Gray Zone Warfare is already great.
I’ve been wanting to get hands-on with Gray Zone Warfare ever since it was first shown off last year because it almost seemed too good to be true. An open-world extraction shooter that looked to have a lot of similarities to Escape From Tarkov is exactly the type of game I want to play, and after getting to play it I can say that it mostly delivers.
After figuring out how to accept quests and call a helicopter, which was a challenge itself, my first mission failed miserably as I just ran into a village and was shot within seconds. Much like similar games Gray Zone Warfare is punishing at times, with a single shot from basic AI enemies being a potentially lethal threat, and you’ll regret just running into a group of enemies very quickly.
After spawning back at my base, which is a very quick process and removes the minutes of menus you have to go through in other similar games, I went out with just a pistol not wanting to lose my cool gear immediately. This run was way smoother than the first, I took my time, headed to the objectives I needed and when I spotted two enemies in the street I needed to go down I popped them in the head relatively easily to pick up a proper weapon that gave me some real firepower.
But this is where the main issue I have with Gray Zone Warfare popped up. Because I was playing on the first day of the test and everyone with access wanted to get in and play at the same time, the starting village for my faction felt empty. Dead bodies of AI enemies lined the streets, killed by squads who had already been through completing the quests I was just starting. This removed a lot of the challenge and fun from the first missions, as almost all the routes between the areas I needed to go to were empty.
I hope this is just a quirk of the current test format, but I can’t help but feel this will be the same when it launches in early access for the first time or whenever there is a wipe. With all your faction members starting at the same place with the same tasks, the first squad out of the gate is going to have a great time, while everyone else will be following in their footsteps with not much to do and I'm not sure what the obvious fix for this is.
However, when there are enemies to fight Gray Zone Warfare feels really good. It’s not a smooth and polished experience with a few things that need to be fixed up to make combat feel perfect, but as a base point, it's already great. If you manage to aggro a group of AI enemies then you can expect a hail of bullets coming your way and you will need to find cover quickly. It’s an intense experience that will likely only get better as the AI is improved or I make it to areas with other real players to fight.
I’m excited to see what more playtime brings, especially when it comes to fighting other real players and exploring more of the massive map, but already I can tell that Gray Zone Warfare feels special. It might take a while for it to reach its full potential, but the base they already have here is solid and with a bit more time could become a real competitor to the likes of Tarkov and DayZ.
