GTFO

While GTFO is a blast with friends, once you get a good feel of the game, going solo can be a less than ideal experience

While a horde of zombie-like sleepers rushing mindlessly towards four men with guns may look familiar, GTFO’s early access version is anything but more of the same for the co-op shooter genre. Its stealth action is well thought-out and presents a lot of excellent opportunities for fun coordination with your squad. Its six enjoyably terrifying expeditions are creative and surprising enough to overlook the otherwise-plain lack of variety in its environment, enemies, and objectives. And while the symptoms of its early access state may be keenly felt where breadth of content is concerned there is ...

Turtle Rock Studios helped define the cooperative squad-based genre with Left 4 Dead and its recently released spiritual successor, Back 4 Blood. 10 Chamber Collective, a small group of ex-Payday developers, was undoubtedly inspired by the acclaimed zombie-slaying franchise. In truth, the studio’s debut project, GTFO, is Payday meets Left 4 Dead, but with a deliciously dangerous learning curve. GTFO’s satisfying mix of tactical action and all-encompassing uneasiness will likely appeal to FPS fanatics yearning for an electrifying challenge. And now that its two-year Early Access period has ende...

But… and it’s a big but. Currently, GTFO offers no in-game matchmaking. In its place, we have an official Discord server in which players can set up games and invite their newfound friends using Steam/lobby codes. The lack of matchmaking can make jumping on and into a game a true challenge. It’s not uncommon to find yourself either running into walls of lobbies filling up or some breakdown in communication. The romantic in me could wax lyrical how this entire process is a reminder of the ‘good old days’ before lobbies matchmaking became the norm, but I’d be telling lies. Sometimes it leads to ...

The FPS co-op genre has never felt as alive as it does nowadays, with many developers trying their hands at it and providing different takes on this type of experience. Sadly, many of these games end up resembling one another, as developers often prefer to play things safe, including mechanics we have seen over and over in countless other titles. This isn't exactly a problem as long as these mechanics are solid. Still, it definitely leaves something to be desired, especially if one is looking for a different kind of cooperative gaming experience.

GTFO’s focus on tight team coordination brings something new to the co-op shooting genre but its difficulty is not for everyone.