Insurgency: Sandstorm blew up a fresh breeze in a genre saturated with arcade shooting mechanics and mindless gameplay. It did have its predecessor, Insurgency, to thank for when it comes to establishing itself at a rare gem an ocean of homogenous FPS games. Nearly three years have passed since its initial release and it has since branched out to consoles.
Is it worth playing there as well? The generally stellar reviews say so. However, Insurgency: Sandstorm is not without its prevalent faults. Beneath the realistic and heart-pounding military sim facade is an army of problems aching to get fixed. Some players might want to consider these issues before diving in blindly into the Sandstorm​​​​​.
10 Invisible Map Borders
Sandstorm aims for realism more so than other games but it still has some of the most confusing map boundaries in recent FPS games. Many players often complain about matches getting lost due to some invisible map boundaries killing them if they stay outside too long. These map boundaries also sometimes don't have solid objects to prevent players from crossing them.
Other kinds of invisible barriers come in the form of debris, ledges, or even low slopes or hills. Some players might think that an area or incline can be traverse only for them to bump into an unseen wall. At times, this can make movement feel clunky, especially for new players.
9 Toxic Community
Granted, toxic players have long been a staple of competitive multiplayer FPS games but things can get heated rather fast in Sandstorm. Many sessions can consist of frustrated or disrespectful players slinging racial or Islamophobic slurs.
Some even resort to more active online violence such as team killing or trolling their own teammates out of boredom or irritation. Aggrieved players can report these transgressors— even vote to kick them out, but some complaints fall on deaf ears and vote kicking is easily manipulated. In any case, don't expect Sandstorm's community to be mostly newbie-friendly.
8 Bland Single-player
The game was obviously made with online matches with human beings in mind. However, Sandstorm was introduced with AI or bots in single-player matches. Thus, anyone wanting to try their hand and explore the maps without the fear of annoying veteran players can do so offline.
Still, it's best not to treat the single-player experience as an in-depth tutorial as it's not exactly engaging or informative enough. The game modes really don't shine well without the chaos, unpredictability, and skill of human players. A couple of games and newcomers will be itching to jump into a more definitive experience, which is multiplayer.
7 Poor A.I.
One of the main reasons why single-player simply doesn't sit well with Insurgency: Sandstorm is that the AI or bots are just cannon fodder bum-rushing one another in a frontline meatgrinder. Players can't expect to learn much teamwork or simulate decent firefights with bots.
At times, the AI just spawn on top of one another or have predictable paths. It's safe to say that they weren't made to behave like competent combatants, quite possibly as to make things easier for newbies. That might end up achieving the opposite effect as the bots are not representative of Sandstorm's actual intended gameplay.
6 Server Issues
Back when it was released, this likely wasn't a problem at all but as years go by, most competitive FPS games will lose players. Sandstorm is no exception. Its FPS subgenre is quite a niche so compared to games like Battlefield or Call of Duty, it might only attract certain types of gamers.
According to some reviewers, this doesn't bode well for the game. There are many criticisms where the lobbies are deserted or have a sad number of games. Apparently, the game sometimes has server issues or dysfunctional matchmaking so this happens. Incorrect time synching is occasionally the culprit which might necessitate fiddling with Steam or computer settings though for someone who just wants to play, this can be discouraging.
5 Uneven Matches
Speaking of matchmaking, Insurgency: Sandstorm apparently still has some unfair balancing issues. Team balancing is a rather significant feature in competitive games as it ensures that everyone gets a chance to win. There are moments when that's not the case in Sandstorm.
Players usually don't have to play too many rounds to encounter some one-sided matches. It might take a while before players eventually find a specific server or community they like— one that matches their skill level. Because even now, matches in Sandstorm can feel like players are placed into teams too randomly.
4 Game Mode Removal/Exclusion
Sandstorm deviates away from the usual FPS game mode formula and even experimented in the past. It introduced Skirmish and other types which shook up the monotony every once in a while. But then they eventually removed some of their game modes.
This notably upset a portion of the player base, especially those who grew fond of the said game mode. Meanwhile, game modes like Ambush which were present in the previous game, aren't even present in Sandstorm even though some players anticipated it.
3 Night Maps
When Insurgency: Sandstorm introduced the concept of night maps (literally maps set during the evening), it seemed like an exciting addition— on paper. Then came the practical part; the night maps brought some gameplay problems of their own.
Some of the night maps are way too bright to make night-vision goggles comfortable. Meanwhile, players in the darker night maps tend to abuse the mechanic by upping their gamma settings, making it unfair for players who don't want to fiddle with their visuals. That's only a few of the reasons why player count in such maps is low.
2 Odd Cosmetics
Cosmetics are a common way to monetize a game but that's usually implemented in free-to-play titles. Well, Sandstorm isn't free so that's one offense for the microtransaction watchdogs. With that said, some players wouldn't even mind the cosmetics if they weren't so out of place.
It seems Sandstorm's developers got bored of the game's typical aesthetics and decided to pull a Call of Duty and Fortnite in their cosmetics store. Skull masks and ninja costumes make up only the surface. Some cosmetics look like they were ripped straight out of battle royale titles. In a game that tries to emulate real warfare, the cosmetics are downright bizarre and immature.
1 Long-standing Technical Issues
Don't let the game's age be an indicator of its technical state, Sandstorm still has to iron out some of its long-standing issues. Single-player still has bots or AI that can shoot players through walls or clip through each other in a spawn point. They can also switch from being incompetent robots to aimbots with precise headshot tracking.
In multiplayer, there are occasional reports of players getting reconnected to bugged matches they played several days prior. Optimization is also a department they need to attend to as framerate dips and stuttering is still quite common. In any case, players can still enjoy the game with or without their friends, as long as they're not too bothered or affected by the said issues.
Insurgency Sandstorm was released on December 12, 2018, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.