[Feedback] [Suggestion] [Bug] Operation Watchman issues (by Shobhit7777777)
To whom this may concern, Shobhit7777777 brought up an in-depth topic that definitely needs to be addressed regarding Operation Watchman. The mission is needlessly difficult for all of the wrong reasons, and I honestly do not wish to see this topic go to waste. The final product we received is definitely not what we were expecting, and I hate to say this, but it really came across as half-baked with very little thought put into designing the mission. Please read ASAP.
The topic itself will be posted in italics.
I replayed 'The Call' several times and found it to be a frustrating chore of an experience to complete. The premise excited me to no end - assist Sam Fisher and I liked how it started out, but the insta-fail conditions and the ridiculous ramp up of difficulty sapped all joy out of me.
Note: I played this solo on regular difficulty, with the HUD entirely off. I have tried all camp entrances, used a vehicle as a trojan horse and knocked out the power. I haven't spared the diversion lures either. My issue with the mission extends beyond the heightened difficulty towards the restrictions on tactical flexibility.
Let me start of with the good: Getting the call from Sam Fisher and the premise of infiltrating the Base in pitch dark. Trying to sneak around the dark, infiltrating the camp for the first time was a very thrilling experience but it soon got old the sixth time attempting it.
WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW
Instant Fail for Takedowns/Detection:
Ok, this makes sense for a Splinter Cell mission but this is Ghost Recon. Given the premise (Sam was already in) it made no sense for the Ghosts to sneak in without casualties for the game to suddenly flip the script and turn it into a scripted firefight.
The Ghosts are a Direct Action unit - they kill goons and blow **** up. Wildlands is built around this premise - kill, blow up anything and anyone you need to. The gameplay is focused on stealthy, coordinated takedowns and planned chaos. This mission throws that out the window with the instant fail parameters and makes the experience very frustrating.
This makes it a trial and error effort and there will be lots of trials because they've upped the Guard density and tweaked their patrols. There are more guards to deal with but your hands are tied. This does not make for fun gameplay the third or fourth time over.
Tactical Restrictions - No Scope for Strategy
Due to the instant fail and No takedown restrictions, you are severely handicapped. This is difficulty to play and not in a fun way, where you relish the challenge of solving a tactical puzzle.
The mission forces you to cheese your way through...spamming flares, diversion lures etc. It also forces you to adopt the "safest" tactics which are often the cheesiest ones. Given the fact that this mission involves a lot of trial and error...it becomes super annoying and frustrating having your hands tied.
It also doesn't make sense given the context of the mission. If Sam is already in....why can't the Ghosts silently take the UNIDAD out? Why are UNIDAD casualties suddenly an issue?? especially since you've been slaughtering them all year long. If we can silently clear out the encampment...how does it matter if we kill the enemies? The Ghosts sole objective is taking enemies out.
No Checkpoints:
The mission essentially is comprised of 3 stages:
1. Sneak In
2. Defend Sam
3. Exfiltrate with Sam
Each sequence requires considerable time and effort, yet there are no checkpoints in between. This is hugely frustrating and I cannot fathom how this greenlit. If you do manage to sneak in, you have to defend Sam against UNIDAD hordes and once the hack is complete....infinite Attack Helicopters. You die towards the end? Too bad...start all over.
This is poor mission design and an amateurish mistake. I expect this from part time modders not professional designers working at Ubisoft.
UNIDAD Response:
In the second and third phase....the mission is a cactus enema. I'm playing Solo so it's already a little painful dealing with a horde and then you throw in a gaggle of Attack helis that keep on respawning and it's ****ing annoying.
It is not fun battling helicopters. In this mission AND in the vanilla game. It's downright ******ed to have an infinite wave of helis coming at you. I moved through dense wooded areas and no dice...couldn't shake him. Shot 3 of them down and 2 instantly respawned.
In which world is that^ fun?
Feedback:
Swift, Silent and Deadly:
The Ghosts should not have any takedown restrictions. As much as I love the 'Splinter Cell' theme...this is Ghost Recon and I'm not a fan of trial and error experiences. As long as the alarm isn't raised, the player should be allowed to kill/KO enemies
It's less frustrating and allows room for some error. Sure, triggering an alert could lead to mission failure, that would be acceptable in a 'Splinter Cell' themed mission. However, the complete inability to take enemies out makes the mission a chore. Especially when there is no good reason to go 'Non-lethal'.
It also allows for more approaches. Not being able to take out sentries narrows down the gameplay to a serious degree. It unties the player from the AI routines and allows him/her more freedom to explore and act out a plan.
Most importantly, it saves the player from a potential alert. If you're sneaking around and are about to be spotted, taking the threat out allows you to remain undetected....inability to do so leads to a mission failure and a complete restart.
I wouldn't mind a No-kill restriction IF there were checkpoints, slightly lesser number of guards and if it made sense from a narrative standpoint.
A Sensible Premise:
The mission's context didn't make much sense. Why would Sam ask the Ghosts to sneak in all the way and THEN initiate a hack which would trigger an alarm? The mission should make sense within the context of a Ghost Recon game.
The Ghosts are a 4 man direct action team....and Sam Fisher should've called them in to arrange for assistance during an infil/exfil. The Ghosts should've been asked to :
1. Take out the jammer (Not the generator - a power cut would stop Sam's hacking attempt) so Sam's gear remains operational
2. Take out key enemy personnel - Sentries, Snipers etc.
3. Quietly steal a vehicle to arrange an exfil
4. Abduct an enemy commander
Doing things that Sam personally would've had a hard time doing.
Room for Failure, Room for Preparation:
The UNIDAD alert kicks in the moment Sam initiates the hack...and this is where the mission goes downhill completely. Instead of having it scripted, allow the player some time or control over WHEN the hack is initiated.
This gives the player room to prepare the area with mines, place his teammates and take out UNIDAD units within the base, before re-enforcements come rolling in.
Furthermore, insta-fail should've been dropped in favour of escalation. IF the player is detected, the base is alerted and the game THEN goes into horde mode - now you have to go loud and fight off incoming waves of UNIDAD troops. It should've been a consequence of a ****-up rather than a scripted event.
7 people found this helpful
Banned
Senior Member
Junior Member
Member
Community Manager
