ARC Raiders
ARC Raiders
Game
Game2025
It Takes a War
Developer Thomas Mackinnon
Graphics! Guns! Glory! Get ready to drop into a devastatingly real depiction of the battlefield as you and your team take on a relentless foe. It Takes a War presents a new vision for the team-based tactical shooter genre. From the Steam store page
254 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
86
LovedLoved
182 positive · 29 negative
95% range 81–90%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 182 | 29 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 17 | 0 | 26 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
940 of 1,023 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
85% recommend · 158 yes, 28 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 186 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (971 of 1,063 positive).
Some reviewers criticize the gameplay as janky, with poor shooting and lackluster execution. [1][2][3] Many recommend going in blind to avoid spoilers and appreciate the experience. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [2]
tldr: Don't buy it, it's a shovelware that blinds you with nostalgia, with a great idea but extremely poor execution, and more effort put in the marketing and front page than on the actual game. It's like the dev pinpointed the exact game to hit people deeply, and then asked AI to make it. offtopic lore : yes this is a rewrite, and not the first one. Because after the amount of very polite comments I had, something …
- [12]
I felt the urge to write this after seeing a negative review boosted to the top focused almost entirely on the gameplay and lack of replayability. To be clear, the reviewer is correct - the shooting in this game doesn’t feel very good, but honestly for a game that’s a lot closer to say The Beginners Guide than CS 1.6, I think that’s a bit of a pathetic hill to die on. The focus of this game so clearly isn’t about …
- [1]
It Takes a War is one of the worst FPS games I've ever played in my life BUT... It Takes a War has one of the best stories I've seen recently (bound to change ofc) and i can't explain it without spoiling it
- [17]
It Takes a War is basically a humble little art exhibit wrapped in a video game that you 'play' as your modality for experiencing the question the dev is asking. That question is quite simply "Are they really still your friend, or are they just a pretty good sniper?". It's a valid question in 2025. Steam is 20+ years old now. Virtually everyone on this platform has people on their friends list that have done nothing …
- [4]
Alright. It Takes a War is done and dusted. If you've played this developer's previous game: The Corridor, then you know Thomas takes some delight in breaking the fourth wall and directly messing with the player. I think it is wise to expect something similar here. I also took a minute to read through the reviews that have already been posted and note that people are being careful to not spoil any surprises as far …
Summarised from 34 of the 230 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
It Takes a War sits at 86% positive across 211 opinionated reactions from 2 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 254 · most liked firstHad a lovely afternoon reading this great little review, learning about a game I had never heard of, then playing said game. Games writing! It's good! (And so is "It Takes a War")
positive · AI labelView post →tldr: Don't buy it, it's a shovelware that blinds you with nostalgia, with a great idea but extremely poor execution, and more effort put in the marketing and front page than on the actual game. It's like the dev pinpointed the exact game to hit people deeply, and then asked AI to make it. offtopic lore : yes this is a rewrite, and not the first one. Because after the amount of very polite comments I had, something was clearly off about this review and how people perceived it. This doesn't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm leaving a positive review just to spite that one French guy who left an obnoxiously long negative review. This is a cheap, short and all things considered interesting lil game, it's not life-changing, nor addictive, but that's not what it's trying to be. For what it's worth, I think it achieves what it sets out to do, give you something to think about for a minute and maybe catch you off-guard with one of its slightly unsettling moments. I'm glad we can get neat creative projects…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →2025 media thread... GO! i played IT TAKES A WAR, a game that falls into that increasingly familiar genre of "metanarrative based game that uses being a video game as a framing device." i liked it overall even if it is just a tiny bit clumsy in spots - i need more nice sub-hour long narrative games
neutral · AI labelView post →Alright. It Takes a War is done and dusted. If you've played this developer's previous game: The Corridor, then you know Thomas takes some delight in breaking the fourth wall and directly messing with the player. I think it is wise to expect something similar here. I also took a minute to read through the reviews that have already been posted and note that people are being careful to not spoil any surprises as far as what you can expect here. Which is understandable. This game, by its very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I felt the urge to write this after seeing a negative review boosted to the top focused almost entirely on the gameplay and lack of replayability. To be clear, the reviewer is correct - the shooting in this game doesn’t feel very good, but honestly for a game that’s a lot closer to say The Beginners Guide than CS 1.6, I think that’s a bit of a pathetic hill to die on. The focus of this game so clearly isn’t about rushing B and fragging terrorists, It’s about being in your late teens and feeling…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →sadly, I didn't enjoy this. A lot of discussions about this game suggest you should go in without knowing anything, but I feel like you deserve some warning. Here's what this isn't: - a horror game - a commentary on the military or warfare - an actual fps The retro elements are cool and the 4th wall breaking is something interesting, but the overall experience feels hollow. You're essentially listening to an argument while irrelevant gameplay happens. The game is trying to hit a very specific…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I thought IT TAKES A WAR is a great little meta game about online friendship and FPS stuff. I think it is a little too "neat" in terms of the writing, so I'm not in love with it, but it does do some clever tricks and the final level is A+ fun. store.steampowered.com/app/3919530/...
neutral · AI labelView post →I played "It Takes a War" before I played "It Takes a War". Please only read my review if you already played the game. A lot of years ago I was active in the darkest corner of counter strike. I was a cheater. The cheating scene is a very hostile place with people doxing each other, talking ♥♥♥♥ about each other and generally being very bad persons. I got into a fight with some other guy, we even made videos about each other just to hate. One day I decided to stop this, I thought its useless…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not as interesting as I thought it would be after playing the demo. Also, it uses your webcam without asking. Not cool.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It Takes A War - The Dissection of An Unraveling Friendship ITAW is a game that hit me very hard and personally right in the gut because of its subject matter, and I really want to talk about the way I feel after completing it. It is a hard game to talk about without spoiling it, simply because of the way it was designed, therefore this review will probably be more geared towards those who have finished the game and want to gush about it or find out what other people thought about the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I haven't played the game yet. I bought it a few weeks ago, and it refused to work. At a certain point in loading the first map it simply stopped, and then nothing. I contacted the dev, and it turned out, there was one other person with the same problem. Since then the developer rolled update after update, created a seperate beta branch for this problem, invited me for sessions with unreal experts and the other player with this problem, and so on. There was so much work done for this small…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was a very fun game, I think I can safely recommend it now, and I hope they bring the servers back online someday.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I feel bad leaving this a negative review, because It Takes a War is interesting. It's a small human drama told through the lens of CS1.6. That's an amazing concept, and it clearly had a lot of love and care put into it. BUT I think the execution is too lackluster to give a wholehearted recommendation. Had ITaW been released 10 years ago, it would have been seen as a classic, in much the same way Stanley Parable is seen today. The "game" itself is bad. The controls are awkward, the shooting…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It Takes a War is one of the worst FPS games I've ever played in my life BUT... It Takes a War has one of the best stories I've seen recently (bound to change ofc) and i can't explain it without spoiling it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A bit slow and janky but interesting company in online matches.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →very promising competitive shooter but i really think it needs some work before it can compete with mainstream titles
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's #WishlistWednesday & we've just announced It Takes a War - the new #indiegame from @freeze.ltd; a game that might resonate with anybody versed in the noughties era of online shooters... store.steampowered.com/app/3919530/... Share this, and we'll add you to a draw for 1 of 5 keys at launch! 🗝️
neutral · AI labelView post →It's a solid old-school style FPS game. Worth checking out. Not many servers still running but you can usually find a game and the community is still pretty chatty.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →thank you to @haleyfax.bsky.social and @jacobgeller.com for their hugely kind words about It Takes a War on this week's episode of the @minnmax.com show! a looot of the game was developed while listening to MinnMax so it's a lovely full circle moment for me - love the stuff they do over there 🙌
neutral · AI labelView post →Slightly less upsetting than joining an actual counter strike voice chat.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I did not actually like this game very much, but I'm gonna recommend you check it out and make up your own damn mind. Do it for their sake and also your own. It's an earnest piece of art and is worth engaging with if it seems interesting to you. Straight up don't read my criticisms below and just hop in blind. Support the little guys. That being said, devs if you are reading this, here are my criticisms: By far the biggest issue I had with the game was that the writing felt very syrupy and on…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Games Journalists: In two days No Players Online, a meta-fictional spooky game about an "online" shooter is releasing on steam. In two days It Takes A War, a meta-fictional spooky game about an "online" shooter is releasing on steam. This is an indie Armageddon/Deep Impact situation.
neutral · AI labelView post →A big ol' HARK! 📣 Introducing It Takes a War, the new game from @freeze.ltd - the creative force behind THE CORRIDOR GRAPHICS! GUNS! GLORY! ITAW presents a new vision for the team-based tactical shooter genre WISHLIST! store.steampowered.com/app/3919530/... Shares v appreciated 🙏 #indiegames
neutral · AI labelView post →do not read anything else about this game and go in blind. good for a round of entertainment for sure
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There’s still a day left of Next Fest! There’s still time! 🕰️ The demo for It Takes a War is a short five minute prelude to the game, which serves as a training ground AND director’s commentary. Give it a whirl x store.steampowered.com/app/3919530/... #indiegames | #gamedev
neutral · AI labelView post →I wanted to like this so much. The concept itself is nice, but, given it's release date, the "cool" mechanics feel very outdated (nothing new compared to 10+ year old "4th wall breaking" games) and the story is giving off an r/im14andthisisdeep feeling. It will probably hit hard in middle school, but if you're close to your 30s and not completely emotionally undeveloped, you've seen this story many times before.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So glad this little gem is finally on Steam. Well worth the trip down memory lane, even if the gameplay has not aged well lmao I wonder how those guys I used to hang out on here are doing. Wish I still had their details.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Idea is perfect but the execution is lacking. Great game just needs some polishing on the script work, optimisation and pacing. Other than that would definitely recommend. I can see inspirations from Davey Wredens work, which is great hes good yep
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It Takes a War is basically a humble little art exhibit wrapped in a video game that you 'play' as your modality for experiencing the question the dev is asking. That question is quite simply "Are they really still your friend, or are they just a pretty good sniper?". It's a valid question in 2025. Steam is 20+ years old now. Virtually everyone on this platform has people on their friends list that have done nothing that warrants being removed, but something stops you from taking that last…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this guy should make more games like this, its soo good for preople who want a short horror type game and like fps games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A walking sim disguised as a CS clone. The game has a really poignant story that spoke to me in a way few other games have. I can't say much more without spoilers. The game is very short, but I enjoyed my experience with it regardless.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's distinctly fine. A few gripes about how it's accessing and using my steam data and webcam without explicit permission (I know it stays local, but regardless). The plot is an interesting one but the execution could be generously described as minimalist. It's hard to tell whether some parts are low quality by design (e.g. assets) or oversight (V.O is weak, gun play is pointless). I think if I'd played this a decade ago it would have felt more poignant and relevant but it's a quick…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I secured a KD ratio of 35/6, my best ever in a multiplayer shooter. It's just a pity my team-mates were talking smack the whole time...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →reminded me of the beginner's guide, which is one of the highest compliments i can think of, play it! game good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hidden gem of a game! Don't be discouraged by negative reviews about shooting aspect of the game as it is not so important as the story being told. For me, it was totally worth the price primarily due to unique concept and creative storytelling.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's hard to get me to play a coop shooter, but with buddies like these, I played something like 25 rounds before shutting it of!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game felt personal. I genuinely got uncomfortable playing through it, but I stayed until the end, because it was something I needed to hear. Thank you, Thomas Mackinnon.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to preface this review by saying two things: Firstly, despite my dislike of the gameplay and underlying story, I'm giving this game a positive review. Quite honestly, it is worthy of a positive rating, but doubly so because I appreciate smaller dev studios, as I believe it's they who push the boundaries in video games as a medium of art. It Takes a War definitely tried to do something I genuinely didn't expect, and that's tough to do nowadays. Video gaming, as an industry, is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beautiful game with a beautiful story. I recommend everyone that's been present in the age of skype/teamspeak/early discord play this. The gameplay is amazing too. Great shooter in general
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I went in wanting to like this game but unfortunately I can't recommend it unless you're a very specific kind of person or have only very close people on your friends list. Decided to pick this up after watching a small bit of a youtube video and decided to experience what the game was about apart from that, unfortunatly while I understand and respect what the game is going for it just didn't hit me as much as i've seen others claim which is unfortuante as that's all the game has going for it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was a very unique experience, and a good one at that. The game graphics are definitely not something I'm used to but they were also a nice change of pace, and I think they paired really well with the storyline. I think if the graphics (of the gunplay) were more realistic it would have distracted and taken away from the main story. I would 100% recommend this game to my friends :) I would also like to note that i DID top-frag and absolutely carried the ♥♥♥♥ out of my teammates.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Quite a good little game. Worth playing. Also the grenade is OP, plz nerf. My teammates sucked. I carried.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It Takes a War is OUT NOW on @itch.io If you've played the game on Steam, you'll realise why it's taken a little longer to bring to Itch - but after some bespoke updates and changes, the standalone version of ITAW is now available. TIME TO CONNECT 📶 pantaloon-io.itch.io/it-takes-a-war
neutral · AI labelView post →Very good game, love the concept and does a lot of great things you won’t expect. Play it completely blind. The only information you’ll need is it takes about 40 minutes to complete, contains flashing imagery, and does not contain jumpscares apart from some sudden noises that may be startling.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ICYMI, yesterday we launched It Takes a War - the new tactical team shooter (!?) from @freeze.ltd If the game has confused you (good, we've done our job) this review from @ripefly.bsky.social / @rogue.site hits lots of nails on lots of heads and is a fantastic piece www.rogue.site/editorials/i...
neutral · AI labelView post →I was very excited about the demo, but felt somewhat disappointed by the full game. I understand the message it's trying to say, but the execution felt bland and too much fast-paced. I didn't have enough time to connect (ba-dum-tss) with the characters or the overall plot, and the "walking simulator" sections were boring, to say the least - it is the same boring map, I can stand there and just listen to the voice chat. The plot progression was confusing - I didn't understand all the events…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Graphics! Guns! Glory! It’s #screenshotsaturday and we’ve just announced the new game from @freeze.ltd, the creative force behind THE CORRIDOR. Introducing It Takes a War: a team-based shooter with VISCERAL gunplay and RELENTLESS action (and that’s all!) store.steampowered.com/app/3919530/...
neutral · AI labelView post →My next mainline game “It Takes a War” on Steam Deck. I'll try to make it less blurry before release. It will drop in the first half of next year. Too many games coming out at the end of 2024 + I want a bit of extra time to make it perfect! 🙏
neutral · AI labelView post →Review Preamble: Set aside an hour. Go in blind. Don't watch the trailer or read anymore reviews. Wear headphones. Test your mic before launching the game. Have some patience. Try to finish it in one session. Actual Review: I'm going to slap clay on an invisible shape, then turn it towards you and hope you see what I'm trying to share with you. I think calling out "SPOILERS!!" is a bit of a failure of media literacy - the belief that the whole point of an experience is the ending - but in this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →genuinely beautiful i love this game as the conflict between people, as someone who has been through very similar conflict and stuff, i espically like sophie/soph33, i see myself as her, and we both have OCD and take sitraline. beatiful game, it almost made me cry, and the cherry on top being the whole goldsrc/source style, as someone who mods for those engines, and has nostalgia, it made it feel a lot more, personal(?), amazing game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The message didn't really connect with me. Felt like a playground argument. Didn't really connect with anyone in the story and if anything the group of people in the story is a group I wouldn't want to stick around with at all if this was a legit scenario. Wish I could have interacted with the NPCs and the game would have benefited if there were like multiple ending or something from player choice. The NPCs and gameplay being jank also was a bit immersion breaking because you're expected to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Got to open by saying it's best to go in and experience this game blind. It Takes a War can be comfortably finished in a single sitting, and I think the price is fair for the experience despite a relatively short runtime, as in that time it tells a very effective and complete story. It's fair to say that It Takes a War won't be everyone, but if you connect with it like I did, it will hit you hard. The gameplay is purposefully not the focus, it's the framing device for the narrative that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i got the game in a bundle through fanatical, so i got the game for 1€ with 4 other games. i didn't look up anything about this game. only saw screenshot and i wondered how this game had a very positive review score. i thaught ¨how is it reviewed that well if it's just a counter-strike clone¨ do yourself a favor and play the game for yourself, and also dont do any reserch.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you've heard about this game, then you have probably heard that you can't talk about this game without spoiling it. This is for two reasons: A) It's not even an hour long, for me it was 48 minutes and B) the game is being obviously deceiving about it's true nature. But the thing is, the wolf isn't much of a surprise if the sheeps clothing isn't so convincing. So, instead of enjoying the layer of illusion before the real game starts, I found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop. That's…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm sorry, I hate to leave a negative review but this games lacks any subtlety that The Corridor had (The previous game by the same developer which I wholeheartedly recommend).
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Super interesting little game. Nice and compact experience. Hard to review without spoiling it but fans of the Stanley Parable should for sure check it out.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A screenshot for #screenshotsaturday This is It Takes a War. A game about VISCERAL TACTICAL ACTION and absolutely nothing else at all, promise Something big dropping next week. Do a wishlist lest you risk missing out store.steampowered.com/app/3919530/...
neutral · AI labelView post →Game spoiler This game reminded me that my friends (IRL) both have lives that I don't see, and they in turn don't see what goes on in my life. I personally think that being self centered and understanding what others can be going through is where most of us fail, but knowing this, we need to forgive others for not understanding our own situations. This game also reminded me of a time when a good few of my "friends" who I thought were good people turned out to be complete jerks, but now I can…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →when people say that games are art they're always on some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ like the Last of Us Part II. This is what games as art actually should be.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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