Insurgency

While Insurgency isn’t the greatest looking FPS, it presents itself fairly well and even though it suffers from a few minor graphical and clipping bugs, at the bargain price of $14.99, it’s a hard price to turn down for what it offers. Those tired of the main stream Michael Bay FPS offerings can try Insurgency in confidence, with the knowledge they’re about to play a different brand of FPS.

Insurgency is a game that doesn’t have any big problems but rather it has a bunch of little ones that culminate. Some of these are ones that the developer can fix over time. There’s already plans to have DLC that will hopefully add new maps, modes and gameplay updates. Support will also be necessary because while this game does have a decent sized community now, if it doesn’t add more levels, it’ll eventually die out like the mod.

With the absurd number of multiplayer shooters available on steam, Insurgency stands out as one with both great gameplay and some degree of uniqueness. Yes, it’s yet another modern military shooter set in the middle east, but it’s adherence to realism and objective based teamplay to go along with satisfying shooting mechanics help it rise above its tired template. It lacks some features most would expect from a shooter released in 2014, most notably any sort of party system, but its tense and exciting tactical gameplay more than makes up for it.

It’s impressive how “uncool” Insurgency is, in that it ignores the modern shooter trends. It’s slow, and methodical, and there isn’t a grindable unlock or weapon crate to be found. It attempts to make you think about every step you take and every slight weapon tweak, but the odd hitboxes and frustrating lack of saved loadouts undermines some of the good work.

Intense tactical encounters filled with firefights and flying bodies prove thrilling enough to make it easy to look beyond Insurgency's less impressive visual design. The team dynamic and unique squad system inject something different into the mix too, offering match after match of absorbing cooperative killing that proves good looks aren't everything.

Insurgency is the epitome of the realistic, squad-based, tactical FPS, which is quite the feat for an independently developed and funded product. It has a few problems, sure, but it is constantly evolving and getting tweaked, with tons of new, community-made content published every now and then. Note, however, that, like with every video game that caters to the needs of a very specific type of gamer, this is not for everyone. Some will love its real-life challenge and "restrictions," while others will hate it for them.