I would happily play a hybrid of The Evil Within and John Wick, in which Sebastian (modelled on, mo-capped and voiced by Keanu Reeves) must go into STEM to save his beloved dog and assassinate monstrous creatures with a pistol and impeccable choreography.
While I don't think this is really for me, I do like the 'small town with sidequests' idea. The first game didn't quite click with me as the kind of 'Survival Horror' I was looking for - as in, being thrown between so many unexpected new locations and situations (as per the core conceit of being in a madman's brain) seemed like it wouldn't allow me to get my bearings or be methodical.
Also, I still don't buy the creature designs/horror elements here, either - it still feels like a lot of things that are meant to be scary that've been thrown together without much thought, akin to the the 'horror films for a wide audience vs. horror films for the devotees' dichotomy - with the last game, and seemingly this one, being of the former. Perhaps I'm being unfair, I don't know.
But the town idea is cool. Giving the player the choice to choose sidequests differentiates this from something like 'Silent Hill', wherein the path remained largely linear but in a relatively open town space. Indeed, it seems like there's more emphasis on planning and approach this time around. I like the little details here as well (being able to use evasion tools to get out of a boss fight (!); possible-multiple headshot locations for multi-headed creatures; crafting using up more resources in the field than at a Workbench; a stamina-draining 'fear' mechanic, reflecting the player's own initial desire to get away from combat (out of their own fear and want to survive) etc.. All excellent ideas for a Survival Horror game.) Also, marking the ammunition you currently can't carry on your map - a player could plan a route involving use of a particular weapon in confrontations with roaming foes to ensure they end up at an ammo spot. It's a setting that keeps the player on their toes while rewarding clever exploration and planning ahead and allowing for scary situations in an organic, generative format. That's cool stuff, I think. It's closer to what I like, anyway.
It's also made me realise how much I'd like a video game adaptation of 'The Crazies' (Romero's or remake - both are great) in a style similar to this.
Even if I enjoyed 'South Park', the most complete version of this game (i.e. with all the stuff they're going to release for DLC, along with the Day One DLC pack) is £74.00+ on Steam! That's absolutely ridiculous. Even if I wanted to purchase this game and could get it cheaper elsewhere...no. On personal principle, absolutely not. Ubisoft can fuck right off with a price point like that.
Also, the PC version requires Uplay, features Denuvo and is apparently (according to a Steam review I read) ''Arkham Knight' on PC' levels of glitchy/broken (though we're in a post-Steam refunds world now, so at least there's that for any disappointed customers.) Hopefully it'll be fixed anyway for those interested in a few Steam sales' time.
@cloudymusic: "Shepard? Wake up, Shepard. It's time to come back. That Andromeda Initiative didn't go so well, so let's recount your life before ME1 or something?"
@borealum: What I had in mind is different races fighting each other for the control of star systems. You choose a race, Tau for example, and within that race you choose a specific type of hero, like how the heroes worked in Dawn of War II. From there you just go out into the wild, deal with anyone or anything who is an enemy, go up in the ranks if you're successful, go down if you fail or die and so on.
But now that you mentioned the Orks specifically, I just realized that the societal structure of every race is so different and deep that my idea might not work.
Man, just talking about the possibilities of the Nemesis system is making me giddy. How the hell did no one use it other than Monolith themselves?!
Perhaps if the Player was sort-of managing a Deathwatch Outpost (similar to the Forts in Shadow of War, it seems like) and took to the field as a chosen member of the Deathwatch? From there, the Player would take on the wild. If they died, the Player would take control of another, randomly-generated member of the same Deathwatch Outpost (kind of like Rogue Legacy's system of death, wherein your previous character is succeeded by a new character with different hero traits, combined with Battlefield 1's surprisingly effective death cards in campaign (where your soldier's name is given and their date of birth/date of death; the war grinding on as you become another)), allowing for variety between Chapters and Traits (e.g. a Space Wolf seconded to the Deathwatch could be an expert tracker) and - of course - the chance to bump into foes who've grown in power, either as a result of your death or since then. Admittedly, it's very Marine-centric, but expansions could offer up variations (e.g. a Chaos Space Marines one where the whole 'random generation' element is explained as 'your character is what the Warp threw up, after some Chaos Cultists gathered around to summon you! They're all dead, now, as a result of your explosive arrival, but hey, welcome!')
I think your idea could still work. Regarding the significant differences between races' societal structures, even the more organised races - such as the Tau - have their Aun'Shi and Farsight characters. Using the military hierarchy and bombast of the setting, I think the appeal of carving your own path through 40K could permit an 'outgoing hero character' to arise from any race. Brad's observation about D&D got me thinking about how cool it would be to have a character creator for games like Shadow of War - to have systems in place for a solid experience, but also the novelty of a more personal narrative. What if you were a rogue Eldar who established their own warband of Corsairs? Or a wily Guardsman, leading a rag-tag group around your fortress, improvising traps to take down bigger foes than your Lasguns could handle in a straight fight? You could follow the Codex Astartes, or throw it out the window! Where it would likely flap off into the sky while on fire as a Holy Relic, smiting the unworthy as it went.
The possibilities are quite something, and I share that giddiness, friend! Since GW gives out the license like free samples at the Supermarket, maybe someone will give it a shot?
I have no idea how it didn't take off, either - I'm sure Jeff said he thought it would as well - because it really is such a compelling system. Even back to the original Pokemon games, having a rival meant something. And Monolith's method is among the best I've seen. With so much potential, I'm surprised nobody's picked up the baton on this one.
That subheading. I remember when Crysis came out, that was a running joke among my PC gaming chums (responding to all discussion of hardware improvements with "...but can it run Crysis on Ultra Settings?")
I remember being amazed by footage of that game. No idea if it still holds up today (I'd be curious to try it out - that said, despite the decade between then and now, I'm somehow still not confident my current PC can run it on Ultra! For the full effect, of course.)
Reminds me of other powerhouse-spec games from around then as well. When PC Gamer ran their review of Supreme Commander, the 'recommended tech specs' they listed simply read 'God's own PC'.
@whatshisface: 40K with the Nemesis system would be excellent. You could even do it with Orks vying for control of a WAAAGH! wherein you encounter rival Warbosses and fight them. Personally, I'd be interested in seeing a Perpetual (if you're familiar with the lore, somebody who resurrects automatically upon death, so would also fit this kind of game system) as the main character in a Nemesis system-capable version of 'Necromunda'. It could be the 40K equivalent of Shadow of War, tied to the promise Star Wars 1313 had.
Ok guys, I know quicklooks arent ever actually quick haha, I've been coming here for some time now.
That said, this quicklook is longer than I expected :')
PS: Man, fuck that Michael Transactions.
Yeah, that Michael guy's a tool. Also, this is my new favourite way of referring to 'Micro-Transactions'. My hearty thanks for a good laugh.
EDIT: Having not seen the video yet, I may owe credit to Brad (I'm imagining) and Co. for this one. If so, thank you for giving me a preview of excellence to come. Either way, hearty thanks retained, for a good laugh was had.
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