Escape from Tarkov gameplay screenshot

Escape From Tarkov is a Stalker inspired MMO that aims to combine FPS/TPS gameplay with RPG elements and a fully fledged story campaign based around open-ended levels. Its heading to Alpha in August, and while there is little information available right now, I have to admit that the very concept had me intrigued from the get-go.

Unfortunately, watching the 15 minute pre-alpha gameplay demo recently posted by GameSpot has significantly dulled my excitement. While I won't say anything just yet in order to not "pollute" your viewing experience, I will just mention that you should skip to around 9 minutes in order to get to the "actual" gameplay:

 

The visuals are gorgeous, there's no denying that, but the actual moment to moment gameplay seems to be incredibly bland. I'll admit this could have a lot to do with the presenter who for some reason has decided that spending the majority of his allotted time on the inventory screen was a good idea, but even the exploration aspects feel lacking as the player kept constantly finding useful modern materials where there should never be any. Its not really a survival situation if you can easily find everything you need within a single building, now is it?

Since there are a lot of unknowns right now I'll reserve my judgement for when the closed alpha finally arrives in August, but hopefully the non-scripted gameplay is a lot more exciting than what was shown here. 

If you would like to learn more about Escape From Tarkov, I'd suggest you head over to the about page on the official website. It does an excellent job of introducing new players to the world, the gameplay mechanics, and what sort of stuff you can expect to see as development goes on.

Escape from Tarkov gameplay screenshot