It's not often, or ever, that I really write reviews for games, but Operator is a very unique experience. I've been playing for a while, and I'm fairly knowledgeable about it to the point that, apparently, I've upset some people and had them write reviews where they didn't like some of my criticisms. Crossley1's review is about me (didn't even see it until I was coming to make mine), as evidenced by a conversation in a YouTube comment section, where he continuously misrepresented what happens in the game, lied frequently about the UI and how he actually felt about the gun customization, and made points that weren't at all accurate. He also made the argument that the boat map should be entirely removed because it just wasn't really what he liked, so it's convenient that he tweaks that in his review, since I guess he understood that it doesn't really read well. Nonetheless, let's move on and get to the actual parts of the game, since I think I have a little bit more experience with it to be talking about its positives and negatives than good ol' Crossley.
To start, the actual gunplay itself is, hands down, the best I've ever experienced in a tactical shooter. Yes, the things that are possible in both Ready or Not and Ground Branch are amazing, but there is just nothing like the level of intuitive gun feel that this game provides. It's primarily thanks to the fact that you can really accurately turn the gun around corners, thanks to it not being truly anchored to your camera. This is because it has a very similar system to Ground Branch, which means that your entire body and gun model, as well as everything you're seeing yourself do, are actively how you're doing it in the game world.
In other tactical shooters where you aren't actually seeing an accurate representation of your character, you are, in fact, seeing that in Ground Branch and Operator. Your arms and hands brush against things exactly as they would in third person or from another person's perspective, and even more so in Operator. Thanks to that, it has what I consider completely unparalleled realism when it comes to actually controlling your gun. CQB, whether running slow or fast, feels amazing, and the maps themselves are built phenomenally around it.
Sure, you could argue that there's not that much decoration, but the game is specifically in early access for a reason. They don't really want to focus on decoration right now when they're more focused on map layout. Let me tell you, the map layout is something else. In a lot of other tactical shooters where enemies either have way too many advantages against you or the map feels way too advantageous to the team, Operator has a very unique system. Enemies, thanks to their ability to actually flank and also their fairly realistic reactions and response times, allow for a surprisingly tight and harrowing experience if you're not used to tactical shooters. There have been a lot of times when even I have gotten completely domed in the back by an enemy who just flanked me better than I flanked them. And you can notice that in almost every level. Granted, some levels have geometry issues where enemies see you or detect you through things they shouldn't. I've definitely noticed that at some difficulties, enemies are a bit ridiculous in their reaction time, but all in all, the game is amazing. It feels amazing, plays amazing, looks amazing, and all in all is just an amazing product, but there are the downsides.
To begin with, the community isn't the best. The server names are about what you expect with tactical shooters, and they're just attempts by people trying to be as offensive as they can be. It's not exactly effective, as much as it is repetitive and eye-roll-inducing, but that's about it. It's definitely not a safe space for marginalized communities or groups, as far as I can tell, so if you can avoid playing with people you don't trust to be safe, that unfortunately might be the best option. And there will be the occasional person who judges you based on what kit you're wearing, but usually those guys aren't even wearing the most entirely accurate thing themselves. Even if they were, it doesn't matter. People can wear what they want. If they didn't want people wearing skull balaclavas and skull gloves, they wouldn't have added them. But all in all, if I had to compare this game to Ground Branch and its new 1.0 update, I would definitively give the win to this game. Ground Branch's new update has also caused enemies to be able to detect you just when you point your gun at them, so it definitely has things that it still needs to fix. Again, the gunplay in this game is, just by opinion, a lot better. Sure, Ground Branch does allow you to also work in a system where your body and firearm work on your screen how they do for everyone else's, but that's just less enjoyable when you can't really turn your gun the same way. Now, the one thing Ground Branch has on this game is absolutely its mods. This game has almost no mod capability as of right now, but it is seemingly planned, from what I remember, so at the very least it's something to look forward to. And honestly, in my opinion, it doesn't really need them. Sure, it would be nice to have extra guns or extra pieces of customization, but the base game itself has a lot of options. It actually has a decent amount of things that are only added to Ground Branch through modding. If there's really one thing I had to criticize the most, it would probably be the PvP. The maps are fine, but most of the time they just allow for a lot of wall-banging and just spamming full auto or using shotguns, which obviously are almost an insta-kill at pretty much any range. That is to be expected with a tac shooter, but you would expect them to also maybe try to build maps that don't so heavily favor these playstyles. I'm sure they'll do it in time, but if I were you, I would probably try to avoid PvP unless you are really, really itching for it, but I can't imagine why. All in all, out of 10, even in an early access phase, when comparing it to other games that are full products, this game is really solidly sitting at a high 7 to a mid 8. It definitely has things that it should work on, but if you want something that you can get now in early access and have hope for in its development future, this is 100% the game. Truthfully, it's probably the most realistic CQB experience you'll get, short of ARMA 3 with the ACE3 mod, but that's more because of the ballistics and medical detail. But Operator's gunplay, graphics, enemy AI, and most everything else is better. It's worth every penny, and I can't recommend it enough.
