Feedback, Review, And Suggestions [The Everyman's Package]

[Battlewizard]

Greetings curious reader, welcome to the feedback of a new player. This is written as sort've a review, but also as my opinionated feedback. There's also a few suggestions thrown in towards the end in the PvP and Open-World sections.

Basically, I started this game as I start every game - trying to skip the tutorial so I could have an unaided gaming experience. This didn't seem possible, so I had my roommate do it for me. What I like to do is play games by figuring out every control intuitively. I know, this seems like a bad idea - why would I want to do that when there's a perfectly good tutorial to tell me? The answer is simple.

I like jumping right into the pool, not dipping my toe in to test the water.

IMMERSION/CONTROLS

What I found was a surprisingly easy to pick up set of controls, save for a few things I had to ask fellow players for. R was reload, as I expected. Shift to run, etcetera etcetera. Essentially, the controls are easy and fluid, and the game runs pretty great. While I'm never too concerned with the story/lore of games, and this doesn't effect my view on the quality of a game, the whole "you're the ward, protect this solar system" thing is probably pretty appealing to people looking for the answer to "Why am I playing this?"

AI/MAPS

For the first 20 matches or so, I really enjoyed the sprawling levels and the enemies seemed to offer a certain challenge, as their antics were new to me. However, now that I've learned the AI well, I've realized that most enemies can be tricked by climbing onto a box. This mad me very, very sad. Later, this is somewhat remedied as the difficulty increases, but for any enemy relying on melee - the issue stands.

MAPS

Furthermore, there seems to only be a small number of maps within which each mission takes place. Speaking from a gameplay point of view, this gets to be a tad repetitive as you learn the nuances of each level - where to jump to get where, where the ziplines are, and where the (annoying at first) cameras are to deactivate laser doors. Though, speaking from a "spaceship designer" point of view, it would make sense in reality that there would be only so many space ship models and thus only so many layouts.

CO-OP

it seems that most of this game relies on Cooperative gameplay. While it isn't explicitly stated as a requirement, you're at a sizable disadvantage playing Solo vs. Cooperatively. Namely, if you die in Single Player - there is no "Last Stand" and no way to be resurrected other than through the use of Revives (of which you get 4 per day, barring the option to buy more with platinum) whereas in Cooperative play, you have a certain amount of time before you truly die in which teammates can resuscitate you. Overall, the cooperative experience proves to be more fun than solo play anyway, given that items such as Mods, Ammo, HP Balls, and Money are all shared and can be picked up by everyone - though I do like that both options are there.

PvP

In short, there is none. But, it would be quite cool if something like this were to be implemented. I'd love to be able to test my skills against those of my contacts.

Open-World

Again, there is none. And again, it would be quite cool if there were. I don't always want to have to worry about fighting while I'm walking around with my cool spacesuit clad marine. It'd be nice to have a homeworld where I could go to shops (as opposed to a Market menu) and speak with store owners (Mass Effect-esque) to buy items. An Auction House would also be very nice, as I'm not really one for going out and farming my own materials. Support for both platinum and game currency would also be nice, if this Auction House idea were implemented.

I'm also a sucker for player houses/spaceships ala Mass Effect 1/2/3, Skies of Arcadia, and so on. Something about the customization just really appeals to me.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Battlewizard

[neKroMancer]

Beware of pool of acid.

1. Control: The contol is good and reasonable keybinding option is good. This I agree.

2. AI/Maps. The more, the better - DE alredy know theissue and new tileset are on their ways. However, Infest melee faction do have problem with elevation since they don't have range capability and the only unit which is capable of jumping into higher terrain is the leaper which is laughably easy to kill.

3. Coop mode is still far from satisfying IMO. Activities which required player to act together are limited - shoot the electrified player, revive downed player and door opening. It's not enough to justify coop.

4. PvP -You know the answer, Read the faq page.

5. Open world - Read the faq page.