Arena Breakout Infinite is the new kid on the extraction shooter block, and it has some large boots to fill. That said, ABI improves on the traditional extraction shooter formula with myriad improvements that make the military sim infinitely more accessible. Here are ten things Arena Breakout Infinite does better than Escape from Tarkov.
In What Ways Does Arena Breakout Infinite Beat Escape from Tarkov?
Arena Breakout Infinite Looks and Runs Better
For a mobile game port, Arena Breakout Infinite is remarkably stable and optimized, especially as a shooter in 2024. This can be attributed to two things: ABI and its mobile version are made using the latest version of Unreal Engine 4, and the developers have been iterating on their mobile version for years now. On the other side of the fence, Escape from Tarkov uses a relatively newer version of the Unity engine.
While Unreal Engine 4 isn’t being supported anymore by Epic, it’s still a great-looking engine these days. Even with Tarkov’s lighting upgrade, the aging extraction shooter falls short in texture work and physically based rendering, where objects reflect differing amounts of light based on their material.
Even worse is how Tarkov runs from map to map. With both games maxed out and using similar maps (Farm for ABI, and Customs for Tarkov) Arena Breakout Infinite ran around 23-25% better. Trying out Tarkov’s newer Streets of Tarkov map proved the optimization struggle. My 4070 Super, 7800X3D, and 32 GB of 6000mhz RAM could only muster between a very inconsistent 50 and 90 fps.
Loading Times and Matchmaking Are Faster
One of Escape from Tarkov’s biggest complaints is how long it takes to get into a match. With how BSG has developed Escape from Tarkov, matchmaking and then loading into a match can take two to four minutes on average. This depends on the map and whether you’re playing as a PMC or Scav, but can be much longer after a wipe. On the other hand, Arena Breakout Infinite loads games within 30 to 45 seconds, if not faster than that.
This is impressive for a beta when compared to the OG extraction shooter almost eight years in the making. Surprisingly, it’s not just loading into a game that’s much faster, it’s also exiting a match that is relatively speedy. This is an experience I did not recently have in Tarkov. Instead, I sat at a black screen for between 30 seconds and one minute after an extraction.
An Easy In-Game Map
Escape from Tarkov does have in-game maps you can use for each location. The in-game map is actually an item that takes up an inventory slot, and you need the compass item to be able to tell which direction you’re going. That’s not exactly intuitive. Some players will defend Tarkov and say that it’s hardcore or immersive, but what use is that kind of hardcore immersion if your game dwindles when something more accessible comes out, that does what Tarkov does but better for the masses?
Meanwhile Arena Breakout Infinite has in-game maps, as well as a compass plastered straight onto the HUD. This makes knowing where you are and calling out enemies that much easier and you don’t have to worry about losing either of those tools if you die. Nine out of ten players are going to prefer this kind of accessibility.
Maps Show Where to Extract and How
Speaking of maps and extraction shooters, Escape from Tarkov demands that you know where you’re going to be extracted, and doesn’t help you achieve that in the slightest. Arena Breakout Infinite’s built-in map shows you every extraction point and even goes so far as to tell you what you will need (or need to get rid of) in order to extract. I can’t say the same for Tarkov since you have to open a third-party map on Google just to get similar information.
Did I mention you can make your own custom waypoints that show up on your HUD’s compass?
Feature Accessibility
One of the biggest things I personally love about ABI is how when I mouse over my gun in my loadout, all of the items in my storage that are relevant will glow green. This makes it ridiculously easy to know what ammo goes in what magazine and what magazine goes into what gun. Beyond that simple QoL feature is how Arena Breakout Infinite allows players access to things like the firing range and even weapon crafting from a much earlier standpoint.
In Tarkov, you have to find the things you need to craft the gun-modifying workbench and shooting range (on top of other Hideout essentials). The sad alternative is you grind until you’re level 15 and then you can buy the things you need from the Flea Market, if players are selling what you need that is.
No Friendly Fire and Less Team Griefing
Like Escape from Tarkov and other extraction shooters, ABI lets you play with friends and also group up with randoms. Unlike Tarkov, those you co-op within ABI can’t actually harm you by shooting you, which effectively eliminates most forms of griefing. In fact, the only way you can harm someone on your team is to grenade them or molotov them, and that’s a lot harder than shooting them!
It’s refreshing to finally play an extraction shooter and feel compelled to play every match with randoms, who in my experience, have been helpful in combating other squads doing the same. This does make soloing a little bit harder, but for those who want that hardcore experience, soloing is the option that’ll do that for you in Arena Breakout Infinite.
HUD Shows Teammates
Speaking of co-op gameplay, Arena Breakout Infinite makes playing with others infinitely easier. In ABI, you can actively see your teammate’s location on the map and on your HUD in real-time. Combine that with zero friendly fire and there’s no way you will end up accidentally shooting at each other, which always feels terrible. ABI’s co-op goes a step further and allows for a knockdown system for you and your squad mates. This means you won’t immediately die and will be downed until killed again or revived by your squad.
The only way to bypass this system meant for squads is to kill someone by shooting them in the face or head. This PC port of a mobile shooter may be the most accessible and co-op-friendly extraction shooter to date.
Much Lower Learning Curve
Compared to other extraction shooters, Arena Breakout Infinite may just be one of the most accessible to date with its sheer breadth of quality-of-life features. One of my favorite moments when first starting was how the game, almost in a mobile-game fashion, took me through the process of gearing up and taking on my first raid.
Even after that very accessible tutorial, ABI will still remind you, 10+ levels later that your loadout is missing specific healing items if you need them. Or, better yet, when trying to do co-op, ABI won’t let you unless you have a functional main gun with ammo.
ABI Has a Superior Firing Range
Escape from Tarkov does have a pretty cool and immersive Hideout. However, aside from needing to grind to get that level 3 firing range in Tarkov, ABI gives something even better to you, for free, from the get-go. The firing range in ABI has a similar distance to Tarkov’s at 100 meters, on top of other useful features like infinite ammo for your guns and moving targets.
What ABI does better is letting you craft any gun you want while in the firing range to test out, put any infinite ammo inside of it, and finally, deck out the dummies you’ll be firing at with any of the game’s various body armors and helmets. These features combined are so insanely useful for getting a feel for your gun against the kind of armor and helmets you think you’ll be going up against.
Free To Play
Then you have the obvious fact that Arena Breakout Infinite is a free-to-play title. This can be great for earning that many more players. SteamDB also shows how ABI already has 1 million wishlists and almost 100,000 followers on Steam. Being free to play essentially ensures the game will have enough players. The only downside is how the game may be monetized.
Where ABI differs from Escape from Tarkov and other extraction shooters, you don’t need to spend $50, $100, or $250 to get all the features and the biggest stash or reinforced case. If Arena Breakout Infinite is anything like its mobile version, you can expect to spend a small monthly fee of $3.00 for some goodies and a temporary reinforced case that you can take into Raids. That’s certainly not the way I want it to be, but it beats $100+ all at once in my opinion.
For more like this, check out how Arena Breakout Infinite plans on stealing unhappy Tarkov players. Also, check out this guide on how to get into the Arena Breakout Infinite beta!
