Having played through the first three worlds and halfway through the fourth, i'm enjoying the game so far! There are some things i'd like to mention, though:
- The akimbo upgrade for the uzi is kind of a letdown. Yes, it doubles your rate of fire, which is exactly as expected, and it also increases spread, which is to be expected as well, but i was shocked by how much it was. Single uzi is a perfectly capable mid range weapon, double uzi is only really useful within short range, where you might as well use the shotguns. Increasing the spread is fine, but perhaps make it less extreme? Currently, i'm pretty sure its mid range DPS might actually be lower than the single uzi because of how few shots hit your target.
- The heavy bolter upgrade for the minigun completely obsoletes the uzi. It deals at least the same (and probably more) damage per shot, it shoots as fast as double uzi, the accuracy is great, there's no spin-up or -down time, and it uses the same ammo as the uzi. Probably the weapon i'm using the most, very few others can compare to it right now. As much as i'm loathe to admit it, it might need a little nerf; perhaps a slightly lowered rate of fire? Either that, or some of the other guns need a little buff.
- As mentioned multiple times before, having the 50 cal pistol eat 3 rounds per shot is a bit harsh, but it at least does deal very good damage.
- Shotgun autoloader upgrade was also a bit underwhelming; the DPS is indeed a lot higher, but the spread also seems increased, which brings its range into the same territory as the boomstick. Furthermore, if you have the flak cannon upgrade for said boomstick, there's little to no reason to be using the autoloader whatsoever, since the flak cannon deals far more damage per shot.
- I was a bit surprised to learn that the laser rifle was almost objectively inferior to the heavy bolter. Non-instant shots and probably rarer ammo, and doesn't even kill things as fast.
- Flamethrower is amazingly powerful and i love that, but the feel of the gun itself is a bit weak, kinda more like a (powerful) spray can than a deadly stream of fire. Firelance is a great upgrade though, removing the one weakness of the flamethrower (bad range), but it also seems to crank up ammo usage. That's pretty fair overall.
- First boss is ridiculously difficult compared to the later ones. Having a powerful hitscan AoE attack with little to no warning feels cheap as hell, since you can't reliably avoid it without cheesing the boss with a wall. Second phase is even more cheese dependent, since it's far faster than you and hits like a truck in melee, so it's more or less a DPS race while you hope it gets stuck on corners.
- I can't figure out for sure if the shield mooks in the first world take less/no damage while their shields are up, since the hit particles are the same. It does seem to be the case, but maybe make it more obvious?
- Basic staff is a bit peculiar; uncharged, with 1 mana per shot, it takes 4 shots to kill one of those succubi in the first world. Fully charged, it can kill several of them in a line, and takes only 3 mana to do so (and i fucking love that attack, it's like a magic railgun). This power is reasonably offset by the lengthy charge time, but i feel like the uncharged shots are a bit too weak, being unable to even one-shot a bat. Maybe put those on par with the unupgraded pistol, at least?
- Ultrasonic rocket launcher (the hitscan one) doesn't cause a boom when not hitting an enemy. :C
- The sound choices are generally nice and meaty, though the loudness of the various sounds needs equalizing. As mentioned before, the minigun is deafening (fitting, but not nice in the long run), while the protag's voice is so low that i didn't even realize he was saying anything for the first few levels. Likewise, explosions are extremely loud, and the robot soldiers in the industrial world have very loud screams too.
- I would personally love it if it was possible to undo upgrades and spell purchases somehow, feels kind of unnecessary to lock the player into those completely when you don't even get the chance to try them out first. It's a complete leap of faith, which is especially bothersome if you end up not liking or using it (i.e. me and the akimbo uzis).
Otherwise, i like it! Gonna be playing some more soon and see if i can bring more feedback to the table.
Edit: Oh right, one more thing: Ranged hitscan attacks are few and far between from enemies, in fact i've only counted two so far (three if you include the first boss), but the first one is in the very first world and uses bullets. This is weird to me because in the fourth world, there are futuristic dystopian soldiers who use fast projectile bullets (which is a great way to go about it). Maybe make the first one consistent with that?
Post edited October 19, 2018 by Vinkelbryn