The realistic extraction shooter Gray Zone Warfare launches shortly after release with 66,000 players on Steam, but the first reviews cast doubt on the “Tarkov killer.” What do the early players say?
Which game is it about? On April 30, the new extraction shooter Gray Zone Warfare entered Early Access and is available on Steam in the standard edition for just under 35 euros.
Many fans of realistic shooters hoped that Gray Zone Warfare could provide a successful alternative to the struggling genre leader Escape from Tarkov. Even before the release, Gray Zone Warfare was regarded on social media as a “potential Tarkov killer.”
In April, there were 2 factors that further fueled the hype around the shooter:
- Escape from Tarkov enraged its entire community by making a new PvE mode available only in an edition for 250 euros
- Content creators were allowed to stream a preview test of Gray Zone Warfare, which quickly brought the shooter 150,000 viewers on Twitch.
Here you can see a trailer for Gray Zone Warfare:
Strong player numbers, poor reviews
How did the release go? Gray Zone Warfare has a mixed start on Steam. While the player numbers are indeed good and have already surpassed the mark of 66,000 (via SteamDB), the first reviews are quite poor. Only 53% of the 5,500 reviews received so far are positive (as of April 30, 2024, 11:10 PM).
The biggest issue for Gray Zone Warfare seems to be the performance (cf. Steam). While the shooter, based on Unreal Engine 5, looks really nice, the FPS are often in the basement. The anti-cheat also causes issues and prevents players from entering the game.
Some of the early testers therefore summarize: Even for Early Access, it is technically inadequate. Nevertheless, many players note that the shooter indeed has potential and a solid foundation (via Steam). The release comes too early for many users nonetheless.
Should you check out Gray Zone Warfare? You probably should wait a bit longer at this point – unless you want to consciously support the developers.
Gray Zone Warfare has an interesting approach to distinguish itself from other extraction shooters and could potentially be a serious competitor to Escape from Tarkov – especially since the industry leader is currently struggling with its own problems and is still in beta after years of development.
If you say you really want to test the game and support the developers, then the 35 euros for Gray Zone Warfare are certainly an acceptable investment. However, if you want to play a developed and finished game right away, you should better save your money.
An alternative to Escape from Tarkov, which is also in Early Access and needs time, is Incursion Red River: If you don’t want to spend 250 euros for PvE in Tarkov, check out the 16 euro shooter from a German developer
