I want to start things off by saying that I have been having fun with this game. I really have, despite its obvious and sometimes glaring flaws. But there are some things that I think desperately need to be changed in order for this game to be so much better.
First and foremost, the Fireteam should actually fear the Predator.
This game is literally a Hunting simulator, but the roles are completely reversed. The person who’s supposed to be hunting, is the one being hunted nine times out of ten. Playing the Predator is almost a fifty-fifty gamble whether or not you’ll actually get to play the game, or if you’ll just be absolutely shredded. The Fireteam has an unbelievable ability to just heal so quickly and have access to so many medical supplies throughout the entire map. The boars that the Predator can eat are so few and far between it sometimes feels like they didn’t even spawn at all.
Point being, the Predator is severely underpowered compared to the Fireteam. The Combistick is their best weapon, and even that can be parried almost effortlessly by a bunch of knife-wielding maniacs. The Plasmacaster is almost useless because of the visibility of the laser it uses to track where you’ll shoot. The Predator’s health pool, even as the Berserker which specializes in being a tank, is way too small.
I’ll offer a few suggestions that I and some friends have come up with that might help to even the playing field.
For starters, the Predator’s health needs to be upped. Or at the very least, decrease the amount of damage that they take by some means. Whether that be by nerfing the damage that the Fireteam can do with all of their weapons, or something, the damage that the Predator takes needs to be reduced considerably. Not enough to where the Predator can just run through a hailstorm of bullets like a feral dog, but to the point that they can actually stand in the trees and not have to worry about losing half their health the first time their spotted.
The Predator’s invisibility needs to be improved. Messing with it a little bit in private matches with a friend, I’ve noted that the cloak takes a moment for the Predator to become complete invisible upon cessation of movement. The speed it takes to turn completely invisible should be sped up, to decrease the Fireteams ability to keep track of the Predator. Another buff to the cloak that I think should come, is that the speed at which you move determines your visibility. If you’re walking slowly, you should be little more than a shimmer. When crouching, this is even further reduced to near complete invisibility. And obviously, when full-on sprinting, you’re pretty much completely visible like you are now when you’re running around.
I also think that the Fireteams ability to hide from the Predator’s thermal vision should be nerfed as well. From what I’ve noticed, they are hidden the instant they actually begin performing the action instead of after they’ve completed it. I feel changing this would make the Fireteam much more able to be found.
The Plasmacaster’s laser needs to be reduced in visibility. I’m aware that there is a perk that does this, but in my experience it does very little in the way of actually making it less detectable. It’s still very easily spotted most of the time.
For the love of God, remove reinforcements. To boot, decrease the amount of medical supplies that the Fireteam has access to severely. The speed at which they can heal and be topped off again is ridiculous. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a hard-fought battle and killed off three of the Fireteam members, but the last guy muds-up and then calls his buddies back in. I’ve now used my last syringe, of which I carry three since I like to have as much as I can, and they’re all topped off with full supplies again. This is considered fair?
The Fireteam should not be able to have a full team of just Assaults, Scouts, or otherwise. They also shouldn’t be able to have a full team of mini-guns or grenade launchers. The sniper rifles should be adjusted in some way so that they can’t just shred the Predator. A well-equipped Recon with good-enough aim can solo the Predator themselves with a the 7EN.
I believe I’ve hit all of the primary points that I wanted to make, though I may have missed a few. Overall, I am thoroughly enjoying Hunting Grounds! But as a player who likes to primarily play the Predator, from my standpoint, the Predator is just too ill-equipped and underpowered to actually challenge the Fireteam in the state that it is now.