Contain combines Control, SCP, and Ready or Not into one horrific tactical shooter experience

Certainly, there is a glut of Early Access shooters on the market right now, but some of them genuinely are trying to innovate. Contain, for one, is due to release in beta form on January 16, and it is trying to combine Control, SCP (Secure, Contain, Protect), and Ready or Not into one.

Shoving experimental New Weird storytelling techniques into a tactical FPS envelope is, naturally, a rigmarole in and of itself, but Contain appears to be trying to go a step further still. Notably, the game features comprehensive gunsmithing and operator outfitting systems that appear to rival even those of Ground Branch and Escape from Tarkov. Talk about being prospective right off the bat.

Contain combines Weird horror influences with tactical FPS gameplay

The thing that makes Contain particularly interesting is, of course, its horror take on tactical FPS gameplay. Players are put into the shoes of poor sods that need to… well, secure, contain, and protect anomalous entities and phenomena. As an Early Access title from an unproven developer, SinginGiant, Contain may well end up falling flat on its face. Yet, the concept is nothing to scoff at, and the focus on customization could be one of the game’s strongest features, to boot.

Contain is coming out as an Early Access title later today, on January 16, and the folks over at SinginGiant “anticipate staying in Early Access until the game reaches a solid build,” which says precious little. On launch, “Players can enjoy the current missions in the early beta build of the game. You can take a look at gunsmithing and character customizations. Also, we can easily say the current version holds our vision for the game,” as per the official statement.

Curiously, Contain isn’t even the only game on the market trying to tackle the Weird fiction tactical shooter niche. In fact, the slightly older SCP: 5K is an honest-to-goodness tactical FPS set in the Secure, Contain, Protect universe, and there’s more than a passing similarity between it and Contain. It’s going to be interesting to see how the two compare as they close in on their respective release windows, and with a bit of luck, the niche will be all the better for it.