Gray Zone Warfare

This game has a ton of potential. MADFINGER, if you're reading this, please look further below for some more direct feedback.
For experienced players of games like Escape From Tarkov, Arena Breakout Infinite, etc, many aspects of the game will be intuitive. Inventory management, weapon customization, equipment slots (with some additions/changes, like being able to wear a tactical belt) will be quite familiar.
The real draw for this game, in my opinion, is the more free-form style of gameplay in place of "raids". You don't have any raid timer, ever. You aren't restricted by timers or boundaries pretty much at all. You can go where you want, when you want. That is extremely cool to have in a game like this.
I think people underestimate the importance of immersion in the extraction shooter genre (which this game effectively falls within, just in a pretty unique kind of way). Games like Tarkov are successful in part because they build such a convincing world. This game does much the same, just with a very different tone. The fact that you can just "live" in this world without restrictions really creates a special feeling that's hard to describe.
Somewhat on the topic of making comparisons with Tarkov, something I really enjoyed about this game (mostly) is the amount of direction they give you with the tasks. I have completed all but 1 or 2 tasks so far (up to the introduction of Ban Pa, in other words: leaving the starter town) without needing any wikis or anything of the sort. I just read what they told me to do and figured it out on my own. WAY easier to follow directions (for most of the tasks) than Tarkov. I'm unsure if this is due to a language barrier issue or just a different approach in design, but either way it was a refreshing boost in immersion to not have to constantly rely on wikis for basic info.
Criticisms/feedback for MADFINGER:
1. -- The game is extremely unclear with VERY important rules involving death and item retrieval. There are very important specific rules in place that the player must know in order to competently approach retrieving their items after death (because yes, after you die, you're still in the same server and you can go back to attempt retrieving your items). i.e. you have 1 hour before your body despawns, and you can ONLY retrieve your MOST RECENT body's items. If you die 2+ times then you can only loot your most recent body. All others will be marked as "old loot", for some reason. This limitation can be completely circumvented by simply being in a squad with other players and having them take the items off your body and throw them on the ground, making the whole feature kinda pointless except for the fact that it puts solo players at a further disadvantage in a pretty arbitrary and immersion-breaking way. The wording is confusing as well. Since it says "old" I thought that it was based on a timer. I needed another player to explain it to me before I realized that dying a second time caused it.
My personal take here? Just remove the "old loot" thing that gets applied after multiple deaths entirely. This only serves to make the experience more frustrating for solos, especially new ones getting bullied by more experienced players/squads.
2. -- The ammunition and armor systems are very confusing. I get almost zero sense of progression when I find anything new, because there's no clear system for what's better/worse. Even a simple instructional chart or something to decipher what I'm looking at would be nice. A huge part of the progression and motivation for players in a looting-based game is to give a clear "Ah HA!" moment when the player finds something good or unlocks the ability to purchase good gear/ammo of their own. Currently, I only get this feeling with guns, and absolutely nothing else. So far, I have almost zero understanding of how any of the armor or ammunition types work. The most clear thing I've seen so far was a description for ammo describing it as sub-sonic, but with the greatly reduced muzzle velocity, I can only assume that it's less effective in SOME other way, I just don't know what's affected. Penetration? Damage? Bullet drop when shooting at a distance? Absolutely no idea what's affected or how it relates with anyone's armor, and more importantly, I don't have any idea HOW MUCH any of those things might be affected. Someone gave me a plate carrier and told me "that's the best one in the game" and the only difference I could find that particularly stood out was the addition of a little "+" next to the armor class, and I have no idea what that means.
3. -- I really like the design choice of having the "marked as aggressor" status placed on players with varying duration depending on the severity of their friendly fire. However, I think that the game is currently overly harsh in cases of immediate defense.
Example: I was walking into hostile territory with 1 teammate by my side. From behind, someone opened fire at us at about 30 meters out, hitting and wounding my teammate and continuing to open fire into his body, and within ~2 seconds, I swiveled around and gunned down the aggressor, who turned out to be a confused ally who mistook us for the enemies that were a little further ahead. When I shot him, I quickly landed a fatal blow, killing him in defense of my teammate with absolutely zero chance to react. I was given 57 minutes of aggressor status for that, even though I literally saved someone's life while the dude was mid-fire, full auto. While I understand that it is not good to encourage "revenge friendly fire", I think there's a line that needs to be drawn when you're quite literally saving the life of an innocent teammate in defense of a rogue ally, regardless if that ally is intentionally acting out or not. Everyone involved was cool with each other there, no heated emotions or anything, and everyone involved agreed that it was unfair for me to get ~1hr with the aggressor status.
Anyway, thanks for reading. There's way more good and bad I could say about the game, but overall I've found it to be a unique and enjoyable experience, so I recommend the game. I just hope that concerns like these are taken seriously and addressed. I'll likely update my review with coming updates to the game.

This IS the game you wanted from Tarkov.
So much polish, and 0.4 is the answer. It's a totally different game.
1. Want to farm loot as a bush wookie and a blade. CHECK
2. Don't want to deal with cheaters. CHECK
3. Want to PVP on your own terms after weeks of PVE. CHECK
4. Want the hectic rush of being hunted by mobs of enemeies after breaking both your legs and slowing bleeding out. CHECK
5. YOU HAVE A MAP (no more second map on another screen or 2000 hours of game play learning it)
6. NO TIME LIMTIS (you write your own pace and playstyle)

so idk too much about all the sweaty details cause i have a full time job and dont care about the ♥♥♥♥ people care about. but for me to just be able to log into a milsim esc game where its just PVE and can knock out like 2 missions before bed its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ pretty great. this is a must have fps for us men with jobs

Great game. But for the love of realism, slow down the speed at which food and water drain. It feels like a eating simulator more than a FPS!

I own the Supporter Edition, play PvE, and this is a review from 0.4 (Spearhead) onwards. I played this game when it first released into Early Access, and I saw the vision of what it could be. I quit shortly after because the environments, though beautiful, were empty. The AI loved shooting through bushes, and the performance was terrible. The tasks were designed to move you around the map, but the world lacked a hook to draw you in.
These issues have all been addressed. Although I admittedly have an insanely powerful PC, I haven't dipped below 200 FPS on 1440p Ultra. The world feels lived in, and I often get distracted from quests because I want to explore a building or take on a pod of enemies. The world is incredibly immersive, and I applaud their decision to lean more into Ghost Recon and away from Tarkov. I haven't been killed through a bush yet, and stealth feels not only viable, but satisfying. There is now lootable and readable lore to be discovered throughout the map, and post it notes on guard outposts have passwords to locked loot rooms. Exploration is a delight, and is vaguely reminiscent of immersive sims. I'm so excited to take on bunkers, bosses, and discover all that this game has to offer now that the rough edges have been polished down enough to make the game itself fun to play.

I genuinely love what Gray Zone Warfare is building here. The gunplay feels excellent, the weapon systems are deep, and the overall tactical pacing is exactly what I want from a realism-focused shooter. When everything clicks, it’s intense in the best way.
Visually? It’s a masterpiece. The atmosphere and environmental detail make it one of the best-looking tactical shooters out right now.
That said, it can feel time-taxing. You invest a lot of effort into missions only to hit a repetition wall. Once you learn AI spawn locations and routes, it becomes predictable. You can literally watch players farm the same bots in the same areas because they behave consistently.
I’d love to see:
Vehicles to move around the map more dynamically.
Vendors expanded and improved.
Heavier AI tweaks with more randomness and unpredictability.
More dynamic behavior to prevent bot farming.
Continued work on object collision and getting stuck on geometry.
There are still bugs. There are still performance and interaction issues. It’s clearly early access.
But the foundation? Strong.
The gun systems are fantastic. The risk-reward loop is addictive. The world design is beautiful.
It needs work — but it’s new, and I’m genuinely excited to see where it goes.
Recommended.

Don't compare this game to Tarkov.
Tarkov is an abusive spouse who kicks you in the balls because you didn't microwave her food long enough.
GZW is the girl you've met after that treats you right and you're scared that she'll change too much.
GZW is fun for people who want to play milsims amd enjoy themselves. The game is built in a way where cooperation is encouraged. There are no raid timers, no arbitrary punishments, and just a lot of fun.
PvP is there for those who want, but it isn't mandatory. Sometimes after work you just wanna relax yknow?