Reviews - togfan

It's hard to compare Insurgency to any game. To put it easily, it feels like Counter Strike and Red Orchestra had a baby, that developed into something beautiful.

Insurgency is a hardcore first-person tactical shooter, focusing on tactics, teamwork and skill. It features free-aim and no crosshairs (thank God), as well as a punishing damage model, long snap-to-aim time and relatively long reload times (compared to other modern FPSes). The game puts you in place as a security squad/insurgent group in the Middle East areas, trapped together in a firefight in distinctive and well-planned maps, both during day and night. Every soldier has 10 squad points they can spend on different weapons and attachments, depending on your selected role. This makes it fair, and you find yourself often juggling between the best setup for the situation. Each side has their own weapons (insurgents have the AK family, while the security team the M16-series).

This is a great game to play with friends, seeing how teamwork is key. It also brings many fun moments to share with others.

As the game is based on the Source engine, its mechanics are as well. Movement is fluid, weapons use hitscan (no physical bullets), and there's no first person body (you can't see your legs), as well as Source's camera functions, which can bring the usual confusion of how much your body is actually visible. The weapons do however react with walls, making you unable to aim down if the wall is closer than the tip of the weapon. The scopes are also "3D", or optical, meaning the only magnified area is within the scope itself. Scope glares are gorgeous in first person.

The game feels very fair. When you die you know it's your own fault, and you have no one else to blame than yourself (unless it's an internet-based fault). All you can do is to try again and learn from your mistakes. This gives the game a steep learning curve, but a very satisfying experience when you are able to do everything right. You'll feel proud.

Weapons in the game have very heavy recoil. This is awesome, since it gives selective fire a purpose, and makes the weapons hard to master. For this reason, bring a good mouse with good mouse space when you play. All reloads are magazine-based instead of the normal reload-by-bulletcount method. Reloading after shooting half of the magazine will leave half the magazine's content left when you get to it (the game conveniently orders your magazines by ammo count).

Pros:
-Tactical and serious
-Punishing damage model
-Fluid and fair
-"Proper" weapon mechanics
-Enjoyable graphics and good maps
-Good communiy

Cons:
-Hitscan
-No first person model
-Steep learning curve

Insurgency is in overall an awesome game, developed by a group of people who provide free updates constantly, mature players, and awesome modders who truly brings the game variety via the workshop.

I recommend the game to anyone who enjoy tactical shooters, or simply want to try a solid shooter with an aspiring future. Great fun.
Insurgency scores a clear 10 from me.