The ‘Escape From Tarkov’ Hardcore Wipe Is The Best It’s Been In Years

The hardcore wipe in Escape From Tarkov got off to a rough start, with some questionable decisions or simple oversights that really hampered the player experience. But now those have mostly been solved, the hardcore mode has reignited my love for Tarkov after more than a year of being away from the game.

A new wipe is always an exciting time in Tarkov, but not since the addition of Ground Zero well over a year ago have I been itching to play whenever I have free time. With little in the way of major new content since then, wipes have just become resets rather than a chance to explore new content, and have quickly become tiresome as I realise it’s essentially the same old stuff once again.

But this wipe, with the new hardcore ruleset that makes everything that little bit harder, is proving to be enough of a change to keep me interested. The reworked economy and no flea market, as well as the increase in difficulty, means I no longer always have over a million in the bank and can afford new kit, and the lack of rare loot means I can no longer do one of my trusty loot runs, which I’m not going to share, to earn that kind of cash in minutes.

This in turn means I’m having to learn how to use new weapons, and truly scrounge whatever I can from the map each time I survive. Running out of a raid with a TOZ in my backpack is now a worthwhile thing to do, just so I can build up a stash of weapons for when I inevitably lose all my good ones and have no cash to buy any more.

With all maps now available with no transit required, which is probably the last quality of life change that needed to be made, this hardcore Tarkov wipe is feeling fantastic. Every encounter with AI or other players brings back that adrenaline that was only there during my first couple of wipes, and losing a fight feels truly heartbreaking once again.

I don’t want to go as far as to say this is how Tarkov should be played, it is tough and a lot of players are bouncing off this wipe as a result. The 70% boss spawn rate also means chill raids are just no longer a thing on some maps and could be toned down a little. But I do think, providing player numbers can support it, a permanent hardcore mode in Tarkov when it launches later this year would be a good thing.

I, for sure, would play it, and likely even run two different characters, one for normal Tarkov and one for hardcore. It’s a completely different change of pace and one that, right now at least, is really working for me and my enjoyment of Escape From Tarkov. There are still a few things to improve here and there, but as a concept this has been an undoubted success now the big issues have been fixed, and with a tiny bit more refinement it could be a very welcome permanent addition to Tarkov.