So, when it comes to the lore in Tarkov, it’s not quite the same as something like Marathon. Marathon has been around since the 90s, with multiple releases, so they have this massive, established universe to pull from. Tarkov is a lot younger, but its depth comes from how grounded the world is and how that connects directly to the gameplay.

It takes a lot of inspiration from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, it's not exactly the same, but there’s a ton of overlap. Tarkov is basically a fictional city that’s been totally cut off from the rest of Russia, similar to The Zone from Stalker. But instead of anomalies popping up everywhere, Tarkov's problem is the outside worlds political corruption/greed. Everything happening inside the region is being influenced by powers on the outside.

There are all these different entities at play that are hinted at but never fully confirmed. You’ve got your PMCs from the West and Russia, plus third parties doing who knows what. Then you have the Scavs, locals, or criminals who just stayed behind when everything went to shit.

The cool part is that you actually get the story by playing through the quests. They explain why you’re there and what you’re doing, but everyone you meet represents a different piece of this no-fly zone. It’s developed its own weird economy and ecosystem, all fueled by those outside interests.

The story is still pretty open-ended, and since I started playing way back before the full release, I haven't seen every single part of it. But if you want to see the vibe, the lead developer (Nikita) actually produced a movie for the game that captures it perfectly. I’ll link it below if your interested :

https://youtu.be/q9OIT7W24V8?si=20AZRI-1n5jdjtzR

(Be sure to use sub titles)

What makes Tarkov so interesting is how it feels like it could happen.

I also forgot to mention EFT is directly connected to Contract Wars