While I am enjoying 1.17 currently, I can’t help but feel like the bugs related to the new City Hunter are indicative of the level of care/thought put into the game.
Not only is the DLC buggy as hell, the audio is awful and many City Hunter preds get stuck posing in a match.
The new character is definitely a missed opportunity to show the game’s staying power, and instead shows us the shallow level of depth ILLFONIC is ok with producing and selling. It got me thinking about what else we missed out on. It’s like the devs lay the foundation for a deeper experience, for better game play, and then dial everything back massively for release or just simply never develop further than initial concepts.
For example:
Quick chat. Cross platform party play is not an option currently. So why are there so few quick chat options? In a game where stealth and silence are important to fire team’s survival, it would make sense in a competitive game to tempt the FT to use quick chat. While it would be useful for FT, it could also give away their location to Predators. This single risk/reward mechanic would drastically alter the experience of the match.
Spotting Perks. Currently, there are perks available that when equipped allow your Pred Spot to last longer. It changes nothing in game other than how long the Predator remains outlined. Why? I can’t help but feel this is a majorly missed opportunity. A FT member (especially Dutch) shouldn’t shout random lines when spotting a Yautja. It would make far more sense if the character with said perk equipped, or Dutch, instead stated what they actually saw. A Dutch line of “Berserker spotted,” or “It’s a Scout” would not only add a layer of complexity to a match, but it would reward players for spotting. The same could be accomplished over time, by say, the number of times the players spot the Predator in a match. Eventually calling out what weapons they see in use, or what they think it is.
The Roar. Currently, the same Yautja roar is used for every instance in the game. From healing injuries, to angry taunts, to intro footage. Don’t get me wrong, the roar is fantastic (excluding the latest City Hunter sound file), but it doesn’t fit each of these scenarios listed. It feels stilted, and repetitive after a few games. It makes the character you’ve created, your very own Predator, feel less unique than all those shaders would have you believe.
If you haven’t guessed by my username, I’m an embarrassingly huge Predator nerd so I take these concerns with a grain of salt. I know I’m just screaming into the void here, but I really lament this game in its current state, and what the road map forward looks like. Will we get more skins? More Maps? More unique characters? Maybe.
Will any of that increase the depth of the game at all? I doubt.