I may redact this review when I have the time to really sit down and think about it, but as it stands, this is my favourite game that I can't play.
It keeps crashing, disconnecting, or worse, softlocking. I played during a free weekend a couple years ago, and it was more stable back then. The constant restructuring and content additions just make this game a mess. I remember being so engrossed in the first few hours of just reading the lore logs and timing melee kills with my friends, until it was ruined by a softlock.
Now all those logs seem to be gone and in the past few sessions (each that ended in some kind of crash), I have found one log that relates to nothing I've previously read.
Genuinely, if it got itself together, it could be in my top few games of all time.

Just add a difficulty slider... I tried playing solo with some cheats after everyone else had given up and it really just gets more and more stale, aside from smashing your head against the wall 59 times to complete one mission because you lose all your hours at death, the mission just get longer and more repetitive. Maybe they thought the "great atmosphere" (It wore off after the tutorial) wouldn't be the same without the threat of losing all your hours because of one mistake, but i believe that can be left up to the player(s)

While GTFO may not be for everyone, it's brutal gameplay attracts the most hardcore co-op fans. Many state the game as being too hard as they try to run and gun through levels as a solo player, often misinterpreting the game's intended audience; this game is not for any less than 4 players. The old rundown system was unfortunate, with level clusters being removed after a few months. However, the current state of the game far surpasses whatever was left behind with a heavily stocked armory for players to pick and choose what weapons and tools they want to bring into the next level. 8 rundowns, 83 missions, and a plethora of objectives. Story is also great!

Let’s get this out of the way. GTFO is a very brutal game. If you are averse to failing in games or don’t have a full squad of 4 to play with I honestly don’t recommend this game at all. This is 100% an acquired taste. That being said, if this is a taste you like then the flavor is exquisite. GTFO is now one of my favorite co-op experiences and I think will go down as an all time favorite for me.

TLDR at the end

What is GTFO

GTFO is a hardcore horror tactical FPS game. You work together to complete missions in the Complex, aka Garganta. These missions are predetermined and not procedurally generated. So these are hand made missions. They’re separated by different numbered Rundowns. Each rundown contains a variety of different missions. Some have more than others and are graded by a letter difficulty. A being the easiest and E being the hardest. The rundowns themselves are numbered and generally the numbers are indicative of what order to start them in. However an A level in say rundown 3 will be easier than R1D1. So it’s not directly the case that all missions on the next rundown are harder than all missions in the previous rundown.

You start each mission in a weapon loadout screen where you can see what all your teammates are bringing. There’s a wide variety of weapons from firearms to melee weapons. Each weapon has its own pros and cons. Some are better for dealing massive damage to tough targets while others are better for clearing our hordes of enemies. Some are quick, some are slow. It really comes down to you and your team bringing what weapons you feel are right for the occasion.

There are also tools which range from a c(ryo) foam launcher, sentry turrets, a bio tracker, and more. All of these tools serve a purpose. Some are more general than others. It’s always a good idea to have 1 sentry and have someone with a biotracker. Those aren’t explicitly necessities but they will 100% help you. There are also artifacts you can collect in runs that give you various bonuses from damage resistance to increased damage dealt.

When you’re all ready you’ll drop down into your run to complete the various missions by trying to stealth around the enemies, scavenging for supplies like medkits, ammo packs and more. When shit inevitably hits the fan that’s when the guns are busted out. The game is all about having a back up plan for your plan. As one mistake that you aren’t ready for can lead to a run ending. One wrong move, one friendly fire incident is all it takes to fuck up run. Which is why I opened up with if you aren’t able to fail at games this game isn’t for you.


Enemies and Hazards

At first the game will seem like there’s not a lot of enemy variety. The game is very slow and intentional about dishing out the new enemies. The main enemy you’ll be seeing are called sleepers. Basically they’re your zombies. They’re scattered across the areas and if you walk fast, shine flashlights or make noise it will alert them. If they wake up they can alert the whole room then you’ve got a fire fight on your hands. Which if you aren’t prepared for can go bad super quick. All the enemies are called sleepers but the primary ones you’ll see are the strikers, which are the melee boys with teeth, shooters, which are the lumpy girls that shoot out projectiles, then there’s the giants. There’s sub categories of giants too. Those are the primary enemies you’ll find in the first few rundowns. There are additional ones but I’ll not spoil the surprise of those enemies. But even then the beginning combination of those is really intense at first. It takes a coordinated team to take down one giant in stealth. And if you kill things too close to each other it can alert others in the room. So it’s a matter of assessing what targets to prioritize and when to team up or spread out to clear out multiple at once.

There are also a variety of hazards in the game. Alarm doors that you need to do scans for while alerting hoards, infection fog that lowers your max health, non stop alarms, and so much more. The game loves throwing new hazards and combinations of enemies at you. All of this factored in with length of missions and many missions are a battle of attrition. In a good way though. The pressure that summounts from being so deep into a run, everyone is low and health and ammo, half of your squad are infected and you’ve got a class 4 alarm to go through to extract is what makes this game so incredible. Using your combined skill and resources to squeak out a win in GTFO is one of the most satisfying experiences I’ve had in gaming. It truly is one of the most tactical FPS games I’ve ever played. My group and I will spend so much time plotting out what doors to seal, where enemies will come from, where to place sentries and mines and what choke points to hold only to have a plan go to shit and we have to revert to the back up plan of running out of a room or doing our absolute best to survive.

The Difficulty

This brings me to the difficulty of this game. I’ve mentioned it but it's worth reiterating that this game is brutal. I remember seeing a stat that the devs shared on steam saying that there was a failure rate of missions at around 90%. It’s rough but it’s honestly so much fun. And to be 100% honest as long as you are willing to learn, take your time, and are open to trial and error, this game is not as hard as it makes itself out to be. Once me and my group got adjusted in how to play, things were relatively smooth. We’re easily able to clear all A and B levels on the first try. Or at least most. There’s some crazy A3 levels. But I put this part in to say that I think if the game sounds even remotely interesting to you that you should take the risk if you can find a group to play it with. Maybe grab it on a sale despite it being well worth that full price. I think it’s somewhat of a niche game and sometimes $40 is a steep price for a niche game that might make you rage quit. But it’s honestly such an incredible experience.

The Lore

I don’t have the time in the world nor the full knowledge of the lore to explain it or break it down here. But know that the lore is actually really fucking cool. It’s just so dense and truthfully convoluted but in a good way (I love convoluted plots I’m a Metal Gear fan). On the first page of the wiki it drops “According to the ‘Dual Reality Theory’ there are two different worldlines or variants of the story set in parallel universe” and that should be enough to tell you what kind of insane ass scifi horror plot this game has.

Issues

There are some issues with the game that I’ve encountered in my 100+ hours of gameplay. Sometimes enemy detection can be finicky and you’ll be detected by enemies that feel like they were way too far away. There’s some issues with the game crashing from time to time as well. My friend often would have to do hard restarts to fix the crashing upon loading in. There were also some connection issues and some desync issues but they’d generally fix themselves and it was usually due to a blip in internet performance for the host. But overall nothing really that took my enjoyment out of the game. But it’s always worth noting some technical issues. It’s still an easy recommendation but it can depend on your tolerance for that kind of stuff.

TLDR

GTFO is one of my favorite co-op experiences I’ve had in gaming. The strategy and tactics and butt clenching tension of running these missions is unmatched by anything I’ve played and tbh I think anything the market has to offer at the moment. Its atmosphere and lore are top notch and I think if you’ve got a group of friends to play it with and like tactical shooters or scifi horror this is a must play. However do note that the game starts slow and you will fuck up a lot. There’s a reason the game's tagline is “Work together or die together”. I personally say it’s well worth full price but I do always advocate for getting games cheaper when you can. And considering it’s a niche game and you ideally want a full group to play, it’s probably best to recommend waiting for a sale on this game. But it’s so worth it regardless.

GTFO is a pretty tough game to rate. If you look at this game, think it looks neat, and are able to convince 3 other friends to buy it as well definitely give it a go, it's a pretty unique experience. Otherwise, if you're not cool using the game's discord to find other party members I would steer clear. The game's main issue past that is its time-per-level. Tougher levels can easily be multi-hour-long missions with absolutely no way to save and come back. While it was neat when me and my then all high school-aged friends could sit for hours working through the levels during COVID-19, 4 years later, we have struggled to all find time to be able to even attempt some levels. The game does have checkpoints but they do not save if you exit the level and are only for restarting from a point immediately after you fail.