Customs is Truly the Best Map in the Game

(Intro)

Customs is one of the quintessential maps to ever be made for EFT. As one of the oldest maps in the game on offer, it has gone through many different iterations over the years. And with each adjustment or expansion, the map continued to get better. And now in 2025, we have ultimately reached the apex of what this map can offer. I doubt we will be getting any further expansions to it, and there are other maps in the game that need those resources and time put into it. To me, it ranks in the highest position possible for maps that I both enjoy playing, and think are the most immersive in terms of EFT’s world and atmosphere. The official description of the map reads:

“A large area of industrial park land situated adjacent to the factory zone. The area houses a customs terminal, fuel storage facilities, offices, and dorms, as well as a variety of other infrastructure and buildings.”

And while it’s simply an apt description of the map, Customs feels the most involved and used by the world itself, if that makes any sense. I could absolutely gush about the design of the map for a long time, but ultimately how it plays matters more in determining what makes a map in Tarkov so iconic. And Customs plays... almost perfectly.

(The many glow ups)

Customs originally back in the day was a shell of how it currently operates. It actually was one of the harder maps for a long time because of how narrow it was. Before, crossing from big red side to the rest of the map proved challenging as the main bridge was your only way across. You can imagine how much more difficult and annoying that was. Overtime however, BSG has opened up the map on both the north and south sides. Before it was pretty much, you go dorms, you go check out new gas and that was about it. It wasn’t as involved as it has become, and a lot of the fighting took place in only a few locations. Where now, you can come across people in some of the most remote parts of Customs if you aren’t paying attention. Every time BSG has added new areas to this map, it has only gotten better. To be fair, most locations that have either had new additions or even just redoing the typography of the map itself, play much better than their older iterations. But for me, Customs is different. As the early game map for years before Ground Zero got added, you spent so much of your time here before pretty much anywhere else. There was a little Woods and Factory here and there, but remember just many quests start on Customs: Checking, Operation Aquarius, Golden Swag, The Extortionist; so many memorable quests that we have been doing for arguably too long. I say that with some nostalgia attached to it, but in reality, it is crazy the sheer number of times we have had to do these quests. But again, to me it feels like when you get another old Customs quest it’s like: “Ohhhh shit this quest again let’s go”. Does anyone else feel this way or am I the only weirdo? Anyways, now with Stronghold, Crack house and the new industrial buildings being opened up, along with the shortcut from the train tracks that overlook new gas, to Warehouse four, this map finally feels feature complete. I can’t really think of anything else they could add to make it better, and to be honest, I don’t think I would want them too either.

(Every experience in one place)

Another reason why Customs feels the best is because you can basically experience everything about Escape From Tarkov wants you to, on a single map. The story, the drama, and everything in between can happen on this single location. You can definitely make an argument that a lot of the maps in this game illicit those feelings to the same or even better degree. But, because Customs is a map that you will play early on for a decent amount of time, you will find those experiences whatever they are, carry more weight than on something like Lighthouse or Streets of Tarkov. It has interesting locations you will visit often, and learn where they are in relation to one another. It has solid loot throughout the whole map, with extra Jaeger stashes should you be lucky to find them. It has one of the “fairer” bosses in the game, being Reshala, even if he looks weird and different now. His gear is moderate AKs with good ammo that can be used directly after acquiring it. And there are a total of four guards plus Reshala himself, meaning the loot can either be split up between your other team members, or if you are solo it’s just a good payday. The Goons are here too, but let’s save that abomination for another conversation.

(The best pacing and storytelling)

Like I mentioned earlier, the way Customs is laid out lends itself to some incredible story telling moments. Nikita has said in the past that his main goal with EFT is to give players experiences that are so awesome you want to share them with your friends. And I fully agree with him; nothing is cooler than having an awesome raid even if you die, but talking to one of your buddies who also plays the game and sharing that experience with him. You can go into vivid detail about what gun you were using, where you fought that three-man squad and managed to kill them all, only to run into the boss and then player scavs... Every map, every raid can do this if you get a little lucky. But from personal experience, I have told more stories to my friends about this game being on Customs than any other map. Maybe because for quite some time once I hit my own personal end game I would just spam Customs because I like the map so much but thinking about other maps, depending on where you go, there’s only so much story to tell. I went to Shoreline and fought in the resort, I went to Interchange and fought in the mall, or D-2 in reserve. You see what I mean? To be fair, I might be downplaying these maps a little bit and that’s my own fault, but when I close my eyes and think back to years and years of playing this game, I always go back to crazy raids I had on Customs. It’s the best blank canvas for a story. There’s enough to do without feeling overwhelming, the map is linear and easy to understand where you need to go, but large enough that if you go too slow you will be pushing close to a MIA status. And it’s just.... awww, it’s so good, I’m sorry. I love this map to death. Now granted, this patch has been rough; with 0.16 and the additions to Customs that came alongside it, the performance of the map has been my biggest frustration. Because Customs used to run amazingly well before, and now even with just a two-times scope, the game is just a slog. It upsets me more than anything else really. I just want this map and the other ones to run well. It seems like they are slowly chipping away at the problem, but Customs shouldn’t be running as bad as it is for a lot of people, myself included. Right now, that’s the only gripe I have with it. Other than that, it’s almost perfect, because nothing in this world is truly perfect.

(Outro)

People will have their biases when it comes to maps that they enjoy and they think function and flow the best. Whether it’s an old reliable or something newer and fancy, people will tend to gravitate towards what works for them when they don’t feel the need or desire to quest anymore. And for me, it has always come back to Customs; I hit level forty-two, have max traders, I’m ready to fight the world. The experiences on this map I have had stand out the most upon reflection. I have so many videos of just playing Customs and getting into all sorts of shenanigans where I may or may not be the one that wins. It just plays so well, the pacing is amazing (minus the spawns), and with a bunch of high traffic choke points you will most likely be traveling through, you are bound to get into some action. Whether you want too not. And I think that is Customs biggest strength; really getting you ready for what the Escape From Tarkov experience is truly going to be. Thank you very much for taking the time out of you day to watch this video. Let me know down in the comment section below your thoughts on Customs as a map, which one is your favorite and be sure to subscribe for more videos about simply gushing about the things in this game that they actually got right. I hope to see you in future ones.