Within moments of launching Gunzilla’s free-to-play battle royale, Off The Grid, I was greeted with a truly charming insult: “regurgitated cum bubble.” This wasn’t hurled by a fellow gamer, but rather by the game’s announcer, a soldier character oozing obnoxiousness. From that point onward, the experience only spiraled further into the bizarre and unpleasant.
Heading into Off The Grid, I wasn’t entirely sure what to anticipate. Following its early access debut in October of 2024, the game has been heavily promoted on platforms such as the PlayStation Store. After a period of exclusivity on the Epic Games Store for PC users, it has now also arrived on Steam. To mark the Steam launch of Off The Grid, various gaming websites, including Polygon, IGN, and even Kotaku, featured sponsored content focusing on the title. These pieces highlighted the game’s frequent updates, its “strong community,” and the involvement of District 9 director Neill Blomkamp in the world’s creation. Intrigued, I decided to dive into OTG, as it’s known, to see what all the buzz was about!
After a reasonably well-made introductory cinematic, I was acquainted with Master Sergeant Cobra, who might just be the most irritating character I’ve ever encountered in a video game. Following his charming “cum bubble” remark, he explained the basic setup of Off The Grid. It’s a third-person battle royale where the objective is to survive while gathering valuable resources that can be extracted mid-match and sold to other players. More on that aspect later.
What Exactly Is Off The Grid?
The game then promptly dropped me into a match. Unfortunately, Cobra was still present, incessantly shouting phrases like, “Come on, you chickenshit pussies!” and “Your safe zone is collapsing!” To top it off, these insults are repeated ad nauseam. A truly delightful experience, I must say.
The gameplay itself in Off The Grid is not especially innovative. Players parachute onto a map, scavenge for weapons and supplies, engage in combat with opponents, and attempt to be the last team standing. In my initial playthrough, many of the players I encountered appeared to be bots. Online discussions suggest this is a widespread issue. Furthermore, numerous players online have expressed concerns that the game may soon be shut down due to lengthy matchmaking times and frequent pairings with bots.
Eventually, I did encounter a real player, or at least what appeared to be one, sporting a Donald Trump skin. Both Trump and Kamala Harris skins are available for purchase in the game’s store. The Trump skin features a “No Woke” sticker. After several matches, I noticed quite a few real players using the Trump skin. You can draw your own conclusions about what that reveals about Off The Grid‘s player base.
After several hours of both winning and losing, I’ve determined that Off The Grid is a mediocre third-person battle royale containing a few interesting ideas buried beneath layers of unnecessary and unpleasant content. The shooting mechanics are responsive enough, but movement feels imprecise, making it difficult to maintain control of my character. The ability to swap out limbs on the fly with new ones found or looted from fallen enemies is a nice touch, and certain limbs offer unique abilities. Sadly, I spent the majority of my time in Off The Grid searching for opponents and waiting for matches to commence.
NFTs Revisited? Gunzilla Hopes You’ve Forgotten.
Interestingly, those sponsored articles I previously mentioned completely omitted the fact that this is a game incorporating NFT and blockchain technology. Remember how I mentioned extracting loot during matches and selling it? Well, it’s all tied to NFTs.
I managed to acquire a rare arm and sold it for 60 GUN (Gunzilla’s cryptocurrency) to another player. Each item is assigned a unique code, and their availability appears to be limited. Upon completing the sale, I checked my transaction history, which identified the transaction as part of my “GUNZ Wallet.” However, since I’m playing on an Xbox Series X/S, I don’t actually have access to my GUNZ Wallet or the GUN tokens within it. This is purportedly because Xbox, PlayStation, and Valve are preventing Gunzilla from fully integrating the blockchain into the game. (On the Epic Games Store, these features are active and fully functional.) I’m unsure of the ramifications for the GUN tokens I earned from selling the arm. Will I ever be able to convert them into real money? Will items purchased from other users on Xbox be transferable to future Gunzilla games?
Gunzilla, the current owner of Game Informer, has attempted to minimize the NFT/Blockchain elements of the game, despite partnering with companies in this sector. This is likely due to the widespread dislike of these technologies. In an FAQ on the official Off The Grid website, they state:
Off The Grid is not an NFT game. It’s a battle royale game with an optional NFT element. If you want to try out NFTs, you can; if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. It’s entirely up to the player how they want to play the game, and the game is playable without dipping into NFTs.
That’s technically accurate, as you can play the game without ever interacting with the loot earned in matches. However, the NFT element and the marketplace seem integral to the game’s design, so ignoring them would significantly diminish the experience.
The core question remains: is Off The Grid worth experiencing? Ignoring the NFT aspect, the game itself is fairly unremarkable. I struggled to find genuine players both before and during matches. The combat is acceptable, but if I’m looking for a third-person battle royale experience, I would choose Fortnite every time. Moreover, the game’s overall tone is unpleasant. The constant insults from the announcer become tiresome quickly, and the game is filled with the kind of edgy humor favored by teenagers who’ve just discovered swear words.
So, if you’re interested in grinding for digital tokens on a blockchain by acquiring rare loot in a mediocre third-person shooter, then Off The Grid might appeal to you. Otherwise, pick any other battle royale game and you’ll be better served. At the very least, you can avoid encountering players dressed as Donald Trump.
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