Checkpoint is Broken in Tarkov Arena

(Intro)

Arena has essentially been multiple different games over its lifespan. When it first released, we used pre-built kits from BSG that were annoyingly bad and unbalanced, while working towards the next tiered kit we thought we wanted to use and would be fun, only to realize the fun was the grind towards the new thing instead of the thing itself. A year later, BSG completely did away with the pre-built kits and allows the player to fully customize their kits with some levels of restrictions. Alongside that, new modes and ways of engaging with Arena have been introduced. And for a while, things felt like they were genuinely better than they ever had been. However, recently, I have had some beef with this game right now; specifically with Checkpoint. Essentially, Tarkov’s version of domination from games like Call of Duty. Somehow, with every big update, this game mode feels like it’s getting worse. Just a bunch of smaller changes to mechanics and how the mode works that when put together create an experience that can be downright frustrating at times. At least Arena is still being adjusted pretty consistently, so it’s not like there isn’t room to make more changes that reverse a lot of what feels wrong, at least to me. But let’s have a conversation about Checkpoint in Arena and how it feels like the most broken game mode on offer right now. Granted, there are only four, but twenty-five percent isn’t a good batting average.

(What’s wrong with the current version)

So, what are the biggest problems that I personally have with checkpoint right now? There are a handful, but I think the biggest one that bothers me the most is a lot of checkpoint games if they are actually competitive with lots of back and forth from both teams, the timer always runs out. The score doesn’t rack up fast enough to warrant getting to the 1500 limit within the allotted fifteen minutes. Even with all three objectives captured, it’s only six points a second roughly, and you would need to maintain all three for about half the game. Which depending on the two teams, can happen, but that usually leads to people sitting in their spawn waiting for the game to be over. Everyone hates getting completely stomped on, but it’s exacerbated by the fact that the spawns feel awful. Both teams have a small section where they initially spawn when the game starts, and for about a year, that’s pretty much the only place you would spawn. It was far away from the action, which meant getting back in the fight took a couple of seconds, but at least you were relatively safe and if on an objective, could capture it easily if the entire enemy team is wiped. Now, however, with one of the more recent updates, you spawn anywhere generally on your half of the map. Which sounds better until your screen fades from black, and an enemy is staring at you. It also doesn’t solve the problem of spawn trapping teams on their side of the map, which is what the claymores added to the game were supposed to help relieve. But sadly, those things have been constantly moved around in different locations further back, then closer up; no matter where they are located, it doesn’t feel like it prevents the enemy team from getting you as soon as you respawn.

So, checkpoint games under normal circumstances mostly end in timeouts; the spawns don’t really make any sense since you can be put in so many unsafe locations, and teams can be backed into a corner with no real reprieve. It can become quite a mess. It honestly goes beyond the game mode itself because the maps have been a point of contention since the game was first released. In all honesty, BSG knows how to make amazing larger maps with tons of detail, ways to navigate around and tell you the story of that location through the environment itself, but they don’t really know how to make and balance smaller deathmatch style maps. Objectives aren’t even distributed across the map evenly for each team; some maps are favorable on one particular side, and maps like Fort and Skybridge (who remembers that map) are just awful in terms of balance and design. I have all these problems with the game mode, right? What could theoretically be done to maybe fix the mode and make it more enjoyable to play?

(How can it be fixed)

I could be completely out of touch with how players of Arena feel about checkpoint. Maybe people are okay with how the game mode works. But things like the capture times on points resetting when you take damage is one of the dumbest mechanics I’ve ever seen. Considering that two teammates could be capturing a point, and if he takes damage and I don’t, the timer is still going to reset. If anything, and I don’t even think it should have to do this, but if there needs to be some kind of stalling mechanic on capturing points, having the time just pause wherever it’s at should be more than enough if someone takes damage. But currently, the way it works right now, the only way a point will pause is when it’s contested; or when at least one person from each team is on a point. It just feels awful when you are trying to clutch a game up, and you get trolled by Arena because you take a single point of damage, and the timer completely resets. Allowing more leniency with capturing points would be nice and also making the game faster by having score accrue faster, so it doesn’t always go the whole fifteen minutes would also be great.

Because the only way that happens right now is if you are dominating for a majority of the match and at that point usually the enemy team will kind of just stop playing and wait in spawn for it to be over, which I don’t entirely blame them for. I’d also really love to see the spawns go through another round of adjustments because they feel so obtuse and confusing for the vast majority of maps available. You can spawn too far into the map that if you manage to wipe the enemy team and try to mount a comeback, they will be back contesting the points before you can capture one. It feels like they tried to speed the game up in some areas like closer respawn points but then didn’t account for the fact that people would be fighting over points much more often, so the score doesn’t go faster even with only one point on your side. Six score a second isn’t enough if you have all three. But hey, like I said, I could absolutely be in the minority here, and people might be totally okay with how the game plays in its current state. But being so focused on checkpoint specifically, I was curious if the other available modes on offer have their own issues as well.

(Do other modes suffer in Arena too?)

There are only three other modes you can play in arena, sadly. Last hero which is just free for all, and I think that mode has the least problems out of all because it’s so simple, so straightforward and just kind of works. Team fight is essentially one life, round based deathmatch and again, for the most part this mode is good. The objectives in overtime are okay, and the hazards once that timer runs out do what they need to. And blast gang... well, to be honest I think I’ve played maybe one game of blast gang in my life, but it’s basically search and destroy. As an outsider who doesn’t really play that mode or see anyone playing it honestly, it also looks fine but takes forever to finish even just one match. But what really sucks, is that the PvE horde mode that was promised has been removed from the game even as a grayed-out option. That was something I think many of us, myself included, were looking forward to trying. It also baffles me there isn’t a simple team deathmatch mode, where it’s five on five and whichever team gets to either seventy-five or one hundred kills first wins. How do we not have that in Arena? It would be so easy to make and would easily be the most popular mode by a longshot. Who knows, maybe they’ll add it back in the future when it’s ready and were just cleaning up the UI in tandem with the release of 1.0 Tarkov. But other than the four core modes, there isn’t a lot going on in arena. They have a custom mode where you can make your own games and rules, but it doesn't really work unless you have a bunch of people willing to play. So, unless you somehow manage to run a tournament for arena, any normal player won’t see any use for it.

(Outro)

Arena can be genuine fun when you need a break from how difficult Tarkov can be. But sadly, Arena isn’t without flaws that can also sour that experience to the point it too becomes frustrating to engage with. And while most of the mode are fine in their own bubble, checkpoint has became a personal point of problems that led to this conversation. I’m not saying my ideas of what’s wrong with it or how to potentially fix it are gospel; I’m sure there are other more nuanced take that also are completely valid, but this one mode for how often I need to play it sometimes for daily and weekly challenge is really annoying and feels broken in my eyes. It can absolutely be adjusted and make a solid comeback, but whether or not BSG wants to make those changes on top of whatever else they are cooking up with Tarkov, that remains to be seen. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know down in the comment section below your thoughts on checkpoint in arena, if you have your own gripes with the mode, what you would do to change or fix it and be sure to subscribe for more video about obnoxious and unnecessary changes and mechanic to a mode that was almost perfect at one point. I hope to see you in future ones.