Welcome to Video Game Roulette where I run a random number generator to pick a random game from my list of 1,000ish games that you can see here. Play that game for 3-5 hours accumulated, talk about the game’s core systems and see if it is a game I recommend!
For this weeks VGR I rolled the game, Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat, which is a free mod for the source engine (Half-Life 2) released in 2007. I remember installing this mod a long time ago and being very intrigued with the realism aspect of shooting they designed. It blew my mind that the simple act of removing the crosshair could change so much about a competitive First Person Shooter.
The rules I set for myself are that if I roll onto episode 2 of something then I move onto episode one, but I didn’t really think about rolling onto a mod that no one was playing anymore.
Instead of rerolling a new game I decided to install Insurgency stand alone release (2014) which is also on my list. I checked it out before doing a new roll and to my joy there are servers still populated! I decided that since I rolled on Insurgency, I would talk about the game series as a whole and focus on the latest version that I own that still has people playing.
Insurgency Sandstorm is their awesome-looking revision that was just released. I did not buy Sandstorm and most of this quick look will focus on the standalone release of Insurgency that was released in 2014.
“Take to the streets for intense close quarters combat, where a team’s survival depends upon securing crucial strongholds and destroying enemy supply in this multiplayer and cooperative Source Engine based experience.”
-Insurgency Steam Page
Wilco, we have Game Play
Insurgency taps into the hardcore tactical team based first person shooter crowd with its lack of crosshair, immersive environments and realistic-feeling gun physics. Commonly, in other games where you can survive a sudden ambush by inaccurate hip fire, this game you have to keep a mental crosshair on where people are if you are going to do some blind fire. The quarters are close and the enemies are right behind the corner, know your gun and know your enemy.
There are a lot of guns to choose from and all are extremely moddable. One of the first things I did was attach a short range sight to the .50 cal sniper. It worked albeit not very practically. It allowed me to be able to take people out at close range and be able to be a bit more mobile.
But whatever you chose, make sure your comfortable with it because where you aim it, it kills, including your teammates. To see a comprehensive list of all the guns and mods in the game, check out this steam guide by Mr Right.
When joining a game you get to pick what kind of role you want to play. The weapons you get to pick from would be what you would expect. If someone is in a role you want to play you will have to unfortunately wait and try out something not in your comfort zone.
All maps also have a night time mode, if you join a server that runs them you better put an attachment for a flashlight or run with Night Vision Goggles, or you will have a really bad time. Of course if your enemy has night vision and you run flash light attachment you will be able to blind them.
Roger, onto Game Modes
Training
Get a feeling for the basic mechanics and how to shoot with this guided combat course. they teach you all the basics such as crouch, prone, shooting, selecting the right weapon and equipping yourself from the weapons cache.
Multiplayer
Sustained Combat
Your typical FPS where you die, respawn and take over objectives team based combat. Great mode to try out different guns against real digital people. Respawns are not instant and you will be waiting for a respawn wave. Be warned, grenade spam is real.
Tactical Operations
This is my favorite type of mode: one life to take over an objective for high tension. You will not be able to respawn until an object is captured or the enemy team is eliminated. If you enable voice comms you will hear a bit more chatter from your team and a lot of strategic discussions. You will also run into people who take things a little too seriously, but that comes with the territory with games like this.
Unranked Competitive
The same mode as Tactical Operations but with less people on the map; that means more opportunity to be sneaky and more tactical. If I was to spend more time with this game, this would be the mode I would like to work towards being good at. I love small squad based combat and I feel the maps, guns and systems in the game really compliment a 5 on 5 mode.
Co-op modes
Conquer
Join servers that only run Conquer type of game mode. In Conquer you have a bunch of different weapons cache objective points that you need blow up with explosives.
Classic
Classic mode will let you join servers that run all the standard game modes such as Hunt, Conquer, Checkpoint, Survival and Outpost. Each mode has its own unique rule-set but the end goal is the same, kill all the bots and capture the objective
Hardcore
All the modes that you find in classic but with more weapons, increased supply and higher bot difficulty
Elite
All the modes that you find in classic but with more realistic and tactical load outs.
Radio Check
The music is heroic and the guns sound real. If you blast your audio levels it will sound like you are in the war zone. One of the main reasons people get called out for hacking in Counter-Strike is because people learned to listen with their ears. It’s amazing how much information you can get in a game that has good sound levels with proper audio direction. Insurgency has that and if you take a .50 cal with you, everyone is going to know where you are.
Over and Out
Insurgency really aims to try something new while keeping some of the old and I feel they do a very good job of it. You are not going to always have fun if you rush into a Game Mode you don’t enjoy but if you look for the one that works for you, you will really enjoy your time.
There are a few things I didn’t touch on during my short time with the game, such as the maps supplied, because I wanted to focus on the core game mechanics. If you are at all intrigued I would definitely suggest picking up the newly released Insurgency: Sandstorm over Insurgency 2014 as that version is currently getting rave reviews and will have updated systems, graphics and sound while keeping its core gameplay alive.
Year: 2014
Game developed by: New World Interactive
Game published by: New World Interactive
Platforms: Windows, OSX, Linux
Played on: Windows
Time Played: 4 hours
NobleThief owns too many video games and needs an excuse to play them.
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