This summation is contradictory to my last blog on Killzone. Yet virtually nothing has changed
Let me explain:
Frozen Dam map is a good map. Thank goodness the public beta didn't allow the other two maps found in the private beta, Corinth Highway and Turbine (or something like that).
While they are fascinating twists on vehicular gameplay, the exoskeletons are problematic.
Mainly, the thing is too powerful, recovers health, spams rockets and bullets constantly into spawns, and people camp in corners (so their vulnerabilities are protected)
They seem to be crucial to keep bigger maps exciting especially since the the game is now 24 players max, but I'd rather they are removed.
The turbine-powered map was cramped. A popular problem in K2 was that maps, even the roomy ones, were always cramped with players. You can spot the enemy base a few feet from your own and shoot them down easily.
Hardcore K2 fans will be slightly taken back by the changes. This is not a proper Killzone sequel. The changes, at the core, are radically different and caters to a different style of gameplay. You can definitely see the Call of Duty influences. Faster aiming, perks-- known as ribbons-- and skills, (which I'll get to later), lower health, an entirely opposite spawning system... these all change the fundamentals of K2 which was staggeringly different.
If you are able to accept that this game takes obvious influences from more common FPS designs and if you are able to enjoy the game for that, then you will enjoy K3. If you are expecting K2 reskinned with slightly adjusted weapons & abilities then you aren't going to get that alone.
The community, for example, simply couldn't grasp the idea of tactical spawn grenades, and when considering their freedom of use, you have to realize that the concept was exploitable. Spawn grenades do not implement the many suggestions fans gave (for example, the ability to stomp on tactical spawn grenades like you would in Call of Duty). Instead, it changes it to a capture-and-hold style of spawning known as Tactial Spawn Point capturing (TSPs)
Personally I'd have liked to seen them implement the ability to cancel out enemy spawn points via going up to them and pressing a button, but instead we get TSPs. They bring with them their own frustrations (see my previous blog), but also some redeeming factors.
And while yes, TSPs are much more limited, they control and limit the ridiculous chaos K2 was known for.
Tactical grenades keeps things more predictable, and so long as you have a semi-smart tactitian on both sides of the team, you will have good competition.
If one side dominates those TSPs and the other side gets spawn trapped, well then you are screwed. This was a special problem in the other 2 maps. Frozen Dam doesn't seem to have this issue, however.
In Corinth Highway, exoskeletons spawn camped any chance the other team had of reclaiming new territory. In the turbine map, the cramped size simply resulted in enemies constantly flooding your spawn area in a matter of seconds. You do NOT want to play the turbine-powered map if you have no TSPs. The two TSPs overlook both spawns, so any chance of escaping your own base will result in either death from above or death from across the map.
Thus, Killzone's success relies heavily on map designs. And with 8 maps, and with 2 having issues, I remain concerned. Frozen Dam is a shining example of a well done map. TSPs are plentiful and action usually is well paced.
The spawning system is crucial in Killzone, and the map design compliments it. While many will complain about the lack of spawn grenades, it does seem like Guerilla Games stepped in the right direction.
Now, I want to address the health. In my opinion GG needs to turn it higher. I can understand “catering to the COD fans”, but Halo has proven that the wider audience can have the patience for those kinds of health systems.
K3's low health seems contradictory to the “teamwork” nature of the game. You can, (and often players do), knock out 2-3 enemies with ease before getting eliminated yourself in the blink of an eye. Many often complain that what low health brings are reflexed-based shooters. This is often held opposite to team games. While they don't need to triple the health, they should do one of two things:
-increase it noticeably
-get rid of the damage modifier
This crosses over to my point on ribbons and skills. These are really half-baked ideas. They feel like a poor man's perk system and it's evident from the list of skills and ribbons that it's been treated more of an afterthought.
Skills are modifiers all players can choose from. There is a weak pool of 4 skills consisting of armor, silent footsteps (useless), ability to carry two primary weapons, and the ability to carry more ammo
The issue? Extra health and extra ammo undermine the roles of engineers and medics. Both health and ammo is very low. You often run out of ammo. But I should HAVE to rely on my team to provide me such things. I should have to rely on medics who ought to be able to heal friendlies and engineers' ability to give me ammo deposits. Killzone's actual teamwork roles are actually really small when compared to something like Bad Company 2. While every class in BC2 has an incredibly crucial role to play out, Killzone's classes feel more like a glorified self-improvement enhancer. Everything offers you more kills, and every class promotes selfishness. Infiltrators offer nothing to the team (why can't they hack enemy equipment or hear enemy communications? Why can't they steal enemy mortars?) but instead are stealthy killing machines. The marksman is the lonewolf that kills from afar. The Engineer has his bots that cover their backsides or chokepoints. The medic has his drone. The tactitian has his air support. 3/5 of these classes actually support the team. Engineers build and fix (though fixing is pointless), but building ammo boxes isn't something that is done constantly (unless the enemy team is destroying your ammo deposits). And of course, if teammates are using extra ammo modifiers, why would they need an ammo box? Medics' roles are diminished for two reasons:
-reviving has no real benefits outside of assassination
-t's more convenient to spawn considering how short the respawn time is
In BC2, every role is important, but the medic's added role to keep the game alive (via keeping the ticket count from depleting) emphasizes the teamwork of the game.
If Killzone can make reviving favorable to spawning (increase the consequences of death by increasing the spawn time) then medics will have a better role. Of course, the supporting function of healing is diminished by armor and the fact that unlike K2, health increases to 100% in K3. A better idea would be the ability for medics to increase health, heal, and revive for a better purpose.
When you consider the fact that Killzone is a very tight game (you will see enemies constantly, maps are nowhere near the size of BC), the reliance of medics is undermined by the constant threat of enemy attacks. Health is too low, enemies are too fast, and as a result, the role of the medic seems unwanted by the players.
Then there's also the awful new reviving system that limits the ability to use the medic gun freely. That, and the considerable downtime of the revive feature makes medics very unimportant to the game.
Tactitians remain the true glue of the game. Now they spot and scan (removing the only contributing ability of the marksman), as well as provide air support and capture TSPs, the most important part of winning.
Back to my point on skills: they not only undermine the limited team-roles of classes, but they are pretty poor and cause lack of balance. They should honestly be taken out. Even Black Ops has abandoned damage and health modifiers. They always dominate the variety. But worse is that generally, the “rock, paper, scissors” gameplay isn't something I want to see in a squad based shooter like Killzone.
In the case of ribbons, they are pretty much “Earned” perks that stay throughout the game. It creates super-soldiers and I don't particularly like it at all. Faster aim, faster reload, better accuracy, and extra damage are some common ribbons. And boy are they unfair! Rewarding players who get assists with extra damage not only favours players who can't get kills, but also ruins balance of a game that already runs on a low-health system. Aiming, accuracy, etc are already fine in the game, yet the fact that you can improve them even better is a completely awful idea. Again, the system should be ditched completely.
There are some other issues with games lacking flow: it's way too easy to defend assassination targets because they have a lot of time to escape and hide behind his whole team. And of course, the time it takes to win the mode is also pretty quick. Of course this depends on the team a lot. But a big map like Frozen Dam has enemies making an entire trip down to the other side only to die because the other team is just set up for the attack-- yes, the enemy team can take a closer TSP, but by the time that is able to happen the other team has already won. So long as there are good tactitians for Search and Destroy the game is winnable. However, generally, and especially for Spec Ops, offensive attacks are thwarted by semi-intelligent defences. Is there really a need for a bot for the C4 area when enough enemies camp up there? I am carefully suggesting that the game is a bit more easier for attackers by doing something like giving more time in the case of assassination. Of course, perhaps this just depends on the TSP layout.
Sometimes you die from what feels like one stray bullet, sometimes dead bodies and other players get in the way of your movement, and some of the general destruction of stray grenades, exploding bots, running through said bots, and seeing the screen shake with the blurring draining of colour creates a bit of unnecessary confusion. The fade to black, for example, when health is low, makes it hard to see your surroundings and kill any other enemies. Good idea? Well I don't like it, but maybe it has its place.
I think another important question is to ask if this game has any long-standing legs. Killzone 2 fizzled out really fast. Yes, it has a community, but nothing like that of even the lowest Halo Reach playlist. You'll be hard-pressed to find DLC maps in Killzone 2. I think Guerilla took some smart steps:
you will notice sadly that not all modes are playable in all map. 3 of the final maps support Spec Ops, and the luscious jungle map only supports guerilla warfare. Perhaps they will do what DICE did and unlock modes via free map updates? It's a smart way to keep players coming back for more. But if this doesn't happen then the limitations of choice is disappointing. This is where I hope DLC gets proper support. The problem with Killzone 2 DLC was that nobody bothered to choose them to play. With matchmaking, you can have all maps rotated via playlists. This funnels the community in a way that even if the community is small, there is enough diversity in what you play. Something Killzone 2 lacked. The limited players and the popularity of Radec Academy really killed the DLC and other map variety.
Now, COD players, and following the philosophy that they need to be catered to, like progression. Killzone 3's progression is very fast. You can upgrade everything in a mere day by my estimations. And there isn't exactly a variety of weapons to choose from, or skills to unlock, or emblems, etc to deck out your profile. Killzone remains a very straight-up shooter with less modes and maps than COD, and less features too. I am disappointed with the lack of split-screen online, or a co-op mode that is better fleshed out (like Halo's) and the lack of a theater mode. The limited guns and other unlocks is something I'm concerned will bore COD players, and if they are going to give up on the game so quickly then GG risks losing their audience relatively fast again. This is where I hope they are really using DICE's tactics and I really do hope to see more gun variety, and if they are going to support the skills (which I don't think they should), then we need to see a lot more of them that are significant enough to warrant diversity in the choices.
Of course, clan matches and weekly rankings are likely both in the final game. Honestly, a simple thing like offering a ranking system that rewards you with a new emblem is all the “COD crowd” needs. Halo Reach offers armour customization and new badges to keep players coming back and it works.
If you despise Call of Duty then you are going to hate the COD influences. I know Killzone fans adamantly pride themselves in having a unique shooter, but the fact is that COD has elements that are forcing many other games to adapt. Some influences, like the addition of perks, are greatly disappointing and a step too far for K3. Others simply are for the better.
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