Vigor offers a painful gaming experience that is hard to recommend. This online shooter is plagued by various issues, from poor graphics and lackluster gameplay to technical glitches and an unengaging progression system. The game fails to deliver the excitement and tension that are typically associated with the survival genre. While it had potential, Vigor ultimately falls flat and doesn't live up to the expectations of its players. It's a subpar title in a crowded genre, and there are better options available for those seeking a more enjoyable gaming experience.

This game is a whole lot like Escape from Tarkov except better because you can actually play as a woman.

Edit: Okay okay I'll do a bit more of a 'real' review now that I've put quite a few more hours into Vigor instead of just being snarky about a different game.

I really like the idea at the core of this game of going into an area, looting things, maybe running into other people, and choosing between ignoring them, fighting them, or maybe even befriending them. That is such a cool idea for a video game! It combines the satisfying base of pickin' up things and using them to make other things with interesting social dynamics! Maybe you'll make a new friend while you pick up things or maybe you'll make a new enemy! Who knows! And it could be different every time you play. But that's only in theory. In practice, you loot stuff until a person sees you and you get shot to death because nearly everyone I encountered shoots on sight.

It wouldn't have been too bad if I had continued to be matched up with the people I was running into early on. They were just as scared and bad at shooters as I am, so it was a pretty fun way to play! Unfortunately, I eventually made my way into a higher matchmaking bracket and started playing against absolute killers. My survival rate tanked and the amount of loot I was able to get away with dropped precipitously which made my progress of rebuilding my Norwegian cabin slowed to a crawl.

I also want to note: this game is free to play and has several spots where you can stuff real money in for various things and it doesn't seem particularly better or worse than any other game with similar monetizations? A battle pass, cosmetic skins, lootboxes, all that stuff but it's all about as equally garbage as it is in any other game these days. I'm not sure if that's a plus or a minus, so I'll let you decide on that one.

Between all that plus the long queue times (5+ minutes to get into a ~10 minute long match) means that I think I value my time too much to play any more of this. It was an okay time. I've played worse. But I could also be playing so much better. So I think I will.