People argue over whether it was Escape from Tarkov or The Division, but Phantom Pain is the earliest example of this gameplay loop.
- Home base with upgrades you expand and improve your base.
- Set your loadout before going on an extraction mission into the zone.
- Extraction zone is a large open world map with memorable locations used for multiple incursions and different objective missions.
- Exits from the map are set locations.
- Gameplay loop is to get in, do a [thing], and get out.
MGS: Phantom Pain was the first extraction shooter. The only thing modern extraction shooters do that it does not is that they put multiple human players on the map simultaneously for a mixed pvpve environment whereas MGS was purely PVE.
Only whatever you’ve acquired on the current run. Home Base is too large an operation to “lose” gear featuring full scale weapons R&D let alone manufacturing. The game loop is there though, it’s definitely what I would call an extraction shooter, emphasis on the “extraction”.
Interestingly enough all extraction shooters heavily feature stealth gameplay so it sorta makes sense that Metal Gear hit this formula first.
The thing about “extraction” is that the risk/reward from the gear loss is fundamental to the actual genre’s gameplay. What do you invest by bringing it to a mission? Do you search for more to take back with you, putting everything on you at further risk? The extraction is a lifeline in that manner, and not just a finish line (wordplay not intended).
I don’t think that’s true. It’s like saying permadeath is fundamental to an RPG’s gameplay after only playing a Roguelike. Those are one form of RPG, but softer RPGs without permadeath are just as valid as RPGs.
The full loot loss generates tension and creates a scenario where building up your stockpile of weapons and equipment is a form of progression, that doesn’t have to be the only form of progression to an extraction shooter though, if other forms of progression are suitably fleshed out and developed then full loot loss is not a mandatory element. The full loot loss concept existing in those games while it doesn’t exist in Phantom Pain is indicative of those games evolving in the “Survival” genre space, influenced by DayZ, whereas Phantom Pain’s development towards this gameplay loot travelled down the stealth em up genre that was practically only populated by Metal Gear because they executed it so well that nobody else wanted to try and fall short.