Insurgency Impressions: Gunning down dudes old school style

In just a few days, the tactical first-person shooter Insurgency will move on from its Beta stage and get an official release on Steam. The game is due out on Wednesday, January 22, which means there isn't much waiting left. So with that said, let's take a look at it one last time before launch. If you're a fan of more methodical FPSes and haven't exactly been wowed by another recent entry in the genre (not naming names, because that would be sad and probably a little mean), perhaps you ought to take a look at this upcoming game.

As GameZone's Senior Editor and resident love machine Lance Liebl detailed in his preview of Insurgency back in September, titles such as Red Orchestra, Counter-Strike, and Day of Defeat are major influences here. The tactical gameplay is noticeably inherent, so it's safe to say that this game will appeal largely to the very niche audience that digs slower paced experiences. Even then, while the action of Insurgency is undeniably slower in pace than, say, a Call of Duty or even Battlefield game, it's still filled with frequent objectives to keep you moving at a somewhat brisk pace.

Death is handled in an interesting way. Rather than respawning immediately after getting filled with bullets or sitting out until the game is finished, you return to the action once an objective has been completed. Regardless of whether it's your team or your enemies accomplishing an objective, once that base is captured or that cache destroyed and the round ends, everyone jumps back into the action. This adds a nice amount of tension without completely taking you out of the game.

There are a total of six multiplayer modes that support up to 32 players at any given time. In addition to this competitive component, Insurgency also includes a cooperative mode that pits a team of six players against bots. This mode plays a lot like the competitive offerings. The catch is that the enemy can counterattack, forcing you to survive an onslaught of progressively tougher soldiers. This is a random occurance, so you won't always have to battle it out to secure the victory.

Developer New World Interactive pointed out to me that the co-op mode, while still difficult, would be a great mode for players to learn the basics of combat, get accustomed to the guns, and get a feel for the action. That said, this will still be a challenging mode, especially considering the fact that enemies get more aggressive and difficult as you clear more objectives.

One of the more interesting things about Insurgency is its use of World War II weaponry. Apparently, modern military forces continue to circulate and use older weapons rather than doing away with them entirely. This is something New World Interactive wanted to use to capture a hint of realism in the world of Insurgency. It's definitely nice attention to detail, and knowing that the 20 different guns available in the game aren't just newer models is kind of cool if you're into the historical aspect of gun-based warfare.

Okay, fine, I'll name names. Takedown: Red Sabre was a pretty bad tactical FPS. It wasn't exciting, interesting, or complete, which meant it wasn't the return to form fans of this particular genre were hoping for. Insurgency seems to have a dedicated team behind it, and its lengthy time as a Steam Early Access title may make the biggest difference as far as quality is concerned. If that's the case, this could be a truly worthwhile tactical FPS endeavor, which would be awesome news for fans of this blatantly niche type of game.

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