I see extremely high potential in this game as it both caters to those of the older style of this genre while hooking new players such as me who like more aggressive matches in a Man vs. Monster deathmatch. That said while I very much enjoy playing this with my friends on private matches. I have come to notice some glaring deficiencies in the general design of the game. I am very hopeful that future patches will fix this, however; as I have seen with EPIC games Paragon. Not always is that the case. So I hope my review reaches you and you glean some perspective from a new interested member of your community.
So lets talk about Preds and what I am seeing so far in the current state of the game.
The Hunted Hunter:
The aim of the game was to allow the Predator to be both hunted and hunter, and to tone down the omnipotence of the “monster” in asymmetrical games. Unfortunately, I believe the mark was well overshot and instead of a Monster we currently have a mouse.
Predator suffers more than he succeeds in this game due to multiple areas that need tweaking. The positive note regarding our often-victimized villain is that there are many different approaches that can be taken to resolve these issues without nerfs / buffs. So, lets break down the game based on game mechanics/ NPC / players.
INCREASE FIRETEAMS TIME TO KILL PREDATOR (SLIGHTLY): I hesitate on asking for this as I don’t believe nerfs and buffs between character stats will really fix the problem. But I do think increasing the time it takes to bring preds down slightly will help.
Game Mechanics:
Matches too short:
Currently the game runs 15-minute matches. This on the predator side feels far too short. With an already short clock the slow start of Predator in some cases leads to an unending race against the pressuring the predator to forgo more tactical and strategic plans for more direct in your face approaches. Since the predator does not know the location of the players objective, he cannot head them off and destroy player resources in order to whittle them down. By removing critical ammo and med pack caches. A feature and strategy in the game that I don’t think really gets to shine. Fireteams can complete mission objectives in at or under 5 minutes and sometimes it takes 1 to 2 minutes for preds to even locate his target. This stacks the odds ever in the fireteams favor instead of keeping the mechanic balanced for both.
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Solution Options:
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Extend game matches to 25 - 30 minutes. This gives predator much more breathing room to plan out what he is going to do.
Target Acquisition :
Depending on who loads into the game first and the additional 10 second delay to use isolate target. The predator may enter the match completely blind to the main objective which is “kill players” since they have already mudded up. While a fire team has instant access to their objective marked on a hud. This causes the predator to have to guess and search areas or hope that his wasted isolate target coolsdown and is used while players are not mudded. This more than often fails and with additional things like suppressors and perks to further make players invisible to detect. I feel like preds sometimes doesn’t locate a player until Arnold is screaming get to duh choppa!
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Solution Options:
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ISOLATE TARGET: A match start allows Predator to immediately us target isolation or reduce its cooldown.
Predkour needs Predmore:
The parkour in this game while visually enjoyable and efficient at times. Ultimately using this as a primary means of Predator transportation is ultimately unreliable. To often when I get a isolate ping and I begin my tree hopping hop scotch toward my prey. I find that I am often unable to find a more direct path and instead taking a snaking elongated approach. The purpose of the trees is to provide vantage over the battlefield while also giving Preds a unique and stealthy way to approach. Unfortunately, it feels more clumsy than crafty and I end up having to hoof it on foot. A much less “predator way travel”.
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Solution Options:
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VAULTING: Allow Predator to vault over cans, small walls, mount building roofs, and other objects so he does not have to rely on super jump or regular jump. This improves his mobility and removes clunky movement mechanics.
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IMPROVE PREDKOUR: Allow predator to latch to trees if he super jumps towards them. Extend the “red area” from the base of the tree to the branches.
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IMPROVE PREDKOUR PATHING: Have paths created where Predator can jump from a tree limb to a buildings or rock faces without using super jump. This allows predator to seamlessly transition from upper to lower levels without stopping and finding a launch path. These can be either one way transitions (using a different color to indicate this) or could be two way transitions where predator can quickly get to a roof and jump back into the trees if within range.
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INCREASE TREE TO TREE RANGE: Increase the range from tree to tree transfer so that Predators can have more direct routes to mission areas instead of relying on the ground.
So, Mission Possible it’s impossible:
The mission system was absolutely a fantastic way to pressure the fireteam and distract them from the looming threat above. However, the missions are so ridiculously easy to achieve with a 4-man team that my friends and I found dropping down to 3-man teams to be much more balanced both on pred side and fire team side. Missions are too grouped together in one location and so simple to resolve that the players can simply camp the area and pressure Predator if he tries to come close. This combined with the AI being well… AI doesn’t really scream pressure to a fireteam as they firecream the AI.
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Solutions:
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SPLIT TEAM MISSIONS: Create missions that forces the team to take risks such as having to split the team up. This would be a mission where the team has to remain in one area while simultaneously moving to another area to either retrieve and item or activate another item. This gives predator windows of opportunity where the team is split but still allows the team to use techniques to hide and or use stealth to keep the predator at bay.
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SPREAD MISSIONS OUT AROUND MAP: Instead of having missions in one facility area. Force the Fireteam to move to different locations so it gives predator a chance to isolate stragglers and attack them. Most of the time players tend to move in straight lines when moving from place to place. Leaving the rear watch exposed to attack.
Resource the Resources:
The other issue I believe that puts less pressure on the fireteam and more pressure on preds is the fact that most if not all ammo, weapon, and med cache’s spawn indoors. Sure, they are destructible, but good luck sneaking into a building to do so. You have neither the time nor energy to devote to resource denial currently. Attrition is a common hunting practice in nature. Almost all major predators in the wild hunt through attrition tactics. This combined with the stupid amount of healing / ammo gear a fireteam can pack and they really don’t need the caches anymore. More on this later:
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Solutions:
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EXPOSED RESOURCES: Move the med kit, weapon, and ammo caches to exterior locations. They can still be relatively hidden but instead of force predator inside he can in turn snipe these resources from the outside starving out the fire teams. This might resolve the problem of endless streams of ammo and health without nerfing fire team gear or reducing the amount of in world resources.
Party chat Party Foul:
Party chat for PS4 removes a huge tool for the predator. The ability to hear team communication. This hurts preds both in identifying the location of his enemy and the status of them as well. This stacks the odds well against Preds as normally party chat means a well organized fireteam. Not knowing if they are low on health, ammo, moving to a new objective, or if they have spotted the preds seriously hurts any plan of attack. I don’t know if this has a solution however as this feature is specifically a PS4 thing.
Solution:
- REMOVE PARTY CHAT: Ultimately, I am against this idea as Party Chat is something PS4 allows and may not be possible anyways. However, I have a solution to this later down on the list in the “perks section”
Sneak is weak:
We all know the preds is a big guy. In the movie his steps are heavy and clunky. For a visceral killing machine, he moved more like Frankenstein on steroids than a race of trained hunters. As time progressed, movies brought more stealth to the Yautja, however; this game did not. A predator approaching sounds more like a Haitian earthquake than trained assassin. Now I don’t mind ole’ trample toes when you’re at jog or full sprint. However, even at a creep Pred sounds like Godzilla fighting Rodan than a silent killer. I feel there is too much stacked against preds ability to identify and close on his prey. This tips the scales ever so much into the fire teams favor.
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Solutions:
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REDUCE AUDIBLE DISTANCE: Reduce audible distance of predator footsteps while crouched only so players cannot hear him while crouched in trees. In addition, reduce footsteps while crouched on ground to either sound like human footsteps or make it to where you have to be extremely close to a fireteam player to reveal the location.
NPC characters:
The AI for the game suffers from being overly predictable, easily controlled, and low in numbers. While at times there are sparks of intense fighting with more disorganized new player teams. Mediocre to advanced teams can quickly control and dispatch approaching enemy forces. While I understand the complex conditional coding involved in advanced AI programming. There are ways to making these simple foes more of a mountain instead of a mole hill. In addition to their small numbers and ease to kill on fire teams. Their damage to the predator is something much less desirable. In a solo match as the predator I aggrod two AI units who began to plow into me with small arms fire. Without the perk allowing reduced damage they were able to reduce my health to hazardous levels with concerning speed. Adding this damage on top of 4 players who can equip LMGs and miniguns as a secondary. And the spray and prey becomes almost unbearable for a frontal engagement. This leaves the predator with only a few major tactics. Either engage with NPCs absent, exposing and even higher risk of discovery, or stay at a distance and harass. While the latter being much less effective and ultimately boring.
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Solution:
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ALERT IN STEALTH: Allow predator to move through AI players while crouched in stealth without alerting them.
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REDUCE AI DAMAGE: Reduce AI damage to predator but keep the time to kill NPC’s the same. This way Predator takes less damage from them, but they do not die quicker to him.
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INCREASE ARMOR NPCs: Make them harder to kill for both preds and fire team.
Perks/Gear:
With the already overwhelming time sensitive task of hunting and killing an enemy fireteam. The Predator is left with few items at his disposal to do what he does best. Unfortunately, there are perks / gear for fire teams that dramatically improve their survivability and stealth. On the flip side there are very few perks that provide drastic and improved survivability and stealth on pred side. Additionally, he suffers from a lack of perks that enable target allocation as well.
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SOLUTION:
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(NEW PERK PREDATOR) “Com Tapper”: Perk allows Predator to hear radio traffic that is sent to fire team such as, mission updates, mission information, targets, etc. the fire team hears while completing objectives.
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(NEW PERK PREDATOR) “Hacker”: Perk Allows predator to see mission objective markers on map and HUD just like fire team can.
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(NEW PERK PREDATOR) “CULL THE WEAK”: Fire team members under 30% health give off audible heartbeat that alerts the Predator within a certain range and can also be seen on thermal.
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(NEW PERK PREDATOR) “ENHANCED STEALTH”: After being stationary and undetected for 5 seconds. Predator enters a heightened state of stealth. During this period predator is invisible to players but drains energy and stamina. This effect lingers for 2 seconds after moving and is removed immediately after attacking.
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(NEW GEAR PREDATOR) “Scanner dart”: Predator fires a tracker dart that marks a fire team member for a duration. While marked the predator can see their location, health, and stamina at all times.
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(NEW GEAR PREDATOR) “Poison Dart”: Predator fires a poison dart that causes fire team members health to drain and slows their movement speed.
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(NEW GEAR PREDATOR) “Nero Toxin”: Predator throws a grenade that detonates releasing a Nero Toxin. Fireteam members in the area have friendly fire protection disabled for 30 seconds and can now shoot each other. NPCs effected by the toxin will ignore the Predator for 30 seconds.
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(NEW GEAR FIRE TEAM) “Encryptor” 2 charges: Gear allows fireteam to drop a jammer that blocks predators “Com Tapper”/ “Hacker” perk in a large radius around the team for a long duration. This item can be destroyed by the predator and is marked when seen.
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(NEW GEAR FIRE TEAM) “EMP Stinger”: Gear allows fire team to fire an EMP dart device that sticks to predator and disables thermal, stealth (3 to 4 seconds).
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(NEW GEAR FIRE TEAM) “Tracking Device” (remove predator ping): Gear allows fire team to fire a small tracking device that pings predator’s location for a duration (same duration as ping). While marked predator is alerted, he has been targeted / “spotted”.
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(NEW PERK FIRE TEAM) “SPOTTER”: Shots from your primary weapon ping the Predator for 0.5 seconds each hit. This effect stacks up to 20 times. While marked predator is alerted and has a countdown till mark is removed. (20 stacks = 10 seconds marked)
Team Composition:
Fire teams are limited by one factor. Class type… however, this barely limits their capabilities because players are allowed to take multiples of the same class type into battle. Most importantly, these class types are able to carry a variety of the same weapons with no restrictions to what class can carry what weapon. A recon class should not be able to carry a minigun. An assault class should not be able to carry a sniper rifle. NO Class should be able to carry both an LMG or minigun.
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Solution:
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CLASS RESTRICTIONS:
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Add Minigun / Grenade launcher to primary weapons and allow only certain classes to use certain weapons and perks. Some perks can still be used for all classes.
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CHANGE CLASS:
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Scout and Recon are redundant classes and can be combined into one. I would repurpose one of them to be a MEDIC class that allows faster revive ability.