Preview - EXFIL

Developer: Misultin Studios

Publisher: Misultin Studios

Platform: PC (Steam)

Ever play a game and feel like there's no sense of immersion? The games just aren't giving that “real feel”? Misultin Studios let loose a beast of a first-person shooter let me tell you! EXFIL is a multiplayer first-person team vs team shooter but with a twist. Your main focus is to gather the intel that spawns in a random location on the map and wait for extraction. If you are more of a

gunslinger and not focused on objective play, then you can also win by eliminating all other teams.

EXFIL gives 4 different teams to choose from and the server can have (as of right now) 32 players max. There's no team balancing so there is a chance for one time to have more players than the other, it's all dependent on the players to self-regulate who goes on what team. Now the servers at this point are player-run, you can choose to join an already hosted server or you can choose to be your own boss and host your own server for you and your friends to join. Being a host comes with its perks, you get to select the map, proximity check, and some pretty cool other settings as opposed to joining a server and having to play someone else's way.

We touched on the milsim influence but let me elaborate. EXFIL only allows for in-game chat over the in-game radio, there's no current in-game party system as of yet (you could still utilize Discord or other apps if preferred). Another great realistic trait EXFIL has is the lack of hitboxes. The character models do not have extended boxes for body or head so if you want to kill you need to be as precise as possible. EXFIL also has bullet physics so if the bullet drops below an arm or in between a leg, that combined with no hitbox means you've just missed your target. You get fatigued after running for a certain distance yet again adds to the realism and immersion aspect. For gamers like myself who are used to playing CoD or Apex, it's easy to get used to respawn systems. EXFIL does not offer a chance to respawn once you've died, your only option is to leave the match or wait until a team wins and you can ready up for the next match. This means you and your squad really have to be on point with those comms.

When it comes to the controls there’s nothing too different here with your standard movement keys; right-click to aim, and left-click to shoot. The movement is great, you really can feel every rock or tree you walk over. EXFIL gives the options to hold or toggle on things like aim or crouch which is great. One feature in particular I'd like to point out is the lean feature, some of my DayZ fans will love it. This gives the player a chance to clear a room or turn a corner without revealing their whole body. One thing you may love (or hate,) there are actual drones to fly in EXFIL. Used to gather intel for your squad, the drone controls are probably the hardest to master, other than that the game mechanics are smooth and fluid. The game ran fine with no glitches so far (from my experience but it’s still in beta). The muzzle flashes, the grenades explode, and the water glistens.

One major downside in my opinion is when you vault an item the camera is pointed directly down, although probably most realistic, I'd like a chance to see my opponent while vaulting something. Friendly fire is also a factor here, with trolls on the internet it's almost a given to happen ALOT, so I'd like to see that as a potential option for a host to have. The nametags on your teammates are not that visible at a distance so a team kill is almost certain if the team does not stay intact. Buildings in the game are amazing for close-quarter combat, I'd like to see roofs being accessible in the future. The biggest letdown in my opinion is that if a host leaves a match the game is over, which could lead to some angry players.

Some of the things I love include the night vision goggles that look amazing during the night times on the maps. In that same breath, the maps have weather, and time progression while in game. You may start a map sunny and day and it could end nighttime and raining which I loved. The lack of hitboxes I think was a great decision to keep the game as close to real as possible. The map selections are awesome as well, you can get some with very flat layouts or vertical layouts, but my favorite is the newest map that focuses on buildings and window-to-window fighting.

EXFIL was a blast and very refreshing take on the FPS genre. I'm blown away that with a dev team of only three this game is already SO good. I'll be following this project as it progresses and giving updates along the way. No release date at this point in time, but make sure you add this one to the wishlist or request access to future playtests!