So there’s this game called Insurgency, which has people running around shooting each other and trying to capture objectives from a first person point of view. Despite the decidedly modern feel of the warfare, and initial impressions of familiarity, there’s actually a little bit of a niche here that the developers, New World Interactive, are working specifically to carve out.

First off, taking feedback from the community through an “early access” program (which means you can jump on the bandwagon now, without feeling pretentious) the game forgoes the Call of Duty perk and leveling system. You start out with a “supply” limit, and can access and customize your weapons and equipment right from the beginning. If that’s too complicated you can stick to pre-built classes and just go, while still being reasonably successful.

The advantage here is that there really isn’t much advantage to having spent a hundred hours playing the game, and everyone begins on a level playing field. No hiding in shipping containers thinking you’re safe, unaware there is even such a thing as a heart-beat monitor attached to your opponent’s gun.

There’s no running about in the open, jumping up and down either. As some of the team working on this game have roots in the Red Orchestra franchise, the level of realism here means that bullets are mostly lethal, and you don’t endlessly respawn. Players are naturally more inclined to work tactically to accomplish objectives, where capturing certain points on the map is what brings your teammates back into the game.

As it stands now there are a couple different modes, including some cooperative efforts where your team faces off against bots, but the gameplay could still use a bit more variety. The maps offer a little familiarity to those who played this back when it was a Counter Strike mod, but for the most part what keeps things fresh are the challenges presented by opponents either working successfully together or doing a poor job of resisting the press of your well-coordinated team.

Admittedly this is all still in the BETA phase, so things could potentially change. But the developers seem pretty committed to sticking to a formula that exists somewhere between the ultra-popular arcade style military shooters like Black Ops, versus the ultra-intense realistic shooters such as Arma.

If the thought of that appeals to you intensely, then there’s practically an entire game here for you already. If you’re still sitting on the fence and wondering whether or not you could survive without regenerating health, feel free to check out the game’s Twitch.tv channel. You might be surprised by how refreshing a departure from Call of Duty can be.