After playing the new beta patch for quite a few hours, I think the game is in a pretty good place - and, with just a little tweaking, it will sit shoulder to shoulder with some of the best tactical squad based games in the industry.
One area where improvement is clearly needed is with the UI. Especially as you take 20+ rackets and start putting together a respectable crew, the game can get very confusing. The devs need to take some cues from other titles that handle this well, including some baseline features such as:
Those are the big ones. Beyond that, I see two other areas - not necessarily UI related - where changes are needed:
One area where improvement is clearly needed is with the UI. Especially as you take 20+ rackets and start putting together a respectable crew, the game can get very confusing. The devs need to take some cues from other titles that handle this well, including some baseline features such as:
- A proper grouping system - the traditional "CTRL-1, CTRL-2, CTRL-3" to group functions.
- Character portraits in a drop down on the left side of the strategic screen. This is a character driven game - we should be able to click on a character's portrait and immediately be taken to that character. The groups from the previous bullet could also be found here
- A proper building management screen - specifically one that visually shows which breweries are supplying which of our (and other player's) rackets and which rackets are having to buy their booze from outside sources.
- It should also be clearer which rackets are leveled up and are getting synergy bonuses from surrounding rackets.
- A way to compare stats on a piece of gear and one your character already has equipped (look at almost any game with loot to see an example).
Those are the big ones. Beyond that, I see two other areas - not necessarily UI related - where changes are needed:
- The "discover safehouse" mechanic, while an improvement, is too passive and too fast at the same time. In my current playthrough, Im discovering safehouses within minutes of meeting a boss who is located clear on the other side of the city. I should have to work for that - sending gang members to explore, bribing cops to help me look, subverting their lieutenants, embedding moles (see bullet, below), etc
- The mole mechanic is both confusing and boring. It needs to be much more active. They should take a cue from the spy system in Total War: Three Kingdoms. We should have control over our mole (within reason) and a short list of tasks based on their class. The longer we leave them in as a mole, the greater the chance we can actively trigger any of these things (blowing up a brewery as a demolitionist, for instance) - but also the greater the chance they may sympathize with the enemy boss and change sides (or backstab us in some other way) - and the greater the chance they will be discovered and killed (Luca sleeps with the fishes).
Last edited:
- 3
- 1
