ACF_ZEN

Squad is the most accessible realistic tactical shooter currently available. It's the middle ground between games like Insurgency Sandstorm and ARMA III. Engine and Graphics/Performance: While Squad isn't the prettiest game out there, the game still looks very good for something that came from a rather small Canadian indie dev (Offworld industries). The game uses Epic Games Unreal Engine 4 which is the same engine that Insurgency Sandstorm, PUBG, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Gears of War 5 use. This means that even though the game is far from being highly optimized, it doesn't suffer from more unique (and sometimes frustrating) engine related issues that ARMA 3 suffers from (optimization, and input lag issues). The game also looks better or on par with Insurgency Sandstorm and PUBG, but in my opinion Squad has a more neutral and realistic look when compared to Insurgency the two games. One graphical shortcoming that Squad has is that it at times uses fairly poor looking textures. When it comes to performance I would say that Squad runs better than Insurgency Sandstorm, and on par, if not slightly better than PUBG. The game also runs way better than ARMA 3 and unsurprisingly Escape From Tarkov. Gameplay/Community: Squad is the spiritual successor of the Battlefield based Project reality games, which means that it plays somewhat similarly. The gameplay is slower than Insurgency Sandstorm's but faster than ARMA 3. Squad is also more teamwork focussed than Insurgency, and occasionally ARMA 3. The gunplay is both unique, yet familiar since like Insurgency Sandstorm, your shots will be hit-scan for the first 50m and projectile after that, but you will be engaging your enemies at ranges similar to those in ARMA 3. Squad is also far more accessible when compared to ARMA 3 since you don't need to slather the game in mods and you don't have to spend hours, if not DAYS planning out operations. But it's less accessible than Insurgency Sandstorm since there's a larger learning curve. Another thing is that unlike in Insurgency, ARMA, or Escape From Tarkov you don't really get to customize your weapons. Instead, you get a selection of kits/roles that each come with different equipment. One gameplay aspect that Squad does really well is sound design. Whether it be 3D sound modelling or the quality of the sounds found within the game, everything has an outstanding level of polish. Another thing that I really like about this game is the use of VOIP, which isn't specific to Squad but is really still a really nice thing to have. Squad's community isn't perfect but is less toxic than a lot of other communities (CSGO, R6S, COD, etc). While there's a couple of bad eggs here and there, the majority of the community is actually pretty nice. Most players are more than willing to explain game mechanics to you, and are generally pretty chill. Experienced squad leaders will not hesitate to chew you out for messing up, but that's a part of their job. As a Squad Leader, you are responsible for commanding and managing your Squad (max 9 players), while also coordinating with other squads as well as the Commander who is in charge of commanding both their own squad as well as managing and commanding all of the other squads. Another aspect of Squad's gameplay is resource management. When you die and respond you use up tickets (military one-ups). If you want to build a new spawn point, then you need both construction resources(carried by vehicles) and a radio (carried by squad leader), it also takes a while for a squad to actually build up a spawn point. If you want to resupply ammo then you need to construct an ammo crate or pick up ammo from somebody with a riflemen/fighter class, both of which can only resupply a limited amount of ammo without somebody doing a supply run. Losing vehicles will also cause you to lose multiple tickets, which means that they have to be used sparingly. Support: Offworld Industries has done an outstanding job of supporting the game both in content and fixes/ quality of life improvements. Squad now has 20 official maps and 7 playable factions (British army, The Canadian Armed forces, The Middle Eastern Alliance, The Russian Ground forces, The U.S. Army, Insurgents, and the Irregular Militia) as of December 2020, with 2 more factions (U.S marine corps, and the Australian Army) coming in the near future. This is exceptional for an indie game company.