Escape From Tarkov's soul is contained within its extraction zones. Eight years since the game was first released to the public, those small, secluded areas of the map that represent both your objective and your only chance of survival have become monuments to the game's impact on wider gaming culture.
This was the first real extraction shooter – while developer Battlestate Games has drawn some general inspiration from zombie sandbox DayZ and military simulators such as Arma, Escape From Tarkov formalised what is now one of the most dominant subgenres in multiplayer shooters. When you finally reach the extraction zone, unsling your assault rifle and start reciting your prayer to the indifferent, all-deciding countdown clock, you are lying prone in a piece of video game history. You are also, for those agonizing, seemingly endless ten seconds, experiencing all of EFT's drama, tension and raw emotional power in a rush.
