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.

Let’s talk about Tarkov first. Seeing as how this is the game that has gotten the closest to nailing the genre, it makes sense to go over why Tarkov is such a successful extraction game. The first and arguably largest reason, is the profound sense of loss upon death. Even as a fresh account, you see all the items in your inventory, and if you follow this game without knowing all the little intricacies, you know that if you die, whatever was on you is gone forever. Very similar to how you may not have played a Souls’ game, but you know that when you die your souls are lost on death as well. Which means that stash of yours will dwindle down to nothing, in an absolute worst-case scenario. Those items are finite; they won’t be there forever unless you don’t simply use them. But if they sit in your stash forever, then in a way, they are also effectively lost as well. Which to me, for any kind of extraction, gear-based game, the sense of loss needs to be there. Without it, the palpable stress and tension that comes from literally taking the last of your items and putting them on your character is gone. There’s magic to knowing you’re hurting in what gear you have left and having to make the conscious choice to either take even more for another attempt or go in with less and have a higher chance of dying. Which makes the come ups in Tarkov that much more explosive and rewarding. All it takes is one raid, one single kill. And you are back in business. And those moments are a reason why Tarkov is so addicting. The itch to get back in and reclaim what was lost. The stress that comes from trying to extract with a huge kit off a player is something that hasn’t really been replicated by man games. And is a core pillar in why extraction games are so exciting, and more importantly, why loss in these games is a necessary evil.

One version of a recent extraction mode that came out that struggled with this concept was COD Modern Warfare II’s DMZ mode. The mode itself was straight forward, and because COD usually feels good to play and engage with mechanically, the mode was fun to run around in. But the biggest problem that I had with it personally, was that if you died, the only thing you lost was the weapon(s) you loaded in with. That was it. No armor, gear, meds, equipment; that is all given to you at the start. It made death feel like more of a mild inconvenience than losing things that you were excited to get out with. So, once I learned that’s all you lost, I played the game recklessly; throwing caution to the wind, taking every fight I possible could because death didn’t mean anything. It’s a shame too because if the mode launched with that extra layer of tension added into it, I feel as though DMZ would’ve been an interesting alternative to something like Tarkov. Maybe not a 1:1 scale in terms of mechanical depth, stress and overall tension, but even something half as effective would’ve been a wonderful introduction from another game entirely. In theory, it’s a great concept, but there were some choices I would’ve made differently to hopefully elevate it just a little bit higher.

Another game to have come out in the same vein, is Dark and Darker. When this game first popped up, people went wild to try and play it. A medieval dungeon crawling extraction game with melee combat? That honestly sounds like a perfect recipe. And while I missed the opportunity during the free playtests, I watched a ton of the game and people playing it. Dark and Darker does a much better job of the idea of loss upon death, with the added benefit of giving you a basic loadout should all your other equipment get used up. While the movement and combat for me personally is something to be desired in all honesty, IronMace Games did a wonderful job bringing the idea of an extraction game to a medieval dungeon crawling setting. It’s grungy, dark, difficult to navigate and move around it. Claustrophobic is a word that feels appropriate for the dungeons in the game. And with melee combat instead of guns, too. That’s honestly the most impressive part of the game. How it’s all swords, bows, daggers, and spells, instead of modern-day weapons.

And the most recent culprit, which we all knew would be a difficult pill to swallow, is The Day Before. What was once touted by the developers as an open world, survival MMO game, has been released as an extraction shooter. And while the core components of The Day Before’s extraction elements are sufficient in their job, everything else is either bad, or woefully underbaked. We knew that game was going to be rough. I am impressed however, that it is an actual game you can purchase (which you shouldn’t), and that you can play. But to be brutally honest, even if the game launched with little to no bugs, glitches, crashes, server issues, or any of that. Even then, what’s left? An empty world that you walk around and occasionally kill zombies in, while fetching items for vendors in the hub. The game itself doesn’t have a ton going for it. Now, that’s not to say people can’t have fun with it. It feels like one of those games where you could easily turn your brain off, throw some background music on and just kind of get lost in the world. Again, the biggest underlying problem with The Day Before is the lack of content. The elements for a successful extraction shooter are there; loss upon death, potentially using up all your resources in the process of trying to bounce back from several successful. The pieces are there. But the game everywhere has issues, and whether they will be fixed, we will have to see. And with the knowledge of the developers track record with abandoning previous projects they have worked on, I don’t have much hope for this game either.

One final example that has since been unfortunately turned off for good is The Cycle Frontier. Another first-person extraction shooter. But this time is set in the future, with a heavier focus on sci-fi rather than going for modern day military warfare. That game also had a solid groundwork for the idea of loss and the need for the “one more run” mentality. It even had persistent servers that lasted hours long, so being able to infill and exfil was seamless. The game was marred with lack of content and a rather large cheating problem, which ultimately led to the game's demise, which sucks because it felt like one of the better attempts at this genre. The people playing it were enjoying it, even if it did have some balancing issues. But this industry is savage, and if you aren’t able to resolve these kinds of issues in a timely manner, especially for an online shooter, you are going to struggle.

Nailing this genre is something that I’m sure developers have scratched their heads about, keeping them up for nights on end. There are so many elements that we didn’t even discuss because we’d be here for so long going over each one. VOIP, general interactions between players, economy and progression balance; the list goes on. And while it may seem a little weird to focus primarily on the loss aspect of these games, to me, this is what makes an extraction shooter interesting. Even if it isn’t as intense, dense, or difficult, nailing the idea of having to worry about losing your gear and getting it back; that revolving door is the cornerstone of this genre. At least to me. This genre can be an incredible gaming experience, when done right. And whether a company will ever get it all right is up in the air. I hope one day we get that experience, much like how we get a more refined DayZ experience from another game. These genres have so much untapped potential, but to get them right takes a level of expertise I think is either just not in the industry, or marred by people who refuse to allow people to make those kinds of games. But here’s to hoping one day we get to have that experience and praise the people who went out of their way to make it a reality. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know in the comments below your thoughts on the extraction genre as a whole, any of these games and be sure to subscribe to the channel for more videos about the difficulties of making solid gaming experiences in these rather obtuse genres. I hope to see you in future ones.