Nostalgia is dangerous. While I’m happy to sermonize about the ‘glory days’ of FPS games – the simpler times of Counter-Strike 1.6, Unreal Tournament, or even Call of Duty 4 and Battlefield 3 – that kind of reminiscing can easily become empty, or sound naive. Then again, things do feel worse now. Loot boxes, microtransactions, the pressure to log in every day and claim ‘rewards.’ For me personally, one of the greatest tragedies in modern shooters is the death of aesthetics. Nothing matters anymore – CoD used to be a war game, and now I’m playing as a giant bunny rabbit with a gun made out of fried chicken. Even if you never played ‘the classics,’ I think you’re probably tired of this stuff. Enter Wraith Ops.
The debut game from aptly named new studio Grassrootz, the pitch is clear: no loot boxes, no predatory monetization, and no skins or cosmetics that kill the style. Originally called Project Wraith, Wraith Ops is meant to be a more grounded, straightforward multiplayer FPS game where combat is king. 60 guns, multiple game modes, a realistic visual style – there’s definitely some Tarkov DNA in here, but I’m more reminded of Call of Duty 4.
Take perks for example. Compared to Black Ops 6 and modern CoD in general, the sheer number of perks in Wraith Ops might be smaller – but the impact is greater. There’s no rubbish, no filler. Also, it isn’t free to play. After you’ve bought it, if you want to buy some vanity cosmetics to help support the development team, you can, but they’ll be purely visual and will have no effect on gameplay, and they’ll only be available in bundles: you can buy a set if you want, but there’s no dropping $10 on a single skin for a single gun. Oh, and everything available for purchase can also be earned through play.
You can adjust your gear and make your character look how you want, but what you’re wearing has no impact on play – if you want to wear a beanie and a t-shirt in-game, you’ll have the same HP as someone in a thick tactical vest and helmet. TTK is quick in Wraith Ops and body parts matter, meaning that headshots are suitably rewarded. And there are some more smart ideas.
Depending on your ability level, or how much time you want to commit to learning and playing, you can choose between two overarching game styles, Casual and ‘Wraith.’ In Casual, medics can heal you, damage is reduced, and you can rely on a heads-up display. In Wraith, damage is higher, the HUD is gone, and in-game actions take time – they’re not instantaneous.
With regards to XP, you can earn it through kills and victories, but it also comes from subtle, pseudo quests, like eliminating 15 enemies by shooting them in their right foot. My personal favorite flourish: Wraith Ops has a game mode where deaths are permanent until the next round, but each team also earns an in-game currency through killing one another and winning games.
If one of your comrades gets killed, you can use the currency to revive them for that round – but the cost of the revival will vary depending on their kill-death ratio. Do you spread the cost and bring back three low-level meat shields, or splash out on resurrecting your one-person headshot factory?
We’re still waiting on a release date, but as it stands, Wraith Ops is saying a lot of the right things. If you want to bookmark it on Steam, head here.
Otherwise, check out some of the other best upcoming PC games, or maybe the best multiplayer games available today.
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