2021 has arrived and after a week off of roundups we’re back with what we’ve been playing.
Escape from Tarkov
Just before Christmas came around, Tarkov had a surprise wipe. Which means everything reset. Everything you’ve earned looted or completed completely set back to 0. With a wipe usually comes some new content and this 12.9 patch included an update to the Woods map which has now more than doubled in size.
Since that wipe I’ve been grinding away at tasks again, whilst trying to level up my hideout and gain some decent loot. Early wipe is always an interesting and fun time because you have people all heading to the same places for tasks. Plus all players are equally under-geared. It means every raid you know you’re almost guaranteed to run in to other players in certain areas. But it also means you’re unlikely to get instantly killed by some huge chad. Gun fights in the early wipe are more drawn out because you tend to lack the best weapons or attachments, and don’t have the best ammo. I actually really enjoy the wipe for these reasons, although it can get frustrating when you keep dying trying to complete a task.
Escape from Tarkov just keeps getting better. Whilst the game is still a few years from completion (probably), and therefore has issues, it’s still one of, if not the best shooter game out there.
Just before the wipe hit I had a mad time on Interchage.
GTFO
Another game that keeps getting better is GTFO. Over the holiday break a couple of other friends picked it up and I jumped into playing with them. I can now say that I’ve actually managed to complete a few missions of a rundown. Prior to this most recent rundown I think I’d probably completed 1 mission. Given the statistics for how many others fail, I don’t feel too bad about it. That being said, my group managed to complete 2 missions in one night. An impressive feat I’m sure you’ll no doubt agree…. Please…
Seriously though, it has been excellent fun jumping into the game more and actually accomplishing something. Even though I’ve failed many times, I still have an excellent time playing it. I feel like GTFO is a bit of an unknown gem and hopefully in 2021 more people will get to know this hardcore coop FPS.
GTFO is a game that really nails a tense atmosphere and doesn’t ever let you have your guard down for too long. If you enjoy a challenge, a bit of a scare and like playing games with friends check it out. It’s awesome fun.
-Will
GTA Online
It’s a new year, 2021, and I have a PlayStation 5. So it makes perfect sense to be playing an 8-year-old game that released originally on PlayStation 3.
As mentioned last roundup, a few of my chums picked up GTAV for PS4 reasonably cheap during the December time off work. Pretty much every night since then we’ve been online either in a closed server or public server to our-self having a laugh.
Initially we started off just messing around in the nightclub & casino splashing the virtual cash on $30,000 bottles of champagne and throwing all our chips down on the roulette table reasonably carefree. It was a great way for us to maintain some social aspect while we can’t actually hang out. All the while enjoying a real drop of whiskey while these antics were taking place.
Well a few weeks later, we’re still playing it, we’re still being social. But we’ve shifted priority to now look to ways to earn money. Million-dollar casino penthouses and $30k champagne bottles need funding someway. Now on an evening, you’ll find one of us completing some gunrunning, another doing VIP sightseeing mission, someone else on documentation forgery ring or luxury vehicle import/export.
I’ve equally found myself absolutely hooked to this new money making aspect of the game as I’ll still happily jump on and play if my friends cant. Funnily enough yesterday I jumped on while my son was napping and saw a friend was online alone and jumped onto his server to find him doing some gun running missions, working towards his latest total of $240k income.
But we still make sure we take time away from the grind to have some fun. Crazy stunt races, or a round of golf, or of course back to the casino, we’ve been having a real blast.
I can now after my latest addiction see why Rockstar might be so reluctant to shut this game down. There’s a plethora of updates to this since Will and I played back on the 360. The new ways to make money to fund the fun are actually addictive. RockStar are sat on a goldmine and it’s only now some 8 years later I understand that.
– Murr
