Best 2v2 Zone Wars

[Rosham Rosebure]

Isometimes question if I can call myself a fan of extraction shooters when I don't enjoy the most popular game in the genre: Escape From Tarkov. I bounced off the hardcore milsim after a few painful gear wipes at the hands of extraction campers. I've almost reinstalled it a dozen times in the years since, hopeful that I could get into it with the right mindset, but always stop short of pressing play.

That's why I'm eager to give Gray Zone Warfare, the latest tactical FPS pressed from the Tarkov mold that's oozing with buzz from EFT devotees, a real shot. If I'm gonna suck, at least I'll suck right alongside a bunch of other new players.

The other reason factions matter is that each one has a persistent base camp on the 42km x 42km island of Lamang, and players in your faction are automatically allies. I was surprised by how much the faction system eases the tension of playing solo. Even if my faction mates are ultimately playing for themselves, it's really nice to have strangers watching your back.

At least during this early launch period, the geographic divide between the factions creates these "safe" zones in the corners of the map where you can be fairly confident there are no real enemy players. In my first hour exploring a town outside camp, I only encountered friendly players and NPCs. The closer you get to the center or opposing corners of the map, the more likely you are to run into the other factions. It reminds me of the Horde/Alliance dynamic in World of Warcraft, except the PMCs of Gray Zone Warfare are fighting over loot caches with shiny guns and water bottles.

Factions make for such a friendlier introduction than the minute one beatdowns you get in Tarkov or Marauders. And Gray Zone's other standout feature, its persistent map, slightly softens the blow of losing your loot. When you die, you respawn in the same session back at your base camp. From there you can start fresh with a new loadout like you would in Tarkov, or you can head back to where you just beefed it and try to recover what you lost. If a player killed you, then they probably pocketed your best stuff. But if it was an NPC, it'll all still be there.

Easy corpse runs are the reason the few deaths I've had so far in Gray Zone haven't bothered me too much. The first time, I died as soon as I stepped out of the helicopter in some sort of freak accident. The second time, I had to go AFK just as an NPC found me and scored an easy kill. Both times, I was able to recover everything I lost, something you won't see in Tarkov without a group of helpful friends willing to be your corpse mule.

These smart, welcome adjustments to the Tarkov formula make Gray Zone stand out in an increasingly homogenous genre. I want to play more Gray Zone Warfare, which is way more than I can say about the games that inspired it, but that makes its glaring early access messiness all the more frustrating.

As day one Steam reviewers will tell you, it's nearly impossible to get Gray Zone running at a smooth, competitive shooter-friendly framerate without a very powerful PC. If you're in the vast majority of Steam users with several generations-old hardware, you'll have to settle for a choppy 30-40 fps average with frequent chugs in busy areas (and that's at a humble 1080p with DLSS on). It's a nice looking game, but nothing about it suggests that only the might of 30 and 40-series cards can render its glory.

There are also some early balancing problems players have noticed. Since the preview period, Madfinger has been tweaking how helicopters work to discourage players from camping landing zones looking for easy kills. In a change made for the early access launch, players now have five seconds of invulnerability to safely reach cover after disembarking from a heli. Seems like a good measure, though ultimately I think players deserve to know when they're dropping into a zone with nearby enemies.

So yes, this is early early access. What you can play today feels like the beginnings of a much larger game, but it's hard to recommend dropping $35 on it (or a lot more, if you want more inventory space) as is. You only need to read this list of planned features to see how far Gray Zone Warfare still has to go:

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though."}), " -0-10/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Morgan ParkSocial Links NavigationStaff WriterMorgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.

Zone Wars perfectly exemplify what you get when you let the Creative Community loose; one of the most fun, exciting ways to practice your endgame skills is through fighting for the final spot in the zone. If you want to take your building and snaking skills to the next level, check out our seven best Zone Wars maps and their codes in our guide below.

Practice your Duo skills in a server entirely dedicated to hosting Duo Zone Wars. Communication and coordination are essential elements in those crucial final zone battles, and Duo Zone Wars is the perfect place to start practicing your skills with your partner.

Try out this dynamic Zone Wars Map if you feel like playing a map that has a unique twist. Lockdown Zone Wars plays out as a regular Zone Wars Map where you must try your best to survive. Building and boxing yourself as you claim a part of the map as your territory will be a viable strategy in the mode for a while.

All the OGs know how chaotic the iconic Tilted Towers would get, regardless of which point in the game you were. Everyone can agree that a Zone Wars map featuring Tilted Towers would be great, but what about a Zone Wars map where all the players are forced to use medieval weapons?

For those who love the classic version of Fortnite, the OG Zone Wars minigame is a must-try. It blends all the beloved old-school Fortnite features with four unique maps, diverse loot pools, and a range of achievements to unlock as you play. The circle also closes up way rapidly, and you need to have super survival instincts in order to win this mode.

Experience the excitement of Purgatory: Ski Resort, a Zone Wars game with thrilling themed maps that guarantee high-intensity arena gameplay. Take on your opponents on the challenging downhill and uphill slopes of the ski resort, fighting to be the sole survivor.

Tilted Towers remains a highly favored point of interest (POI) in Fortnite and is likely one of the top locations for zone wars and close-quarters player-versus-player battles. You land on Tilted Towers and experience the same action you would in the battle royale, only much more chaotic.

This is why Duos Tilted Zone Wars is an excellent choice to explore with a partner, as you can earn XP for your battle pass while engaging in the frenzied chaos of Tilted Towers and vying to be the final team standing.

As a bonus, we added this one, created by JivanTV. In Forever Zone Wars, the fights are, unsurprisingly, forever. Here you are flying solo, in a free-for-all experience, with limitless respawns. You can play as long as you like, practice any combination, and thoroughly prepare for the Battle Royale matches.

The West does, indeed, have some advantages in defending against gray-zone operations. For instance, a free and open press is particularly critical in calling out the activities of adversaries that flourish best in the dark. Whether that includes identifying Russian special-operations forces in Crimea or fact-checking disinformation campaigns originating from the Russian Internet Research Agency, the proverbial sunshine afforded by a free society remains a powerful weapon. Likewise, close partnership between like-minded international partners (and a coherent strategy developed from this partnership) would allow democracies to bring more weight to a problem that is otherwise difficult to counter on your own.

A mindset shift is required. As a foundational first step, US policymakers should develop a cross-government strategy for competing with adversaries in the gray zone. This would involve developing a common language and shared understandings of the challenge across all domains where gray-zone activity occurs, including economic, diplomatic, information, and cyber. The US should develop coordinated interagency response options, both offensive and defensive, to attacks in the gray zone and determine the US national objective by defining its desired end state in gray-zone competition. In the cyber domain, this could involve expanding offensive cyber capabilities, while in the information domain, this could mean responding to and mitigating disinformation while simultaneously and proactively shaping the information environment. Through aligned messaging with allies and partners, the United States can transparently expose Russian and Chinese abuses and malign activity, all while illuminating the values of freedom and democracy.

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