Insurgency: Sandstorm is the Goldilocks of tactical military shooters. Somehow NWI struck a perfect balance with this game where it's realistic and immersive enough to provide a tense, engaging, and exhilarating experience where every single moment matters more than you are aware, but still has enough room for dumb arcadey ♥♥♥♥ to hold your interest and put a smile on your face on a bad day.

It also helps that NWI's sound and weapon design is quite literally second to none. You could probably argue that Battlestate Games is on par with them for visual and auditory design, which is fair, but even then NWI has absolutely NAILED the way their weapons feel and behave when fired when shot on a level that no other developer ever has. It's NUTS.

If there's one real problem I have with the game as it is, it's that mod.io is kind of stinky. I understand that there are good reasons for using mod.io and all because of crossplatform support, but oh my god mod.io has caused so much pain and suffering that it makes Ronald Reagan look like Mahatma Gandhi. And you have to deal with it pretty regularly if you want to try modded content - which you do want to try at least once, because the custom maps for this game are excellent and the ISMC expansion package is absolutely incredible, though I recognize it may not be for everyone, and that's totally fine.

In so many words, if you are on the fence about getting this, make like Shia LaBeouf and just DO IT. It'll be fun. I promise.

Insurgency: Sandstorm is the Goldilocks of tactical military shooters. Somehow NWI struck a perfect balance with this game where it's realistic and immersive enough to provide a tense, engaging, and exhilarating experience where every single moment matters more than you are aware, but still has enough room for dumb arcadey shit to hold your interest and put a smile on your face on a bad day. It also helps that NWI's sound and weapon design is quite literally second to none. You could probably argue that Battlestate Games is on par with them for visual and auditory design, which is fair, but even then NWI has absolutely NAILED the way their weapons feel and behave when fired when shot on a level that no other developer ever has. It's NUTS. If there's one real problem I have with the game as it is, it's that mod.io is kind of stinky. I understand that there are good reasons for using mod.io and all because of crossplatform support, but oh my god mod.io has caused so much pain and suffering that it makes Ronald Reagan look like Mahatma Gandhi. And you have to deal with it pretty regularly if you want to try modded content - which you do want to try at least once, because the custom maps for this game are excellent and the ISMC expansion package is absolutely incredible, though I recognize it may not be for everyone, and that's totally fine. In so many words, if you are on the fence about getting this, make like Shia LaBeouf and just DO IT. It'll be fun. I promise.