Out of Action

Introduction

Out of Action, released into Early Access on 22 January 2026 by solo developer Doku Games LTD, is a fast, skill-based PvP shooter built around Titanfall-style movement and deep, Ghost in the Shell-inspired build customisation in a brutal cyberpunk setting. It sits Mostly Positive across a full sample of around 907 reviews, and reading widely through them reveals a release that produces some of the most extreme, specific devotion this review has seen from any recent Early Access shooter, sitting directly alongside a complaint serious enough to shape this review's score.

A movement shooter that earns real, extreme devotion

The clearest signal in this sample is playtime itself. Multiple reviewers report hundreds of hours, several report figures above 400, and at least two report playtimes near or above 700 and even 800 hours in a game barely months into Early Access. One reviewer states plainly it's their most-played game on Steam and that they don't normally leave reviews at all. Multiple reviewers independently and specifically compare the movement to Titanfall 2, several calling it the best they've felt in a shooter in years or decades, and multiple reviewers separately credit the build customisation system, frequently called "the Matrix," with genuine strategic depth rather than cosmetic variety. This review reads that volume of extreme, specific playtime testimony as unusually strong evidence the core loop rewards real investment for the players it clicks with.

A specific, overwhelming complaint: new players hit a wall

Set directly against that devotion, this review found the single most repeated complaint across this entire sample, appearing in nearly every negative review and even in many positive ones with caveats: the new-player experience is genuinely brutal. Multiple reviewers independently describe the complete absence of any tutorial, several specifically noting the game expects familiarity with similar movement shooters it never actually teaches. Compounding that, reviewers repeatedly and specifically describe the existing playerbase as largely composed of veterans with hundreds or thousands of hours from earlier playtests and demos, several using nearly identical language about being unable to get meaningful practice against opponents that outclass them completely. This review reads the specificity and repetition of that combination, no tutorial plus an already-expert population, as a credible, structural onboarding failure rather than ordinary difficulty.

A shrinking population this review reads as connected, not separate

This review also found a specific, repeated complaint about population that reviewers themselves frequently link directly to the onboarding problem above rather than treating as an unrelated issue. Multiple reviewers cite specific low player counts, one describing roughly nine people online, others describing a roughly fifty percent population crash within a single week and a peak count near 120. Several reviewers specifically report being unable to find live matches outside narrow windows of peak hours, and at least one reviewer describes being unable to connect to any server at all due to ping thresholds outside the US and EU. This review reads the specificity of these figures, not vague "it feels dead" complaints but named numbers reviewers observed directly, as credible evidence of a real, structural risk: a genre this reliant on live opponents needs new players to stay, and this sample says the onboarding experience is actively working against that.

A cluttered interface reviewers say requires a wiki

Beyond onboarding and population, this review found a specific, repeated complaint about the interface itself. Multiple reviewers independently describe the loadout and build menus as cluttered and confusing, several specifically saying the system is simultaneously over-informative, describing lengthy stat breakdowns for individual perks, and under-informative, lacking clear visual information about what a given weapon or gadget actually does. More than one reviewer specifically says a wiki is effectively required to understand core systems. This review reads that as a distinct, addressable problem from the broader skill-ceiling complaints above, a presentation issue layered on top of genuinely deep systems rather than a sign the systems themselves lack depth.

Specific complaints worth naming directly

This review also found a cluster of more specific, individually credible complaints. Multiple reviewers single out an invisibility ability as a particular frustration, several describing being killed repeatedly by opponents they could neither see nor hear approach, distinct from ordinary skill-gap complaints. At least one detailed reviewer reports encountering cheaters within their first twenty matches. Reviewers separately and repeatedly note the absence of controller support and the lack of a dedicated server tool for community hosting, both specifically requested rather than assumed. This review also found the game's offline single-player mode specifically criticised for pitting players against bots without awarding experience, undermining it as a genuine practice option for the new players who most need one.

The developer is actively iterating, and this review found evidence of it

Set against the complaints above, this review found real, specific evidence of responsive development. Multiple reviewers specifically credit a progression-system simplification, made within days of one reviewer's purchase, with meaningfully improving their experience, and reviewers separately cite near-weekly balance updates as evidence the solo developer is actively working the game rather than leaving it static. This review reads that as a genuine, positive signal for an Early Access release still working through the structural problems documented above, though it does not resolve them on its own.

Why this review lands where it does

It's worth being direct about how this review weighs extraordinary, specific devotion from players who push through Out of Action's difficulty against a new-player experience this sample describes with real consistency as brutal, a population showing specific signs of shrinking, and an interface reviewers say actively obstructs learning. The devotion is real and unusually well evidenced by playtime figures far beyond what most Early Access shooters produce. But a live PvP shooter's long term depends on bringing in players it can currently retain, and this sample offers specific, repeated, structural reasons to doubt that's happening yet. This review scores Out of Action as a genuinely exceptional movement shooter for the players who break through, held back from a higher score by real, documented barriers standing between most new buyers and that experience.

Final Verdict

Out of Action pairs some of the deepest movement and build systems in the genre with a level of craft remarkable for a solo developer's first commercial release, earning genuine, extreme devotion from the players who stick with it. What holds this score down is an overwhelming, specific complaint that its new-player experience is brutal, a population showing real signs of shrinking, and an interface reviewers say actively obstructs learning its deeper systems. Worth it for movement-shooter veterans prepared to push through a genuinely rough start; everyone else should wait for a tutorial and a healthier population.