And by ‘needs to steal’ I mean ‘could possibly borrow’, but thanks for clicking my sensationalist title anyway.
I am by no means an expert at this game. I only have ~160 hours under my belt, and am butting up against level 18. However I have been playing multiplayer shooters for the better part of two decades. I’ve come across all manner of mechanics and gameplay loops and other video game buzzwords that shooters have used to differentiate themselves from the basic idea of clicking something until it dies. Dirty Bomb’s feature set is nearly everything I want from a class-based teamwork-focused shooter contingent on objective completion.
But there’s a few things I’d still like to see.
Now, I understand that the game is likely far from completion and that some (or probably all) of these TOTALLY ORIGINAL suggestions have been considered by the developers. These 10 items are things I’d personally like to see and have no expectation that any of them would ever make it into the game, I just thought it’d be fun to share. So in no particular order:
- Playing the maps in reverse.
I can’t think of any specific examples from games other than Mario Kart but I’m almost certain I’ve seen this in a shooter somewhere. In Dirty Bomb objectives would need tweaking - stealing the jugs from the container on the second part of Bridge, then repairing the EV and pushing it down the road to the ramp where it can shoot it’s missiles at something in the distance, for example. This would never be a necessary feature, but if the game ends up with a small amount of maps it could extend their lifespan somewhat.
- Separate animations for the Drilled perk.
This is a new thing that (as far as I know) has only been in Killing Floor 2, another game in beta. Basically what it does is instead of simply speeding through the frames of a reload, it gives a new, more expert-looking animation. It’s essentially meaningless but it’s a very nice detail. I don’t think DB uses motion capture like KF2 does, so this kind of feature would seemingly be more difficult than it’s worth. But it looks great. See below.
- Wall cling.
Parkour-style movement has become quite popular in shooters over the last few years. I don’t play many of these big AAA titles, so I’ve only seen a brief wall cling feature in Titanfall. I only played about 8 hours of that, but I thought it was useful. This maneuver granted to a merc as an ability would add another wrinkle into the already fairly robust movement system in Dirty Bomb. Here’s what it looks like if you (like most everyone) didn’t play Titanfall.
- Destructible & constructable mounted MGs.
Modern Battlefield games have had this for awhile. At least, the destructible part. By turning mounted MGs into secondary objectives not only would both teams have more things to do, but their vulnerability would allow them to be buffed from a mere nuisance to a legitimate presence on the map. I dunno if this kind of thing would benefit the existing maps but future ones perhaps.
- Deadly trick jumps.
The movement system is one of the most unique things about Dirty Bomb. It affords all kinds of strategy and traversal while staying grounded in a semi-realistic fashion. It’s not Mirror’s Edge and it doesn’t need to be. However, increasing the risk of crossing parts of future maps to including death by falling - either into some sort of pit, off a building, or even just from fall damage (making that Flying Pig perk look a little more attractive) would give a more incentive to master the parkour system and reward those that have.
- Moving maps.
So far, Dirty Bomb has been about fighting in the streets and outskirts of London. Understandably, that doesn’t leave a lot of possibility for maps set on one or more moving objects. However oversized subway trains, sailing ships, and even that zeppelin from the Dome cutscenes could all provide interesting locations for skirmishes. I always felt the Convoy map from UT2k4 was under-appreciated. For those that haven’t seen it:
- Mounted sniper rifles.
I’m lifting this one wholesale from The Last of Us. (gasp, a console game, I know) There’s a sequence midway through that has the main character holding off enemies with a rifle mounted in a window. Snipers have always been a thorny subject in multiplayer shooters. I had the thought that instead of making that weaponry freely available to players, making them into emplacements with the purpose of area denial would be an easy solution. I’m not suggesting that happens in Dirty Bomb, nor do I think it would ever be appropriate for this game. Instead it would just add some variety to stationary weapons. Here’s the sequence I mentioned earlier.
- Greater shotgun variety.
I’m almost certain this one is being worked on or thought of in some fashion, but I just want a heavy class with an automatic shotgun. Because auto shotguns are fun as hell. Case in point:
A small holdout shotgun secondary would also be welcome. 3 shells loaded with a total of 9 and give it to mercs who have a lot trouble up close.
- Motion tracker.
This falls under the umbrella of ‘ideas for new mercs’, but lifting the motion tracker out of the Alien vs. Predator games, tweaking it’s battery life, and giving it to a recon merc could be fun. It would encourage teamwork and communication, with the merc needing to relay the enemies’ positions to his nearby allies. This would likely never happen in public games, but I’m fond of the idea and I miss AvP2 multiplayer. Here’s some relevant footage for context, but I just wanted to hear the pulse rifle again.
- Vents.
There’s lots of places to jump and climb in DB, but virtually nowhere to crouch and sneak. This may be a result of my pining for asymmetrical multiplayer with stealth elements like in AvP2 and Splinter Cell, but man-sized passageways could add a lot to future DB maps. With the game’s saturation of explosives, area denial, and the ability to outright block passageways with ammo stations vents could be a risky but beneficial means of getting through areas. In fact, the coverings could be made to be secondary objectives to be destroyed and repaired.
That’s all. If you read this far, thanks for witnessing my dumb ideas. If you skimmed the general topics, that’s fine too. In fact, if you’ve outright ignored this topic at all I’m okay with it. Feel free to pick apart, complain, or generally insult me or this diatribe I’ve written.
