Sadly I missed my window to play the game as I only heard about it a day before the trial ends. But I've watched a good amount of gameplay and wanted to put in my two cents about what I've seen.
As I haven't played the game, I can really only give my impressions from a bystander point of view.
Looks like the game is going to be fun playing as both sides. I'll definitely be playing Predator when I can, but I wouldn't mind playing Fireteam all day if need be.
I'm coming from Dead By Daylight and I desperately needed an Asymmetrical game to retreat to. Friday the 13th ran into a ton of legal issues and sadly it died down soon after that, so it isn't really a viable alternative anymore. I hope this will be it, even if it is an Epic exclusive.
One thing about Dead By Daylight I liked is that the perks are unique and have a good amount of variation to how you can play beyond boring stat increases (Even if DbD is terrible at making the perks generally useful). This game seems to have the latter, which is unfortunate but not a deal breaker. Just wish they went a little more crazy and unique with perks.
Like, instead of Lightbender just consuming less energy while cloaked:
- You consume no energy while standing still in cloaked mode, but do not regain any energy. Movement while cloaked slightly increases your energy consumption.
- Once you stand still and become completely invisible, after moving you can remain completely invisible for an additional two seconds before going back to standard full-movement cloaking.
A perk like this would encourage the Predator to play in a particular fashion, which changes the way he plays without completely altering his fundamental ability.
There are a few perks like this in the game from what I see that does this well: Perks like Height Advantage and Observant encourage the Predator to play in a particular manner without altering any fundamental mechanics.
Perks like this is useful for Fireteams as well. Instead of Yautja's Bane just giving a boring stat increase against the Predator, it could go something like this:
- When facing against the Predator alone (Your teammates are at least 20m away or more) with a melee weapon out, you deal bonus damage to the Predator and have increased defense against the Predator's melee attacks. When with your team, you lose your bonus but your team gains bonus ranged damage against the Predator.
This encourages a more lone-wolf style of play that would make it viable while also not abandoning team dynamic. Like, I'm not an expert at balancing games, I'm just rattling ideas off the top of my head, but the idea is the same: perks could be more fun instead of just being used to max out some stats.
