Yes, getting past the upset, now that voice chat is coming, looking at the game as a whole it's markedly improved over the beta stuff I was seeing. The lighting is very smooth and the wholely dynamic nature really elevates the horror scenario, with some occassions of completely black requiring you to look frantically around with your torchlight. the fog is also suitably errie and convincing. There was a great moment with a shadow being just of a zombie off screen, indicating their presence. The mechanics are smooth, with remarkable parallels to Alien Breed but without the clumsiness, so for example, the character slides around obstacles instead of sticking.
While waiting to VC to play properly, I've been playing on Braindead mode just to collect some trophies, like "complete a level without taking damage," and the experience may be watered down as a result. Still, the weaopns and stuff do seem a bit redundant. The main rifle is normally the weapon of choice as there are no ammo limits. Use of a shotgun doesn't really get you out of a tight spot and better than a few charged shots, or more importantly a flare chucked down to lure the zombies away, and then a grenade to finish them off. The weapon variety really doesn't serve much purpose, and as it's on a linear list it takes some time to swap, meaning in the thick of it, switching weapons can be a bad move.
Weaopns so far :
SMG - quick firing, kills no faster than more powerful rifle
Shotgun - kills a few at a time, no faster than rifle
Flamer - efficient in that it spreads, Good to hit some in a pack and burn the whole lot
Blade gun - kills a broad column, but the zombies are rarely that nicely packed, and the rifles charged shots achieve much the same. Very limited ammo
Rocket launcher - blows a large group, limited ammo, and you want to use at a distance. Chances are by the time you see a group large enough to warrant the rocket, they'll be rushing you.
I imagine the harder levels will require more variety though, such as needing a point-blank shotgun for some of the tougher zombies. I can see coop having better focus on weaopns where one player could focus on flamer, and the other shotgun, as it were, and take roles.
Another awkwardness is the hiding of money in cars. Theoretically it means tactical choices whether to blow the car or collect the cash. In practice I find it means I always run in and grab the cash first as that's more important. I also don't like just shooting into zombies because I might hit a car off screen and lose the money. I've not managed to find 100% hidden loot in any level.
The zombies have some variety but not a huge amount. Well, they are zombies. You have quick ones, harder to kill ones, and the ocassional mini-boss sort, but it's bang-bang-bang all the same.
There's also no guide for the game, which is odd. I found by experimentation what the screamer-type zombies do. There's no Field Guide to Zombies that you normally get in this sort of game. Alien Breed has it's aliend descriptors, for example. Then you have the armour types which leave you guessing what the 3 stats do. Okay, speed is an obvious one. Strength I guess is melee power. Endurance could be health or how much you stamina you have, though I guess the fomer given a wall icon. Without clear guides you either guess or experiment, and experimentation is made awkward by having to choose armour between checkpoints. If you don't like your choice, you have to stick with it to the next checkpoint.
Another problem with coop is when a player dies, they become a spectator with no way to reenter the fray until the remaining player reaches a checkpoint. This can be 5 to 10 minutes. They really want a support mechanic to add to teamwork, where the other player has to come rescue them. Uncharted 2 did this well.
I agree very much with Arwin's sentiments about the engine. This would be a great engine for a dungeon crawler. The dynamic lighting and shadowing is excellent for spell effects and moody corridors. You ahve to admire Housemarque's ability to extract detail that PS3 isn't known for. Lots and lots of body bits, clean lighting, clean shadowing, loads of particles, smooth fog. We see a lot of reduced resolution buffers but none of that is seen here. It would be a crying shame for this to be the only game built around this tech. I wonder if their next cross-platform title is built on this or something separate?
/ramblings!
