Junior Member
Hi all and apologies for another potentially identical thread but I feel uncharacteristicly invested in GR games and for all its flaws Wildlands feels like something special so I felt compelled to share...
A bit of context; I plan to play Wildlands cooperatively with a relatively fixed group and making use of whatever immersion and tactical incentives we have available so this means highest difficulty, markers off, use of voice comm and limited HUD. The goal for me with pretend army games has always been to establish a framework where shared planning and problem solving is absolutely necessary to complete missions.
Unfortunately I don't have a proper internet supply at the mo so all my beta experience has been solo.
*The good*
The world looks stunning and has a fantastic sense of atmosphere. I've never placed huge value on graphics unless they significantly inform gameplay (e.g clear visuals, appropriate draw distance etc.) I'm genuinely excited to get back on the ground and see what else fake Bolivia has to offer.
Gunplay feels fine; yes there are issues with ballistic modeling but on the whole the firing off of the various weapons feels meaty and present. I feel a reasonable compromise has been made with effective ranges, weapon classes and draw/spawn distance. On extreme my character is getting downed by 1-2 shots which is excellent. The lethality of our guns versus the enemy is also reassuringly high.
Animations and controls feel like a slightly more grown up version of the early Conflict games and maybe a bit of Army of Two. More than good enough to facilitate tactical cooperative play. I drove the vehicles slowly and carefully as it does seem easy to tear into civilians if you're not careful. I don't see this as an issue in a game with such a large (and necessarily abstracted) scope.
Charactersmith is more than detailed enough for a bit of dress up and I'm sure will allow us to become familiar with our teammates in game. There really is no excuse for the offline Ghost team to have fixed clothing and kit but more on that later.
As some have correctly pointed out, while the enemy AI is predicatable and frequently senseless, it is far from basic. Consider the vast permutations of terrain, LOS and dispositions of the Ghosts in such a huge are. I'd hope that anyone who has dabbled in scenario scripting for shooters like ARMA, Dragon Rising or even GR1 can appreciate how much work must go into establishing even a basic reactive patrol or base patrol mechanic.
*Areas for improvement/development*
I'm not so naive to think we'll see it and it may well become one of the most disappointing moments in gaming for me but come on GR Wildliands development team "Please let us customise our AI Ghosts!" I think everything has been said already regarding this strange issue. This really should be the same with weapons also of course.
HUD customisability. I'm still in shock that we even have this - What a brilliant way to reach a wide range a players. Inclusion of HUD options is by no means an industry standard and I'm greatful to those on the development team that championed and developed these options. A few points re this however:
- Removal of markers also deactivates use of synch shot. Obviously markers are necessary for this mechanic to work but without it solo players have no way of directing their team's fire. Perhaps a 'look at a target and press a button' system might be implemented to allow the Ghost team to prioritize a specific enemy. Having spent a bit of time in the 2nd '5 star' region in the OB with markers off, I would have appreciated some way of setting up a team ambush without also seeing all the enemy markers.
- Notifications (e.g. Mission compete, x resources tagged) can be switched off which helps to immerse the player a little more. Unfortunately this option also disables the interrogation option wheel.
- Crosshair is married to hit markers. I've always felt that a crosshairs in a shooter is the game's way of simulating the feel/weight of a weapon. Unfortunately in Wildlands switching crosshairs to on means I get told that I have/am going to hit my target. I'd rather use the old Mk1 eyeball thank you! Perhaps an additional option might be added to HUD so that these two things can be toggled independently.
Ghost team AI and control - While I'd love granular control of each team member (move to, hold, assault, recon etc.) I realise this will never be that kind of single player game. However, I don't think it's unrealistic to expect a little more nuance in team control. As mentioned above a target priority system could be implemented and perhaps the option to order the Ghosts to go loud, but to also stay within, say, 20 meters of Ghost lead so that we could coordinate with them a little better. Most tactical shooters that have managed this in the past seem to have implemented a stance/rules of engagement system so even if lead can only give four orders, the way they are carried out by the team varies based on if the team has been asked to keep a low profile or hold position etc. A lot to expect perhaps?
Options for audio cues (or absence of) could be added. I'd love to not hear the little pings and bleeps when I'm spotted. Let me be punished for not paying attention. I've been a bad boy.
OK that's it, thanks to all who took the time to read another feedback post.
As always if you're on PS4 and like this style of play PM me and I'll look you up when the game is released.
All the best, and big respect to the actual humans who have used thier expertise to create another game where I can pretend to be a cool soldier.
Jay x
Member
Good stuff, mate.
