I played the multiplayer demo for several hours last night (only on bronze, but I was more interested in mechanics), so here's my feedback.
GENERAL- Game was addicting and fun, overall. It starts to get repetitive playing the same rotation of maps after a while, but this was temporarily alleviated by the nice mix of randomized missions during the waves. This might also be less repetitive once the full game is out, if more maps or game modes are available.
- I almost never use one-time use items, and likely won't until I stockpile them considerably. I don't get these often enough to be spending them on missions. Call me a hoarder, but I'm willing to bet a lot of other players feel the same. Perhaps a one-time
per mission item that can be used in other missions with much lower quantity? Obviously, this will cause balance issues, so I'll just let you guys handle this.
PUBLIC GAME LOBBY- I wish there was a simpler way to continue to engage in public games. It seems that once players finish a game and return to a lobby, new players can't join that lobby. Not once out of at least 6-7 times waiting in a two-player lobby have new players joined.
It seems easier/more efficient to leave the lobby after finishing a game and join a new one to get a full game. This doesn't seem fair to the player I leave behind, because it forces them to do the same.
- I noticed there was no way to communicate in a lobby without voice chat. There should be a visible area to text chat with other lobbied players if at least to communicate without a microphone.
DIFFICULTY/ENEMIESAs I mentioned, I only played on bronze. Getting used to the new overall combat difficulty was brutal for the first few missions (we [two other level 1 players and I] never completed more than four waves), but this is all part of the learning curve, which I felt was not considerably frustrating.
Playing competantly took at least 4 mission attempts - this learning curve feels surprisingly natural. - New enemies were introduced at a nice and steady pace. The basic solider enemy becomes tiring to see, but still poses threat if a player is inattentive/separated.
- Phantoms are scary. Period. Keep them that way. It causes a 'lone wolf' player to re-evaluate his or her immediate strategy.
- I like that certain enemies have specialized weaknesses (Guardians are especially vulnerable to combat drones because they appear behind targeted enemies and pull aggro on first hit). It allows players in a lobby to strategize their classes if necessary.
- Engineers could appear more often, but I have issues with their turret. The visual and audio feedback (especially audio) when getting attacked by a turret is underwhelming, to say the least. Most times, I walk into turret fire and fail to realize I'm getting attacked until it is far too late. I have seen this happen to fellow players on numerous occasions.
- The ATLAS mech walking into small buildings is hilarious, but very necessary, gameplay wise.
- Enemies, when hit with a basic melee attack (without shields or
barrier, this mostly happens with the basic soldier to me), will
sometimes fail to stagger and smack you with a melee of their own. This
is inconsistency that causes me to believe melee is unreliable.
USER INTERFACE- There are absolutely no text or voice chat indicators in game. If this is disabled in the demo, that's fine. I simply cannot communicate with my teammates in multiplayer, which can be frustrating.
- The weapon limit message in the equipment screen (the one that tells you to remove a different weapon in order to keep the one you just equipped) is confusing. Instead of just listing the
other weapons that can be removed, list the one causing the message as well so that players realize that the weapon they just equipped is part of the problem.
ITEMS/class UNLOCKS/ETC.- classes aren't unlockable by progess, as far as I know. This seems silly, as I feel that a 'progression' system should be rewarding me for progress with a class.
If it takes quite a few levels, that's fine. I just want to know that I can get the class unlock I want through hard work instead of relying entirely on randomized unlocks. Unlocks are nice and should not be removed, but I feel that should be part of the more expensive system (Veteran Packs) or an expensive unique item (Randomized class unlocks). Right now, the best option for unlocking classes is the recruit pack, as it costs less and has more of a chance to do this (less "other" items). This logic may be flawed in that I don't know all the elements involved, but that's how it appears to me as the player.
In conclusion, I had a lot of fun with this system and can't wait to play the full-featured version when the game comes out. I hope there is an option in game that allows me to play multiplayer while not affecting any of my career saves unless I check a box or something, because I might just play this for fun.
Modifié par Severyx, 16 février 2012 - 04:38 .