almost any raid can become profitable.
In addition to currency, you can rent protective cases for donations, in which you can store various valuables, and also purchase a local analogue of a premium subscription. Such innovations raise much more questions in the community about the value of such a system. The fact is that those same protective cases are 4 and 6 cells in size. At the same time, they cost 500 and 1000 rubles, respectively. Such prices are already considered an expensive offer and a reason for Tarkov defenders to play the original, and not the Chinese free clone.
But it’s one thing to demand money for gear. It’s another thing to demand payment for the ability to talk in the chat. Now that can really be considered savagery, on the level of paid reloads in Battlefield. You can chat for free in 10 matches, after which this right is completely disabled. Fortunately, this nonsense can be easily bypassed with regular chats, but this again nullifies the value of the teammate search function in the game itself.
The problem with donation in this game will continue to be in demand among competitors. But this donation is not connected with randomness, and “Pay-2-Win” is easily covered by skillful play.
Diagnosis
Arena Breakout: Infinite is currently experiencing a lull, which is directly related to the update in Escape from Tarkov. But this does not mean that the game is bad. On the contrary, it managed to fix everything that the developers of the original could not do over these 8 years: they wrote normal network code, implemented a good anti-cheat and mechanics that encourage active gameplay and teamwork. In addition, in a month, when the audience cools down from Tarkov again, the online will level out again. And given their current work and plans to enter Steam, the project has prospects for a bright future. The main thing is that all these advantages are not completely covered by donations.
In any case, Nikita Buyanov really has a serious competitor who can offer all the same basic mechanics, but in a much more perfect and refined form. Yes, fans of “tactics” and realism are unlikely to like this game, because it does not have those quirks that Battlestate Games tried to work on. There is also no domestic aesthetics, like in Tarkov. There is no sense of permanent threat. But to all this I would like to ask only one rhetorical question: are all these “realistic” quirks necessary for a good extraction shooter?
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All images used in this material are copyrighted by Tencent.