I want to like this game a lot, I really do. The concept and the art direction are AMAZING! However there's a lot that's holding it back from the players having fun. As it is right now, I can't recommend it to anyone. I'm not very good at writing reviews, so I'm going to write this in the form of questions, examples and comments.
The UI for the menus feels really inconvenient. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it feels annoying to navigate. I think it needs a revamp, something that makes it easier to go through.
I think this game would benefit more by being single player orientated. It's cool to have a team, but why would we do that? Wouldn't a larger group give ourselves away? And if we can't share missions or accomplishments, then what's the point? It be better to have multi-player based missions if you have a team. Something big and challenging since you have more people.
Why isn't there a mini-map or mission indicators? These are named places, wouldn't one of the vendors sell a map? And these places are mostly battlefields, trying to spot that one guy you have to kill or finding that one item seems impossible. It would be nice if we could see what materials can be found in each region in the regional map.
Why would these forces care if we're there? Don't they have bigger problems to deal with? Like the opposing enemy force? Unless we we're stealing something really valuable, like an EXO Suit, military equipment, heavy weapons systems, or killing an officer, I don't see them caring if we're picking through the garbage. That could be a mission, scavenge for military equipment and return them to the faction that belongs to them, or sell them to the enemy.
If we're doing a job for one of these factions, then why are they shooting at us? What's the point of building rep with one of these factions if there just going to shoot at us anyways?
Why are these forces not taking up defensive positions, or pushing squads to take ground? Everybody is everywhere. Why are infantry shooting at mechs with M16s? Shouldn't they have anti-mech weapons?
The battlefield should already be going on, not reactive to the player. These forces should concentrate on taking ground positions, setting up defenses and taking out large enemy threats.
It would be cool if we we're informed of which faction controlled the region, and who their fighting. Like if we had an info-broker who sold us area intel before a mission.
A force should control an area, for example: The Europans control the Scorched Enclave (a faction you're friendly with, so they don't shoot you), but now the Eurasians are pushing to take it back, sending in forces to take ground.
Why would anyone know if we killed an enemy soldier or attacked the opposing side if no one radioed it in? Example: Say you needed to get past an enemy squad that was blocking you're path, or they we're holding that position, you throw a grenade to wipe most of the squad, but one survived, now he's calling in the attack. Say he's got a small timer over his head that counts down before he calls in another squad, but you kill him before he can call it in. But now the enemy is on alert because one of their squads went dark, and they send in a search and rescue team. It would be cool to hear that over the radio, or if we could listen in to radio chatter.
I think the bigger enemies should have weak points. Like fuel tanks, ammo storage or unarmored joints. The player doesn't have to kill it, just slow it down, or temporarily disable it. Hell, you can turn that into a mission. Weaken the enemy mech or EXO suit. Then the other force can destroy it.
Why is there no smoke grenades, or Flash bangs? If we're trying to stay hidden or run away, shouldn't we have the ability to hide ourselves or at least get away? It would be cool if the Stalker or some other big mech picks you up, but you pop a flash bang or scrambler to disorientate it, and then it drops you.
Why is there no night vision goggles? Wouldn't that be a better alternative instead of giving ourselves away with an obnoxious flash light?
The gameplay loop I hate to say is boring. It's just the same missions over and over again. And there's to much risk and not enough reward. I'm all for the grind, but if the grind is constantly giving small rewards, then it's not worth it. To much stick and not enough carrot. And their needs to be more mission variations. Examples: Hijacking an EXO suit or mech. Blowing up a fuel depot or munitions stockpile. Stealing experimental weapons and testing them on the enemy. Hacking a control node to the Cyborg horde's mainframe, and having them attack their allies. steal supplies by air lifting an entire storage container full of weapons and medical items, or better yet, hijack a supply truck. Ya know... fun?
I think the AI for all enemies and NPCs needs to be more reactive. And the animations are to stiff. If this game had movement and AI similar to ARC Raiders, this game would be peak!
The leveling system in this game sucks, I'm just gonna say it, the prestige system is far too punishing, and it doesn't feel like you got better. It feels like one step forward and three steps back. What would be better is if when we Prestige, we keep what we put XP into but now we have more options to put XP into. Example: You Prestige with Scav Girl, now she can put XP into Assault Rifles.
Again, I'm just throwing out ideas, examples and asking questions. I'm not ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on the devs, I just want to see this game succeed. I understand that game design is hard and it takes time. If I missed anything, let me know.
