The Most Relatable Phrase in Tarkov

Death in Tarkov is an inevitability. No matter what you do, how you approach a situation, at some point, either you end up making a mistake and dying, or because Tarkov is the game we play, it decides today is not our day and well... we get Tarkov’d. Again, this is something most relatable to anyone who has experience with the game. A feint glimmer of hope; you get your task item; your heart rate starts to go up because you know the stakes are much higher now should you unfortunately perish. And yet you try to persevere; struggle against the game and all the odds thrown at you. Only to get one-tapped by a TOZ scav as he walks sideways at you, and you hear a distant laugh coming from your assailant. Those moments hurt; a lot in fact. No one likes to die in Escape From Tarkov, but even less so when the death feels either avoidable or completely out of our control. We all get upset by this when it happens, but this roller-coaster of emotions is usually only felt when playing solo. There isn’t anyone you need to relay information to. It’s only you and the game. And Tarkov wasn’t in a good mood. It’s different when you are with others; the experience of death is different; and can easily be summarized by two words:

“I’m Dead.”

Never has there been a more relatable phrase uttered by the mass audience of a videogame than I’m dead after being slain in Tarkov. It happens so fast; one moment you are walking around shooting the shit with your friends, and the next thing you know, one of you falls over and you hear “I’m dead.” Most of the time when it happens with my friend group, one of us usually ends up going what? Or seriously? As if we can’t believe that just happened. But in hindsight, given that this is just a videogame, those moments are kind of hysterical to myself. I don’t know why. Maybe because I know this is something that everyone experiences when playing even just as a duo. But it only gets magnified when you have three, four or even five people toegther for a raid. I mean you look at clips and highlights across the Tarkov community, and they are filled with moments of teammates dying and just going I’m Dead. And to add onto that, while the phrase itself is synonymous with death, losing gear, and having to wait and build a new kit, what makes these moments funny at least to me, is the tone and cadence that the phrase is spoken once it happens. Because there are usually two different ways people express, they have died so suddenly. It’s sheer bewilderment that they just fell over dead; like they weren’t expecting to have died in the manner they just did. Maybe they were behind cover or were trying to get around a corner and the game decided nope you are going back to your stash. And that specific way of saying the phrase is usually something like I’m dead! This cadence very much reminds me of how players make callouts to give each other information in high stress situations, specifically in shooters. For example, if it’s a battle royale and they get knocked down and the other person is low health they might say *he’s one shot*. It’s hard to explain, but you know what I am talking about if you have played any game, even semi competitively. You can hear it in my voice; the stress and the pitch are a little higher than my normal speaking voice. It’s something that echoes throughout your squad and you know some crazy stuff is about to go down. Whether it’s a random AI, boss, or other players, a fight is most likely going to ensue, and you need to be aptly prepared, especially that you are now one teammate down.

But there’s another way of letting people around you know you died. And to me, it’s even funnier than the previous way. First, we had the intense very much dialed in I’m dead that almost catches you by surprise. And now we have the second, completely deadpan way of saying it. And it’s very similar to the way my friend said it in the earlier used clip. I’m dead. Cold, devoid of any real emotion. Very much someone who is used to death in Tarkov and isn’t fazed by it anymore. To them, it’s just another bump in the road. Hell, it could be the third of fourth death in a row. It still doesn’t matter. That exclamation of dying in the raid has seen it all. You can tell by how much lower it’s said in the delivery. There isn’t any stress or inclination behind it. But instead, the sad, cold reminder that this game can and will get you even when you didn’t deserve it. Your hands go up in the air, and you just close the game out for the day. Again, we’ve also all been here before. This seething feeling deep in our soul that gets people to mald in the wildest of ways. We love Tarkov, but we also love to hate it. And for good reason to be fair.

This game, despite all the incredible moments you can experience while playing it, has so many drawbacks that as a new player you wouldn’t really register in your head, because you don’t have the knowledge to know that it’s a problem. But after some time, the cracks begin to show, and you see Tarkov for what it can be sometimes. A buggy, messy, glitchy, chunky game that has it out for you time and time again. It’s why people are so passionate about the game and get upset when they die. Using either of the aforementioned ways of letting others know they have died. We’ve always wanted this game to be successful, fun, engaging, and fair. But with the way the game in general is, AI, netcode; it can make enjoying the experience that much harder to happen. And the simplest way of expression that frustration and passion is usually in these two ways of saying I’m dead. Don’t worry, if you haven’t done so yet, you will. It only takes a matter of time, and enough bullshit deaths before you begin to question why you play this game in the first place. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know in the comments down below if you simply say I’m dead after you get shot. Or mention any other one liner you give the game should you succumb to a suspect death and be sure to subscribe for more videos about the potential never ending suffering that can be experienced when dying over and over again in Tarkov. I hope to see you in future ones.