Sup DBers. I’ve been playing Splash Damage games since they made the multiplayer for Return to Castle Wolfenstein. I would say they are one of my favorite devs. I don’t usually leave feedback for betas because most of time I feel its ignored and beta testing is a job, but for Splash I’ll give my feedback.
The gameplay is great. I love all the nods to the old Wolfenstein games. The change from hard classes to more soft classes where everyone can res and everyone can build/defuse/arm dynamite works. Even if it was class based like having an engineer do everything I would still support it, but this way works just as well. I wish the guns were a bit more punchy, like sometimes firing bullets feels a bit dry but I wouldn’t say its a huge negative.
One big thing about the game that stands out to me is the Phantom. It simply doesn’t fit with the game as it is now. Hate to say it but it really takes the fun out of the game. I can be in a 1v2 or sometype of battle and it generally gets interrupted by the stealth Phantom in one swing. People seem to suggest sticking together with your squad but that is also non-viable because the Phantom will simply cleave out 2-3 players in a few seconds. Also, just turning any corner and randomly get cleaved by the Phantom is just no fun. I’m sure its fun for Phantom players but it’s really not for everyone else. I played on a team with 4 Phantoms and myself and they really didn’t even need a 5th. I had zero fun that game. There is no counterplay to the merc. That brings up my next point. If there was a game with for example 5v5 Phantoms, there would be no game. No one would see each other and when the opposing side could simply stealth by any objective and cleave out the enemy Phantom as soon as they drop C4. The game would be non-functional.
My suggestion for Phantom is convert the class to the old school uniform stealing like Covert Ops in Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. I think that would be much more balanced than the current stealth invisiblity. Since the technology is more advanced in this game setting, the Phantom could “download” dead players identity and projecting it as a mirage coming from his armor. I would go as far to let even the weapon show as a legit weapon unlike in old Wolf ET where you could tell Covert Ops disguised by their weapon they were holding. I am fine with the sword although sometimes I think its range is bugged and hits to far away. Also the Phantoms tankiness needs to be turned down. Currently, even if you get the jump on a stealthed Phantom you could unload a full clip into the merc and still not down him.
The only other class I have feedback for is the merc that drops a bomb when she dies (Nader). Please turn down the downstate damage of her grenade. To get insta-gibbed by a player that you have already killed is kind of meh. I don’t want it to be a useless ability for the merc but I think something around 70% damage would be more appropriate.
About the UI, it is pretty slick but it has some flaws regarding dealing with loadout cards. I couldn’t even figure out how to load the cards on the mercs. Finally I did but its kind of wonky. There should be a place where you can set the loadout card you want for your entire cast of mercs, and those loadout cards should not be put in available pool where you can trade up to the next level rarity. This way you don’t burn cards you may be intending to use when you purchase a merc or they come around in the rotation. We also need different tooltips. It is hard for find the correct loadout card I intend on using once I have taken the merc out of my 3 man squad. It would be nice to mark the cards as keepers or throw aways. One last thing about the UI. Regarding cases can we please buy cases in quantity greater than one, and also please add a Do Not Show Again checkbox for the screen that shows the rarity chances when opening a case.
I will strongly consider purchasing some boosters and such as soon as these things are sorted. Splash, you made another great game.
