X
Insurgency: Sandstorm PC User Reviews
Filter by platform
7.9
User Score Generally Favorable
positive
228 (73%)
mixed
51 (16%)
negative
35 (11%)
Showing 110 User Reviews
Nov 30, 2025
The game is difficult and very choppy, the frame rate is terrible on PS4, and the weapon-switching controls are strange.
Report
PC
May 18, 2025
Jugué la primera entrega de Insurgency y me encantó por completo. Sus modos de juego, el ritmo, ese equilibrio entre arcade y realismo me parecieron una experiencia única dentro de los shooters en primera persona. Insurgency: Sandstorm mantiene ese mismo espíritu, pero elevando todo a otro nivel. Gráficamente es muy superior, el sonido es espectacular cada disparo, cada explosión se sienten intensamente reales y la jugabilidad sigue siendo su punto más fuerte.Este no es un shooter para cualquiera. Tiene un enfoque más táctico y realista que Call of Duty, pero no llega a los extremos de simulación de Arma, quedando justo en ese punto medio que lo hace tan especial. Su gunplay es excelente, el arsenal está muy bien trabajado, y los mapas y modos están diseñados para ofrecer combates intensos, inmersivos y llenos de tensión. Si encajas con este estilo de juego, es muy probable que te quedes por decenas o incluso cientos de horas. Y aunque no seas ese jugador “ideal”, Sandstorm sigue ofreciendo razones de sobra para jugarlo, sobre todo si tienes amigos con quienes compartir la **** definitiva, lo recomiendo sin dudar por su jugabilidad, por el realismo bien medido, por sus gráficos mejorados y por su sonido impresionante. Un multijugador diferente que merece más atención de la que tiene.
Report
PC
Feb 5, 2025
Just like my favorite game of all time L4D2 this game is extremely replayable the community might be toxic to certain people Yes i can see that but I LOVE them I interact with some of the same people here and there and they give me a good laugh. The game gets updates pretty frequently for things like cosmetics, maps, double xp (for account level) it doesn't let the game hang out to dry like what Rockstar games did to Red Dead Redemption 2 MP. The reason i put it as a 9/10 instead of a 10/10 is phasing issues when i shoot someone sometimes the bullet goes through them and hits behind them and there's a weird bug recently I've recently got in the pass few days of ground texture being black but it stops when the game is done, none the less if i had 30 bucks and trying to get an fps that will last me a long time, if im looking for a game that isn't COD, Rainbow 6, and im not looking for a game like ready or not/arma/squad, THIS IS THE GAME!!!
Report
PC
Jan 3, 2025
A perfect blend of gritty realism with nice arcadey elements that make for a wonderful serious game, and a wonderful 'lets **** around' game at the same time.
Report
PC
Jun 7, 2024
Insurgency: Sandstorm,stands out in the crowded field of first-person shooters with its intense and realistic depiction of modern combat. Launched as the sequel to the original Insurgency, Sandstorm enhances the franchise’s reputation for delivering gritty, tactical gameplay that rewards teamwork and strategy over lone-wolf **** of the most notable aspects of Insurgency: Sandstorm is its commitment to realism. The game eschews the more arcade-like elements found in many of its peers in favor of a more grounded approach. Weapons behave realistically, with significant recoil and authentic ballistics. This makes gunfights tense and deadly, where a single bullet can be fatal. The sound design further amplifies the immersion, with gunfire and explosions resonating with a visceral, bone-rattling intensity that places players right in the heart of the **** tactical gameplay is another strong point. Insurgency: Sandstorm requires players to communicate and coordinate effectively to succeed. Each match demands careful planning and precise execution, whether you’re capturing objectives, defending positions, or escorting valuable assets. The game’s various modes, including Push, Firefight, and Checkpoint, offer diverse challenges that test different aspects of tactical proficiency.Visually, Insurgency: Sandstorm may not boast the cutting-edge graphics of some AAA titles, but it compensates with meticulously designed maps that offer a variety of environments, from dense urban centers to sprawling rural landscapes. These maps are not only visually distinct but also intricately designed to support a wide range of tactical approaches.However, Insurgency: Sandstorm is not without its flaws. New players may find the steep learning curve daunting, as the game does little to hold your hand. The realism that hardcore fans love can be a barrier to entry for those accustomed to more forgiving shooters. Additionally, while the game has seen numerous updates and content additions, it still suffers from occasional bugs and performance issues that can detract from the overall experience.Despite these drawbacks, Insurgency: Sandstorm offers a refreshing alternative to more mainstream shooters. Its emphasis on realism and tactical gameplay creates a uniquely intense experience that stands out in the genre. For players who crave a challenging and authentic depiction of modern combat, Insurgency: Sandstorm is a compelling choice that rewards patience, precision, and teamwork.
Report
PC
Jan 21, 2024
really great game. I like the realism, especially shotguns. not that many games get it right. good comms with teammates.
Report
PC
Report
PC
Sep 8, 2023
The performance eventually became stable by 2022. Overall, they found a balance between hardcore simulators and arcade fun. All weapons are available from the first level, but it takes time to find your most suitable options and set of mods. The death is a matter of a couple of hits or one headshot, but it will not be easy to land those shots. Updates are relatively rare, but there are funky game modes in rotation that change every two weeks.
Report
PC
Sep 7, 2023
A way more strategical take on the COD / BF / CS formula. The time to kill is extremely low making any weapon viable and making the game more about strategy and reflexes. Sadly there is no real progression system. Due to that many players quit and the player number are rather low.
Report
PC
May 24, 2023
best graphics modern fps game sicne battlefield 3 on pc maps not fully openworld but larga. sandly planes and heli ony called for support no control. look better than cod mw and bf 2042. game have offline bots. best realistic weapon in any game acording to gamespot weapon guy jonhathan.
Report
PC
May 4, 2023
It was a good game with good gunfight and has bot to play offline which very hard to find now a day. However after Devs decide to improve enemy bots and make it a terminator with aimbot at every range game become frustrate to play in local play
Report
PC
Apr 16, 2023
I like it. I love realistic shooters, such as tarkov or Insurgency. But in this game, it's like "Arcade-ly" realistic. You die instantly when you get a head shot, which is good, but in the next moment you recovered from a grenade that just exploded besides you? And you hold your gun in the perfect aim position after running 50m? Arcade or a "realistic" shooter? But that's of course not a really bad thing. The game itself is fun and with the right team and mods (open mod support), the game can be really fun. Especially during role-play or intense fighting areas.
Report
PC
Feb 20, 2023
Compared to most modern shooters its decent but the slow pacing and unusable explosives ruin the game for hardcore players. Here's what im talking about: ****/oqOSmrAtxUs
Report
PC
Nov 17, 2022
I assume the game is at its final stage of its life cycle. and to be fair if Livewire is its last update i wouldn't be that sad, the game is in good place. i would say missing only a competitive mode. Gameplay is solid and dare i say better than COD MWF 2022. punchy sound and lovely non woke cosmetics that fits the theme of the game mostly. Performance has come along way. Sure the player base is not that HUGE. but u will have no issue finding a match. 83/100.
Report
PC
Sep 9, 2022
I really want to like it, but it is incredibly campy. There's no teamplay and most of the time there's a painful amount of mic spam, worse when it's after map voting and you can't see who it is or mute them. Or it's somebody shouting the n-word now that a bunch of COD players have given up the latest one of those. It has improved much, but the devs have made some questionable decisions. Frontline has major problems, compared to similar modes in the last game/removed from this one. Sooo yes, I got to level 1000, but I wouldn't have even bothered if every other shooter series hadn't taken a major downturn. It's still a lot of playtime, sometimes it's fun and it works. Maybe in two or more years, they'll fix one or two specific angles in Outskirts Frontline and maybe it 5 percent less of a dry ass fisting for insurgents. I mean it worked for Crossing, now it's only around ~80 percent of a dry one if there's any number of absurdly high level players on the enemy team. They can't even headglitch spawn camp you now, just regular spawn camping! Basically everything is great, except the game types, the maps, the playerbase, the hitreg, and the balance... you get the picture. But everything else is chef's kiss, I do mean it. It's a good looking game, good sounding game. Anyway.
Report
PC
Aug 31, 2022
There is a stark difference between the base game and the ISMC mod. Do not play without ISMC. Period. 7/10 for base game, 10/10 for ISMC mod.
Report
PC
Aug 13, 2022
No dedicated servers, means you can only play with randoms and strangers and have basically zero control about anything.
Report
PC
Jul 11, 2022
Один из самых интересных шутеров последних пяти лет, очень реалистичная физика оружия, которая к тому же очень простая, что очень важно в современных командных и одиночных шутерах, всё хорошее что было в первой части осталось и во второй, графика на уровне, как и работа со светом, цветами и гаммой, приятно смотреть на картинку и погружаться в мир баталий. Очень крепкий проект, который понравится не только хардкорщикам, но и любителям аркадных шутеров.
Report
PC
Jun 2, 2022
Il gioco è molto immersivo grazie ai continui aggiornamenti costanti che aggiungono nuove mappe e nuovi armi da provare. C'è un'enormissima quantità di contenuti e una cosa che non è da molto anzi da nessuno è il fatto che i DLC non influenzano il gameplay ma sono solo di decorazione, dico è da nessuno perché quasi tutti i nuovi FPS multiplayer hanno un sistema pay to win, anche se paghi il gioco. Ma la cosa principale che mi ha fatto innamorare il gioco sono i Server della Community, li c'è tutto! Difficoltà estreme, mod strepitose che portano il gioco al fotorealismo, co-op con molti più giocatori e così via. Inoltre vi assicuro che Insurgency Sandstorm è un grandissimo ed onorato successore di Insurgency.
Report
PC
Dec 17, 2021
The game is absolute dogs**t. You wait more to respawn than that you actually play the game. All the game modes are also terrible. Would refund immediately if I could.
Report
PC
Nov 21, 2021
Лучший тактический командный шутер за последнее время(ИМХО). Большое разнообразие оружия, модов, классов, карт, ДА ВСЕГО. Разрабы не забивают на игру, время от времени выпуская патчи, добавляя новый контент, как бесплатный( карты, стволы), так и платный (Скинчики). Притензии только к оптимизации но и то не настолько критично.
Report
PC
Sep 29, 2021
Not able to review this for PS4 so I will drag the PC score down until I can: this game has been out 3 years on PC, it’s become quite apparent that PC footage was used to sell the PS4 version as the PS4 Day one version in no way looks like or has the fidelity of the PC version. It’s a stuttering, Tearing un optimized mess on day one, a new developer I would give a by ball but this is a 3 year old game and it looks and runs like a PS2 game with the graphics of MGS 1. Lets run down the list of issues this scummy developer thought they would get away with: No Hit Detector, No Kill Detector, A weird marker for friendly’s that appears to the side of them and at some distance from them, a broken comms system where enemy conversations can be heard, screen tearing, lack of any anti-aliasing, Lack of HD graphics, this things running in standard def, lack of textures, broken load out system that fails to remember saved load outs, Lack of progress markers, lack of round information, lack of scoring system, an extremely low draw distance, a gutted game mode system, no vehicles, pop in everywhere, lack of 60fps (in an FPS of all things) a mess of a menu system, a diabolical weapon modification system that remembers nothing, a class system that’s all over the place with standard sniper, heavy, light and assault classes all behind paywalls. And the most important part the bullet physics, I understand the game is built around this but with the exceptionally low graphics there is simply no point to it, I cannot see the drop to correct the shot through the tearing and jaggy choppy gameplay. A f*cking disgrace of a day one release after 3 years to polish. Its no wonder medicritic has reviews switched off on the PS4 and Xbox versions. Well let’s hope users who can’t review it over there come here and drag the PC score down with this sinking ship cause these scum don’t deserve to get away with this at £59.99… (DO NOT BUY ON CONSOLE! UTTERLY BROKEN)
Report
PC
May 10, 2021
One of my favorite FPS games to play with friends or many randoms. The game is beautiful and is very rewarding when checking corners and taking time. But also times when it feels like your storming the beaches with the great sounds. Needs focus, good teammates, time and a good headset but worth your time
Report
PC
Apr 22, 2021
Insurgency Sandstorm is my all time favorite first person shooter at the moment and I love every second I play. The game has AMAZING gunplay with a fast time to kill (TTK) and hitscan bullets only at super close ranges. Each and every gun have their own ballistics, say you wanted to try and snipe with an M4. Well good luck with that its going to have more bullet drop and won't one shot kill at far ranges like actual snipers. Want to use a shotgun with slugs or flechette rounds? Well get ready to use a shotgun that acts like a somewhat realistic shotgun with minimal spread at short ranges and long range potential. Every gun has a ton of attachments you can put on them to help with recoil (which this game has a lot of), reloading speed, aim down sights speed (ADS Speed), Bipods to make recoil and gun sway nonexistent when mounted, etc. The system used for weapons and attachments is amazing too with 15 points you have to spend wisely to fully pimp out your Security or Insurgent. you have to carefully pick what to spend your points on, want a better gun with a faster TTK than others due to caliber and rate of fire? Well get ready to use more points on that weapon than others which could mean you can't have as many attachments as you could on another gun or you can't use a secondary or grenades. This token mechanic helps balance the game out ass better weapons cost more making it so people are more reluctant to use that weapon as they would rather have a secondary and more attachments. I will say shotguns should cost more tokens as they are extremely cheap and you can fully kit one out with tokens to spare although no one really uses shotguns so I guess it doesn't really matter. Speaking of weapons the game offers a pretty big arsenal with both Security and Insurgents getting their own weapons. Security usually gets the more modern and newer versions of weapons such as M4A1s, G3s, Tavors, etc. while Insurgents get AKMs and 74s, WWII era guns, FALs, and things that in the real world are cheap to manufacture or were over manufactured and bought for cheap. Player customization is huge with you being able to customize nearly everything about your operator. Sadly Security has better skins for blending into your environment and some paid skins like a ghillie suit while insurgents don't get camos. The only good Insurgent skin for blending in is a paid one that only works in snow maps. This game does suffer from poor optimization but it has severely improved since launch with better servers and less bugs. The game runs fine and looks great on my R7 260 (I know it's a terrible card but its all I could find in 2021). I get around 60-70 frames on low to medium settings but that could be to having a lower resolution monitor. On bigger maps like summit it ends up crashing to about 20-40 frames which is a nightmare to play on in this game. Overall this game is amazing with a few issues that the devs are already working on trying to improve servers and optimization. They also keep adding weapons and maps in every new major update (not every single update only the big ones) and I can't wait to see where this game goes in the future.
Report
PC
Feb 24, 2021
I have been playing Insurgency for many years and now with Insurgency:Sandstorm... I have always run the custom servers... Now with the IMSC Mod the game is reborn and is better than ever... Lots of new maps and new ways to do things. This is the greatest. The game is very affordable, modable, and fun... They do update at kind of weird times and do not give custom server operators advance notice... other than that they are great. The game is not a Bandwidth hog but does spike or lag from time to time, but so do all good graphic games.... the graphics in the maps are good, and the weapons are great... So much fun to chase down and shoot the bots! Best game in my collection.
Report
PC
Feb 1, 2021
PLEASE BE AWARE THE PLAYER REVIEWS ARE POPULATED WITH PEOPLE FROM INDIA AND SHRI LANKA PAYED TO WRITE REVIEWS. THIS GAME IS NOT GOOD OR FINISHED. Extremely underdeveloped and lazy, the game feels like a highly polished gmod gamemode than an actually released video game. It's extremely disappointing to see that both AAA developers and Indie devs can be so lazy and greedy. Do not buy this game, it is ugly, boring, unbalance and rife with toxic players and cheaters.
Report
PC
Jan 30, 2021
The Best shooter of 2020 and 2021 for me. Best mix of simulation and arcade combat like BF series. Has smaller maps, but more tactical. A lot of epic moments and wins in this game. If you like hardcore and accessible this is it. This deserves a bigger player base, although the community is big enough in European servers. Very nice community, no toxic kids and trolls. Highly recommended!
Report
PC
Dec 13, 2020
Really fun shooter. Maps are well made, guns feel nice, although it's more buggy than I would like. Also, the sound design is probably the best in any game.
Report
PC
Dec 13, 2020
To much lag random freeze servers are not the best in my country the devs don't care on fixing the game and give dlc updates every now and then with small improvements on things that should have been there in the beginning the only reason for you to buy it is if u planning to play.coop with friends but buy it only if you know they will play with you cose if they don't don't bother
Report
PC
Dec 13, 2020
Sometimes you win, sometimes you get destroyed like a puppet. It is a difficult game that prizes team work and the work of every team member. 10/10
Report
PC
Oct 31, 2020
(I played 'Insurgency: Sandstorm' for 29 hours until today and I came here after about 350 hours in Insurgency the 1st (2014), which was and still is awesome.) This is a solid game: not for everyone, but beautiful, tactical, rough, challenging, complete and varied. You have access to the main content of a respectful FPS: solo, coop and competitive modes, two teams, a bunch of different classes, a dozen maps. There are some major improvements compared to Insurgency (2014): free updates and events, some reinvented maps, a plethora of customizable items and characters (to buy with game money though), vehicules you can drive, truly immersive door kicking system, as well as the intimidation and the mask and gas systems. You have the opportunity to ask for air support to help you and your team progress. But these tactical nukes/smoke systems sometimes completely ruin the round. At some point they are inevitable and impossible to counter. You just have to pray you're not at the bad place at the wrong moment. In this perspective I could also write about AI which swings between sixth sense (bots can see through smoke and some walls) and incredible foolishness. Developpers added something looking like a kill cam but which proves to be particularly useless, especially in competitive mode. As I speak about competitive mode, be prepared to wait and do nothing for the half of the round because when you're dead, you're dead. One shot can make you out of the action for 5 complete minutes (in a FPS that is a tragedy) and that is not when you and your teammates get spawnkilled... Coop modes are full of campers who don't play the objectives and do their best to get more kills easily. The conclusion is that with a little practice, coop modes are way funnier to play (less death, more kills, more melee action and less time being out of the game). Sound effects were one of the greatest points of Insurgency (2014) but it feels like they have put less effort in it because some weapons sound like plastic and fake metal. It is also true for some animations and special effects: I mean the molotov flames are quite beautiful but it is clearly not suppposed to work that way. Bullets also seems to do way less damage (and it's surely linked to the fact that devs deleted armour-piercing bullets). It becomes really frustrating when you get in a gunfight and the opponent doesn't die after 3 of 4 bullets in the thorax. In this way you have to activate automatic and bursts gunshots because manual are not fast enough. Another defect is that the devs couldn't help themselves from adding some dumb DLC's with skins and gear sets. But all of this will not wipe out the main flaw of 'Insurgency: Sandstorm' which is according to me the loss of the Workshop in Steam, making impossible to easily add mods and packages. Definitively not worth its price unless you are here to play in immersive and beautiful environments. The most powerful experience I had with this game (and I recommend it to each and everyone) is to play while listening to Run The Jewels (their 3rd album to be precise). This album is perfect for the pace of 'Insurgency: Sandstorm', it is brutal, it is sharp and it is precise: a must-test!
Report
PC
Report
PC
Jul 21, 2020
Best FPS game in the market today. The sound design is incredible. Graphics are ok but that isn't what makes this game shine. The mix between realism and arcade makes this game feel fast paced yet immersive and somewhat strategic. Gunplay is amazing aswell.
Report
PC
Jul 5, 2020
Almost 300 hours of playing and numerous times of game update is getting better, Great military shooter but not expect simulation as ARMA but combined arcade and realistic in middle of it + Good graphic quality, detail weapon texture + Damage based from ammo ( still need variently like HP, AP, HE, Blue tip or green tip) + Air support, artillery + Like actual in war, army screaming everywhere + slow to medium speed of game (CoD is Fastest) + Still get support from dev, still updating - Not perfect game, lot texture glitch, stuttering still in there, FPS drop certain area and registered damage issue and still lack of mod (at this review created) - Some weapon miss from actual weapon need to fix - ADS feels like stay in middle monitor even move the mouse, potential using Crosshair build in monitor for legal cheat - slow to medium speed of game combined with stay mid ADS is nightmare of realistic, dev still need learn from "Squad" game So far I enjoy the game, improvement from first insurgency
Report
PC
Jun 26, 2020
Looks great, adds new gameplay features, and generally improves the gameplay. But the balance and knowledge on weapons is completely out of whack. Some guns are just objectively better than others with no regards to what their actual performance is. Case and point is the AS VAL. It somehow does less damage than 9x19mm, despite shooting 9x39mm. They've **** up things with weapon details before. It seems like they're a bunch of tactics nerds wanting to make shooting games.
Report
PC
Jun 18, 2020
This game is so realistic . Fantastic game for fans of Military. The game has a battle mode with bots, which allows you to have fun even if the servers are empty, which is rare.
Report
PC
Mar 6, 2020
Sooooooooooo after waiting 6 months waiting for an update and optimization for the game, DEV's launched 1.6 test version which includes 1 mediocre map and 2 new guns that have an excesive stupid recoil and added it to the advisor class removing the SVD and EBR MK14 that were the most used guns by players on that class. They also added the most stupid feature called DEATHCAM which is total trash because now you can see from where you got shot from and all the enemies on that area, meaning that the tactical part of the game is lost. Once again after hundreds of complaints about that stupid feature they are still going to implement it on the stable version which demonstrate that they don't give a **** about their community feedback and they will still do whatever they want. So my question is...what is the point of asking feedback when DEV's really don't care about your opinion unless you kiss their a$$es with every stupid decision they make. Just to make a quick summary of what you will be getting by buying this game is: - 0 optimization (optimization for this DEV's means, removing stuff from the maps) - Updates every 6 months which are just gonna be trash. - Hit Reg issues - Abandoned Server Owners (Meaning no new cvars, no server side optimization) - Terrible Hit Reg - Unknown Performance(The game can run amazingly well on a top tier PC ro it can run like trash on the same PC) - Fed Up Community (Tired of all the **** of the game and DEV's that got stucked with a facked up game without the option to refund it) So if you are willing to go through all of that then buy it, if not then save your money and wait for some amazing titles being launched this year. D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! ! D O N O T B U Y T H I S G A M E ! ! ! !
Report
PC
Mar 4, 2020
I was really looking forward to playing this game and it seem like a fun game when I tried it. But the performance is the worst I have ever experienced in any game. Despite barley using a third of my cpu and GPU processing power the game runs a a very unstable 70 FPS on the lowest possible settings (I easily get 160 FPS on high setting in much more demanding games) on top that there is constant lag. It’s a pity, it seems like a cool game and it would be nice to see a small studio make something great. But the performance is truly abysmal
Report
PC
Feb 20, 2020
I love the game and the way that it plays especially with the way the characters and guns play such an essential part of the way the game plays. Unlike cod this game almost makes it fun to die by making you want to think of another tactical way of playing and you feel like your actually there fighting and overall a refreshing change of pace compared to cod and Battlefields sometimes repetitive gameplay.
Report
PC
