If I were given 10 tries to guess the premise of the first game, to mimic the name Escape From Tarkov, I would never have figured it out. To be honest, if you had given me 100 tries, I never would have guessed Escape from Dukkov. Yet here we are. Substituting ducks for mercenaries and top-down carnage for the tension of an FPS, it’s similar in name to Tarkov, but not in substance. Its ironic wordplay and its PvE looter-shooter premise has seen a surge in players after today’s release, and it made me want to check it out, too.
Don’t go into Escape From Duckov expecting proper Tarkov-style gameplay. Yes, it’s a survival game. Yes, you shoot a gun. And yes, you can use and extract the loot you find. But there’s no careful tactics, no progress wiping, and most blatantly, this isn’t a hardcore multiplayer FPS game. Oh, there are ducks too. lots of ducks.
Duckov has been through a fair amount of alpha testing and player feedback, but today’s full release promises a lot of new content. Firstly, difficulty modes have been added, allowing you to fully customize it to suit your tastes and needs.
But I don’t think even developer Team Soda expected this kind of response to their playful, loot-based survival shooter. Granted, the aforementioned feedback (like corpses turning into roasted ducks instead of old boxes) has been implemented, but as of this writing, the number of concurrent Steam players on release day was close to 35,000. This trend could grow even further as more players flock to have a little fun.
To keep players interested, Team Soda also promises free content updates based on player feedback (after a short break, of course). In fact, hotfixes have already been rolled out to eliminate some bugs and improve playability. If the issue persists, please make sure you start a new save of the entire game. You need to get all your progress back.
If you’re excited about duck-versus-duck battles, this top-down marauder shooter might be the game for you. We already know this could go viral on Twitch and YouTube. Tell them you were in it before it became mainstream.
Escape From Duckov is available now on Steam for $15.83 / £15.83. If you ignore the fact that Brits are being cheated on the exchange rate, you can buy here. Perhaps we deserve it.
If you want more bullet-heavy games, why not check out our list of the best war games? If you’re simply looking for another great solo experience that will keep you immersed for hours, head over to our guide to the best single-player games.
Do you want to put a duck on it? Let us know on our Discord server, a community where staff and readers discuss the best ways to make seafood pancakes.
