Can Anyone Make the "Perfect" Extraction Game?
This is a genre of videogame that has had a tumultuous lifespan over the more recent years. The idea of an extraction-focused video game sounds incredibly interesting on paper. You gear up with whatever is available to you in your stash or from a variety of vendors, you either go in solo or round up your friends and see what kind of chaos you can get into. Hopefully, and ideally, no one dies and everyone in the party can loot up and extract together. That doesn’t usually happen, but it’s the best feeling when it does. But this style of game is usually much more complex than just load in, loot, and get out. There are tons of systems, mechanics, knowledge checks; everything that allows these games to be on a surface level, relatively inviting for new players to experience, while at the same time, having a level of depth that is discovered once a few hours are put into the game. And while some are better at this than others, the entire genre of extraction-based games, whether they are shooters or melee focused, all have a similar gameplay loop. And said loop, when done correctly can be heavily addictive once it clicks and you get into it. But that’s where the crux of this entire conversation stems from; the lack of many coherent games that have nailed down this specific style of gameplay loop. Obviously, the biggest game to get this right is Escape From Tarkov. But because of this game’s success, many others have dipped their toe into the same water just to experience making that type of game, or game mode is like. Some have created an interesting game with this loop that warrants playtime and experiencing the world for what it is. And others, while on the right track, were missing some key components that give this genre the feelings that can be evoked by the player when done correctly. So, the main question of today’s video is, can anyone create the “perfect” extraction-based game? We’ll look at some examples of games and modes that are out, what they’ve done right, and what could be improved upon and figure out an answer from there. So, if you are interested in this conversation be sure to subscribe to the channel for future videos.