Title: Insurgency
Developer: New World Interactive
My thoughts: Insurgency is a tactical multiplayer shooter in the vein of Medal of Honor (the good ones, not the panned recent ones) and Counter-Strike. You play as either the security forces or the insurgents, with their inevitable black balaclavas and AK-47’s. The gameplay bears a strong resemblance to Counter Strike, except for 2 noticeable differences. The emphasis is placed more on long-range shooting rather than the tight corridors of CS, as the result of the maps being far more open. The other difference is that it’s even more hardcore than CS, due to using the Red Orchestra/ Rising Storm ultra-realism, where you die in one hit unless you have enough armour for a medieval knight and his horse. The graphics look good, especially for an indie game, and the physics aren’t too temperamental.
Would I Recommend It?: Depends. If you’re tired of modern military shooters, don’t like sniping and/or open maps, and get frustrated with a game quickly, no way. If you’re up for a tough game, however, it’s a blast. The guns have a lot of kick and power to them, making them feel especially powerful, and it’s very satisfying to spot a sniper before they spot you and bring them off their lofty perch. However, you can’t fire when you’re crawling on the ground, which leads to a lot of frustrating deaths, and if you end up on a team where nobody communicates or works together, you’ll get exasperated very quickly. Insurgency is hit-and-miss, with the hits being extremely cathartic and the misses inducing rage as you die for the 6th time with no kills because that idiot wasn’t covering your advance again.
Rating: 7/10
Words by Gabriel Rutherford