Looking around the forums, the general consensus by the community (thus far) is that the Predator is too weak to compete with the Fireteam. The latter’s access to an essentially endless supply of gear, coupled with high movement speed and stamina recovery rates, their ability to respawn after death, and other reasons make them more powerful, and more controlling of the gameplay experience than the Predator.
Because of this, I’ve noticed a cycle that repeats itself whenever I play. I’m rank 55 currently with no double xp, so I’ve played a fair bit over the past two days. I have played a fairly even amount of Fireteam and Predator matches. The cycle is as follows:
Predator: The player that is playing as the Predator knows by now that a battle of attrition is a terrible idea in the current state of the game, given the respawn function. They know that their success largely relies on the mistakes of the Fireteam. This causes them to melee rush the Fireteam with the combistick and the berserker class, since it’s usually the only way a predator can assure a victory. However, I don’t have fun in this way. Waiting for over five minutes at the main menu, just to run at the enemy and spam R2 a few times doesn’t make for a fun gameplay experience. I’m sure this isn’t the route the devs intended either, given the fact that there’s many different weapons and perks that cater to differing playstyles.
Fireteam: The Fireteam players know they have to stick together for the best chance of success. The players begin a match and mud up, and begun to head for the first objective. Either along the way, or at the first objective, the Predator gets spotted. This causes the Predator to panic, being so close at the beginning and already being spotted, so they melee rush with the berserker combistick, since it’s the only tactic that proves effective at the moment. The Fireteam may all die, or they may kill the Predator in its tracks. Either way, the game ends up ending way too quickly, and the Fireteam don’t have any fun.
In case what I’m referring to isn’t already obvious, the current state of the game doesn’t let people have fun. Whether it’s the Fireteam getting cocky and killing the Predator within 3-5 minutes of the match starting, or the Predator rushing the Fireteam, it always ends with both sides feeling like they didn’t have any fun.
This is my personal experience, along with some other friends that also play this game. I know the game literally came out yesterday, but this is a very big issue that could have a significant impact on the population of the game long-term. I’m curious to hear everyone else’s experiences with PHG, and whether you’ve experience the same events that I have.
TLDR: The game doesn’t allow for a fun experience for either side due to the unfair balancing.
Stay safe in these troubling times <3