Insurgency was originally a mod for the Source engine back in the day, but has now been released as its own standalone title. It emphasizes realism and teamwork, but it ultimately failed at the latter.
The game is fun. It’s essentially Counter-Strike (it is on the Source engine after all), but with some hyper realistic elements. As in, one bullet can kill. This alone makes the game an excellent choice for eSports tournaments. I quite enjoyed the hardcore element of Insurgency, especially when I was equipped with any sort of sniper/marksman rifle, my favorite being the Mini-14. This remains my weapon of choice.
Insurgency makes use of a ‘weight’ system for each player’s loadout. It’s kind of like the Black Ops II create a class system, but each item in Insurgency (be that an attachment, weapon, equipment, etc.) has a specific weight assigned to it. Once the maximum weight has been reached, you will no longer be able to equip anything else. In total, there are about 20 weapons, seven attachments, and five different ammunition types. There are also three types of classes to choose from: Assault, Recon, and Support. Each plays a separate role in the team.
That brings me to my main complaint: the emphasis on teamwork. The game tries to place emphasis on teamwork, but I felt like the teamwork was rather forced, if there was any to begin with. Most of the players I was teamed up with didn’t really act as a team. Sure, they went for the objectives and all, but this was usually alone. And if they didn’t do that, then they were usually found hiding behind some object, awaiting an enemy’s arrival. Other games, such as Battlefield, seem to pull off the teamwork thing so well, but I feel as if it’s almost always by chance, in any game. Maybe I’ve just been stuck on bad teams, who knows?
There are also plenty of gamemodes to choose from. There’s the usual modes, found in most modern first-person shooters, then there’s some of the more interesting modes, such as VIP or the co-operative modes. In VIP, one team is tasked with protecting a VIP and getting him to one of the extraction points placed on the map. The VIP is equipped with a pistol only, so this mode truly pushes the teamwork element to its limit, as they work to prevent the VIP’s death to the insurgents. Even in this mode, my team had trouble working together, although the VIP on my team was an idiot and tried to rush the extraction point without waiting up for the rest of the team.
The game has a few other cool features worth mentioning, like its 3D VOIP, which allows players to communicate through the game by use of voice. The catch here is that enemies will be able to hear this voice if they’re close enough. This is a cool addition, but I feel like it could easily be avoided by using an external program such as Teamspeak or Skype. There’s nothing that can be done about that however.
There are currently seven maps at the time of release, with more being added as development continues. These maps vary in both size and shape, all having excellent design. No complaints here. Oh, and remember when I mentioned hardcore? Yeah, there’s no HUD. That just furthers my enjoyment of this game, knowing all of the other players are also without a HUD is immensely satisfying, although I do miss damage indicators.
Anyways, I’m going to have to say that I recommend Insurgency. The hardcore elements completely sell the game for me. The fact that it is still constantly being updated is also a plus, looking forward to future updates from the devs!
cublikefoot 