I just saw the awesome videos about The Mech Warrior Online with IGN, showing parts of the game play, namely the battles game play. (battleS, plural as in light, medium, heavy and assault... hope I did get that right)
Not only did we see the cool lasers (layzorz) with mid rage and long range self propelled explosive projectiles.... or "missiles" for short. hmm... rockets sounds better...
ANYWAY! while seeing these videos AND coming from World of tanks and Firefall (as FF Beta player). I found 2 things that really is missing... missing so much that the more I think of it the more it start to feel lacking.
[Jack Sparrow voice]
And we all know that a game should never lack the features that makes it feel lacking while lacking them...
[/Jack Sparrow voice]
You might ask... Well what is this/these lacking stuff that makes this game lack then?
Good news there are two of em! Bad news I'm gonna write you both of em, all of it.... HA wall of text for you!
1) Some perspective from the point of view about World of tanks, the battles are stale (keyword) in World of tanks. You can't use the environment that much against your opponents and the environment has no persistent effect on the "MMO" world you play in, it's a non persistent game... well except for some things like numbers called points which is associated to your player account.
I mean, how many times have I run over these cars and buildings? How many trees have I destroyed just to see them up again next time I visit the map? Feels so discouraging... my mark on the world is insignificant
On the other hand we have Firefall, which is awesome on that point! A persistent world is what makes the game dynamic (keyword). Although you can't use the environment against enemies here either. No digging massive holes like in Minecraft for trapping those fat noisy Atlas'es. Man give a scout a shovel and a saw and just watch em go creative on their buts!
So the first thought is about using the environment, here is an example of what I'm talking about.
Try to imagine setting fire on these trees in front of the scout and use it as a cover smokescreen for this scout.
The example is not about forest fires (it's bad for the nature and against the law), it's about using the environment in a clever way tactically. And putting them on fire for stealth ability is a/one creative example.
Other thing would be digging holes, shovels or dynamites doesn't matter. Just pick the one matching your socks.
2) There was a number two? oh god you have some MOAR reading to do And before we dig into number two, did you just look at your socks right now?
Back on track, second thought is a bit harder to explain. Try play Unreal tournament 2004 or Quake 3 Arena for an hour or two. Then jump right into this game... or World of tanks for that matter.
It is like taking granny to the bingo hall :/
What I'm talking about is not family time or fast cash. I'm talking about momentum (keyword) in the battle part of the game.
And as I said it will be hard to explain so disclaimer! I am gonna explain this as good as I can so gentlemen hold on to your hats and ladies hold down your skirts tightly against the wind. Don't get mad at me if you don't get my second thought /disclaimer
It feels like while you are in a battle, you move like the current of an ocean (pick any ocean you like, doesn't matter). Its like trying to achieve momentum in a high viscosity fluid. You can't dodge, you can't dribble or feint to trick the opponent. A little bit of a push boost thing would be nice of some sort, just so you can use your acceleration and speed as a tactical maneuver. Otherwise it's like 1 point and 2 click to kill, and you 3 move only just to relocate yourself towards or away from enemies. Movement (keyword) is a part of this game that feels lacking just by watching it. It moves so slowly that I can take my kids with me on the battle field.
That's my two thoughts, THANKS for reading this wall of text. You should get a forum achievement for it
Hope I invoked some ideas and design directions at least.
//Fore♥erHappy
Edited by ForeverHappy, 16 May 2012 - 10:41 AM.