I played Arena Breakout Infinite, and based on what the closed beta version offers so far, I do think it is a game worthy of your time, offering a good amount of content and more importantly, an enjoyable gameplay loop that is hard to detach from.
Arena Breakout Infinite might look very much like Escape From Tarkov sometimes, up to a point that you may say it’s a clear copy, but the game has its own innovations and manages to break free of Escape From Tarkov’s shell at last. That’s all for those looking for a few lines of impressions, but if you are here for a detailed breakdown, bear with me!
Small Doses Of Casual Gameplay
Arena Breakout Infinite is not an exact replacement for Escape From Tarkov as it is not as unforgiving. Some casual bonuses in Arena Breakout make the experience a bit more accessible so that you won’t be left all alone in a long learning curve to literally learn everything.
Arena Breakout gives you the full map of each zone, allows you to check out your current position on the map, and even marks the extraction points with the conditions for both. So, it’s not like Escape From Tarkov, where it takes you weeks to understand where you are spawned each time you enter a raid and where you should head to extract.
This will help all the players to be on the same page pretty soon, without leaving a big gap between a Level 5 and Level 20 player. Of course, if you lurk around the map more, you will find better spots for shooting, but at least, there is no struggle for the basic parts of the gameplay like locating extraction points. So, Arena Breakout Infinite lowers the environmental challenges and leaves it all to gunplay skills and smarter brains to determine a raid’s fate.
This is not necessarily good or bad, but rather a different approach that might fit best into players looking for a slightly fast-paced and more action-oriented gameplay.
A More Accessible Hardcore Shooter
Following the policy to even things between players as much as possible, Arena Breakout Infinite doesn’t lock the joyful parts of the game behind higher levels and longer progression.
Of course, you will still need to level up to unlock new traders and better weapons, but that will not take long. Also, some features like Market, where players can sell stuff to each other is unlocked from the entry level.
But the most important part is the Gunsmith. Well, modifying guns in Escape From Tarkov without unlocking the Flea Market is a nightmare, as you have to either find the parts in raids or buy available ones from traders without a broad option to choose from.
By opening up Market from the entry-level, Arena Breakout Infinite allows you to modify everything you have to the teeth, as long as you have the money to pay for it. So, just imagine I looted a very basic Mosin at Level 6 during a raid, and then spent over 200,000 credits on it, making it a deadly sniper with an infrared optic and fully revamped parts. Just imagine how long it would take you to do the same in Escape From Tarkov.
Of course, I did lose a lot of money, but that’s not the point. This game allows you to have what a Level 30 player holds in hand if you have the price to pay. This is why Arena Breakout Infinite is more accessible, and you could never feel like you are in an unfair environment where Levels dictate the winner.
Gunplay Needs More Improvement
While you can feel that small dose of that casual approach in the gunplay of Arena Breakout Infinite, the game still tries to keep it as brutal and realistic as possible. The core functionality of gunplay doesn’t have anything short of Escape From Tarkov, as bullets are quite deadly if you don’t have the right gear to deal with them.
Gunplay falls short mostly in sound design. Guns don’t sound amazing in Arena Breakout Infinite, at least not on the same level as its major competitor. As a result, they don’t feel super realistic either. When you shoot with weapons, they usually sound a bit baffled. To be more accurate, the sound of shots doesn’t circle inside your ear.
Now, while this hurts immersion a bit, it helps with getting ambient sound and recognized footsteps closing in even when you are in a deadly gunfight.
Aside from that, weapons don’t feel heavy enough. Now, this one is probably a sacrifice for a different recoil approach. I don’t like the recoil system in Arena Breakout Infinite as it has a pretty spiky steep. The crosshair reaches its top position in the recoil quite fast after you go beyond the burst limit. This is indeed a way to counter spraying bullets and encourage players to burst fire, but it also makes the recoil very hard to control and master
With all these problems, gunplay is still enjoyable. It is not flawless, but it is not broken either. If you are coming from a game like DMZ, it will feel a lot of fun, but if you are coming from Escape From Tarkov, you might feel a significant downgrade.
The Winning Edge
Arena Breakout Inifnite reveals its winning edge once you reach Level 8 (was previously Level 14 before the first hotfix). This is where you unlock Lockdown Zone and Forbidden Zone game modes, and this is where you begin to roll into an addictive loop.
These two modes are higher-tier versions of the normal raids, that come with harder AI enemies and some entry conditions for players. When you queue for Lockdown Zone, your total value of loadout must be above 30,000 credits. Also, you have to pay 5,000 credits to matchmake in this mode. These rates go even higher for the Forbidden Zone with a minimum equipment value of 80,000 credits and an entry payment of 12,000 credits.
The conditions above guarantee that every player entering these modes is armed to the teeth, and you are about to step into a raid with no easy engagements. You know that each player in the raid beholds valuable loot, and that’s where the tension kicks in!
I think you have already figured out the addictive gameplay loop here. You grind in the normal game mode for money and better gear, and then you enter a risky raid, where you extract with golden loot, or you lose everything you have collected so far.
This is a massive winning edge in Arena Breakout Infinite, as something always itches you to try your luck with these intense game modes and risk your hard-earned equipment for a win that will make you much happier than ordinary extractions. This is like a smart Souls-like injection into extraction shooter.
If there is one thing that Arena Breakout Infinite could easily beat Escape From Tarkov to, it is the addictive gameplay loop, thanks to the Lockdown and Forbidden Zones.
The Anti-Cheat Experience
Arena Breakout Infinite uses its own anti-cheater known as Ace. During my playthrough in the early days of the closed beta, I didn’t feel like there are cheaters in the game.
It is a bit difficult to recognize a cheater in hardcore shooters, as sometimes you die before you even know from where you are being shot. But, I didn’t see any red flags or obvious cheater behaviors in the game, despite the fact that there was at least one Chinese player among my random teammates in every single raid.
It does need more time to judge the anti-cheat performance, as it usually takes a bit of time for cheater groups to find out from where they could sneak past the anti-cheat. So, we can do nothing at the moment but hope Ace remains invincible.
Don’t Ruin It Please!
Although I am so satisfied with Lockdown and Forbidden Zones in Arena Breakout Infinite, I’m also worried about two major things that could ruin this amazing gameplay loop: microtransactions and cheaters.
Since this is a closed beta version, no microtransaction has been implemented into the game yet, but at some point, the developers will begin to monetize this free-to-play game, and if they allow you to pay real-life money and receive in-game currency instead, that would be the death all the fun in Arena Breakout Infinite.
The only thing that currently makes it fun to grind for Lockdown Zone or Forbidden Zone is the fact that everyone equally tries to achieve more in-game currency and more valuable loot to qualify for the riskier modes.
When you die in these extreme zones, you do feel bad, but you don’t get frustrated, because you know that you haven’t been beaten to an unfair disadvantage. But if in-game money and real-life money make connections, then you will basically die to rich kids who join the extreme zones through the shortcuts rather than heavy grind.
The same goes for cheating. If you are supposed to grind all day to qualify for the extreme zones to die to a cheater, then what’s the purpose of playing this game?
