Skip To...
The onboarding process for extraction shooters is never easy. You either get a bullet in the back from your own teammates, or someone starts calling your names because you don’t know how to check a corner; it’s not the most wholesome experience. However, Gray Zone Warfare, despite its very early access feel, has been a fantastic and immersive journey that had me hooked in a few hours. While it is rough around the edges and needs more work, it has so much room to grow and eventually become the best in the genre.
A Day in Lamang
Since I don’t have many friends who play these games with me, and my wife runs faster than Forrest Gump when I mention anything first-person shooter-related, I went in alone. I’m not an extraction shooter expert, and I’ve only played a few of them. While I knew a bit about Gray Zone Warfare, I had no idea what was in store for me. Due to the game’s setting, I thought it’d be great to fire up some Creedence Clearwater Revival tunes, and so I did. With little guidance, I grabbed whatever I saw would fit my character’s loadout at the base camp and somehow figured out how to call a chopper. After climbing on it and flying above the jungles of Lamang with Bad Moon Rising in the background, I landed on a crop field, checked my ammo, and strolled into the first town.
Note how I say stroll, and I emphasize that because it was my first mistake. I had no idea how realistic this game was. I started walking and singing the music I had in the background without any care in the world. That was until I heard a few gunshots in the distance, and I said to myself, “Maybe a few players are shooting at each other.” Still, that was enough for me to take this incursion seriously. I stopped the music, realized my voice chat was on, and maybe someone heard my horrible singing, turned that off as well, and started crouching. At a distance, I spot my first enemy. Slowly, I approach them, trying to get a stealth kill with my knife, just to be welcomed by a hail of bullets from an enemy I didn’t see because I forgot to check my corners.
One Heck of a Realistic Shooter
It took me one run of Gray Zone Warfare to realize I wasn’t in another FPS anymore; I was in Lamang. This place chews you up and spits you without mercy if you don’t pay attention. The realism of Gray Zone Warfare is on point. You can’t run around like John Wick, trying to do some bullet-time shenanigans. You have to be careful. Every corner of this map is full of enemies that are as squishy as you. One bullet to the head, and say goodbye to everything you’re carrying.
To delve deeper into the gameplay loop of Gray Zone Warfare, let me paint the broader picture. You begin at your base camp. You have three vendors that also serve as quest givers. After picking a task, you call down a chopper or run toward the map to find your objective. Sometimes you need to put trackers in things, other times extract an item, or even eliminate enemies. The latter is an extremely scary situation.
Since the ballistic mechanics are some of the most realistic I’ve seen, one bullet can spell the end for you or the enemy. For instance, I faced a group of five enemy NPCs. Since I had an assault rifle with a scope, I picked a faraway location to take them out from a safe distance. It felt as if I was a trained PMC member. I peeked when needed and took cover when enemies fired at me. Little by little, I learned about their reload patterns. And despite my newly-found expertise, I took a bullet to the head and lost everything I had accrued. However, I realized something funny: I wasn’t angry about losing. Instead, I was glad I had learned how to properly fight in this realistic battleground.
Perfect For Beginners
One might read my Gray Zone Warfare stories and feel deterred about joining it; don’t. This extraction shooter finally allowed me to delve deep into the genre without fearing other skilled players. Yes, that’s right, there’s a dedicated PvE mode already. It is the perfect playground to test your weapons and learn about the intricate systems of Gray Zone Warfare, which, trust me, there are many. Whether it is in-depth healing mechanics or gun-building, which is harder than an instructionless Lego, there’s everything for any type of player.
However, there are still many things that need fixing. Enemy AI doesn’t have a middle ground. Sometimes, it feels like they cover their eyes and shoot in all directions, hoping to hit whatever moves. And other times, they are deadlier than Agent 47. Still, it is a hopefully unintentional learning curve that has helped me improve.
Moving on to the elephant in the room: graphics. Hear me out; they are gorgeous. You can see the texture of an energy bar on the ground and feel it is real. However, it takes a huge toll on one’s rig. I started playing on high settings only to realize the stutter was terrible. I switched to medium settings, fired up FSR, and my 60fps ride began.
The Best Time To Join the Fight
While you might see everything there is in the game in one week, there’s no better time to support Gray Zone Warfare than now. It has everything it needs to grow and take the crown of extraction shooters. Even someone like me, who isn’t the biggest fan of the genre, had a blast in it. Yes, I have already improved my reputation with most NPCs and don’t have much to do. But I’m holding my assault rifle tight, waiting for the next update because I can’t wait to fly over Lamang and help liberate this place one bullet at a time.
