Crossout

The near future. During a global catastrophe, earthly civilization fell, leaving only rusty frames and dust. The few survivors turned the remnants of the old world into deadly combat machines and now wage war for resources on homemade armored monsters. This is the conditionally free MMO action game with a third-person view and open-world elements, Crossout — a game at the intersection of combat racing, session shooter, and sandbox genres. In the harsh world of the post-apocalypse, players need to gather resources, craft parts from them, construct unique combat vehicles, and then test their creations in PvP and PvE battles, explore the Wastelands, complete jobs for various factions, and trade excess goods in the local market.

In 2027, humanity was swept by the "Crossout" epidemic, causing hallucinations, fits of madness, and violence in the infected. It is believed that the pandemic began after the discovery of one of the alien devices found in a UFO. Its spread was attempted to be contained with nuclear strikes on cities, but it only destroyed civilization, altered the climate, turning Earth into a desert. Those who survived all this transformed physically and mentally, forming new social structures.

The action of Crossout takes place in 2047 in the Wastelands — a sanctuary of anarchy, chaos, and struggle for resources. Aggressive gangs patrolling the Wastelands on homemade combat vehicles have become the norm, as have conflicts over the struggle for resources and technology. Many factions — the technologically advanced "Mechanics," the nomadic raiders "Madmen," or the genius-enabled "Children of Dawn" — have united into alliances and are fiercely fighting for control over territories.

Like in other MMOs, the plot of Crossout serves to familiarize players with the game and its lore, and is played in "Awakening" mode. According to the scenario, a new threat has emerged in the Wastelands — the "Scavengers" faction — autonomous half-machines half-humans, created based on alien and artificial technologies, capable of stealing the memories of survivors. The story is straightforward and presented with simple tropes. There are no "heroes" per se — the player creates their survivor without being tied to any known character in the game world. The storyline mode can be almost completely ignored, and players can immediately head into PvP or cooperative raids.

In Crossout, there is no seamless open world — there is a mosaic of 78 fairly large arenas, which players access through a global map, emphasizing the session-based nature of the game. Locations are designed in different biomes: steppes and deserts, arid canyons and deep swamps, mountains and volcanoes, cities and their ruins, mines, factories, and more. Although the world does not provide infinite space for free driving, the level design leaves room for tactical maneuvers. Sure, here is the translated text:Locations with narrow passages have detours, wide spaces have tactical heights, and so on. The exploratory aspect in Crossout is limited, while most activities involve battles, as enemies are present on every map, which can and should be engaged with.

After launching Crossout, the player immediately finds themselves in the garage — the heart of the game, where most actions take place. There, they can customize their combat vehicle by adding or removing parts like chassis, weapons, and armor, test the design on a special training ground, visit the market to buy or sell components, and interact with social elements: chat, clan, or view exhibitions of other players' vehicles.

From the garage, the player selects a mode — PvP battle or PvE raid — after which a session match begins, lasting 5–10 minutes: controlling the vehicle, shooting, and destroying enemy transports in dynamic battles. After the battle, rewards in the form of experience and resources are awarded, and the player returns to the garage for upgrades, creating a cyclical flow: preparation, battle, progression. Social functions are integrated directly into the garage, but they can be ignored, allowing players to jump straight into action.

The key feature of Crossout is the virtually limitless creative freedom in building vehicles. Frames define their shape. Cabins provide thrust and energy. Weapons deliver firepower. Modules (boosters, invisibility generators, etc.) offer additional capabilities. And armor significantly improves protection. Each category has dozens of parts available, allowing for the creation of both light buggies and heavy tanks or even flying platforms with anti-gravity, but it’s not just about appearance.

Each part affects the vehicle's characteristics, such as speed, maneuverability, and durability. Vehicles are fully destructible: damage to wheels, weapons, or armor reduces combat effectiveness, while destruction of the cabin leads to defeat. Physics is taken into account: a heavy vehicle moves slower, and the recoil from powerful guns can overturn a light vehicle. Thus, players need to balance the vehicle's mass and part distribution, making construction another form of gameplay. Vehicles can be saved as blueprints and then modified, upgraded, or completely redesigned.

Crossout features a fairly diverse set of modes, which can be divided into several categories.

Main PvP modes (classic)

Raids (PvE modes)

Clan Battles

Brawls

Other Modes

Cross-platform play is available only between consoles (PlayStation and Xbox). PC gamers play on separate servers. Cross-progression is saved between Steam and Gaijin accounts.

The developers of Crossout actively experiment with modes to maintain audience interest. They often introduce temporary events that completely change gameplay, adding unique vehicles and mechanics. In 2025, new modes were added:

The player profile development system is based on improving equipment and reputation with factions. At the very beginning, the player belongs to the “Mechanics” faction, completing daily tasks from the game and faction tasks to earn resources and initial blueprints. By making incursions into various locations, they get acquainted with other factions and gradually increase their reputation with them. This way, the player unlocks rarer “construction” parts (armor plates, frames, etc.) that are not available by other means, as well as learns new recipes for creating parts.

Each faction specializes in its own fighting style: fast vehicles with shotguns are offered by the “Lunatics,” heavy machinery by the “Scavengers,” plasma and aerial weaponry by the “Children of Dawn,” flamethrowers by the “Fire Worshippers,” and so on. Special faction machines are used to create the obtained blueprints.

Resources (scrap, wires, electronics) are obtained in battles, used for crafting, or sold on the market. Equipment can be acquired through purchases in the shop (for in-game currency or microtransactions), crafting, rewards for increasing reputation or battle pass levels, as well as the market, where prices depend on supply and demand but are limited by a “price corridor.” You can also earn extra by completing regular quests. Progression takes time, and without investing real money, advancement can be slow, especially for epic and legendary components.

The graphics of Crossout are designed in a realistic style with an emphasis on the detail of vehicles and locations. The game uses its own engine from Targem Games, ensuring high destructibility and physics. During the post-release support period, the graphical component of Crossout has significantly evolved. In 2022, the Supercharged update was released, in which the Targem Engine was upgraded to version 2.0. Scalable global illumination was added, shadows (SSCS) and local reflections (SSLR) were improved. The game also featured post-processing effects: motion blur, realistic lens flares, enhanced bloom, and color correction. These innovations made the scenes more realistic and atmospheric — on sunny slopes, cars shine with gloss, and shadows create a detailed play of light.

Over the decade of its existence, Crossout has been regularly updated to maintain player interest. Among the new content, the most successful were: