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# The Open World, Ground Clutter, etc.

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# The Open World, Ground Clutter, etc.

KittyValkyrie
✭3 posts
April 24, 2016 6:10PM
I didn't get a beta key (at least not a first wave one from what I hear), but from the videos I've seen, the "open world" is pretty lane heavy. I know a city filled with tall buildings won't be exactly something like Far Cry, but there is so much back and forth with little exploration available from what I've seen. I can't say for myself until I get to try the game, but what I've seen is rather disappointing.
When people look out/down, it's painfully obvious the ground level didn't get much love. I understand the need for fewer polygons, but there seriously needs to be more ground clutter: lamp posts, trash cans, benches, street level ads, anything really. Walk down an NYC street and compare that to the ones in Catalyst.
I won't ramble about how disappointing it is that you can't explore closer to the ground, but I'm still quite miffed about 90% of the ground being basically nonexistent gameplay wise.
The hideout door leading to Noah and his story missions looks...weird.
The NPCs suffer from DICE NPC syndrome. Just like the ones in BF4, they look okay, but simply repeat actions and lines, an issue that is compounded by the fact that there are so few of them. Compared to the Citadel in Mass Effect 3, Glass just seems so dead in comparison. I obviously don't expect as much detail, but it just feels lacking. I just get the urge to ask, "why are you even here?" to every NPC and enemy you see because it just seems so empty and nonsensical.
The missions are almost more on rails than the first game. The simplicity the first game had gave it a charm that feels kind of missing here.
I realize the movement was sped up because a lot of the first game was downright tedious (cough, Boat, cough), and stuff like faster pipe climbing is a great change, but the things like backstepping an entire room's length in one stride and basically phasing circles around the enemies is pretty ridiculous. Obviously, this is just an observation so take that with a grain of salt.
Speaking of enemies, they seem like jokes. YouTubers are at least usually semi-competent, but the combat seems a lot less challenging than the first from what I've seen. The AI just seems really sad. Kind of like how they slowly slump after you so much as gently breath on them. I kind of wish the enemy types that carry side arms (the two baton wielders) would use them after a bit. That and attacked together and not in classic action villain attack one by one fashion. Also, why are the female enemies only Enforcers? I'm almost offended.
Jumping people off wall runs makes the magnetic ziplines in the first game look positively repelling in comparison. Seriously, it's insane.
Another environment thing, I get the need for the white aesthetic, and certain set pieces look absolutely amazing, but so many parts of the city just feel empty as a whole. There's just massive areas of white down entire building faces where you just wonder if something was originally supposed to go there or not. It's almost as if they tried to make the scale a little too big.
Again, those are just my small gripes and opinions, and only as an observer.

## Comments

- MásTiki
  9 posts ✭
  April 24, 2016 7:30PM

  > KittyValkyrie wrote: »
  > The missions are almost more on rails than the first game. The simplicity the first game had gave it a charm that feels kind of missing here

  Agreed. I'm actually finding the open world aspect a little pointless.

  > KittyValkyrie wrote: »
  > Another environment thing, I get the need for the white aesthetic, and certain set pieces look absolutely amazing, but so many parts of the city just feel empty as a whole. There's just massive areas of white down entire building faces where you just wonder if something was originally supposed to go there or not. It's almost as if they tried to make the scale a little too big.

  Also agree. There times I was free running at a good clip and ran smack into a wall, or tried to run up a wall that I couldn't because the spacial relativity was weird. And many cases where I jumped straight off an edge because there seemed to be a clear path I was following but not enough of a clue that there was an insurmountable gap because it just blended with the building across the street. If the objective is to make us feel like super heroes who can traverse any terrain seamlessly then these sorts of things really inhibit that feeling.
  In assassins creed they were smart to make all travers able terrain have a clear path the character would follow from one to another. Likewise, when an edge was not traversable the character would stop themselves from jumping blindly to certain death. I know too much of this would affect the true free running effect, a little bit could avoid a lot of frustration and unecessary waiting for load screens.
- T0TALfps
  1 posts ✭
  April 24, 2016 8:00PM
  Interesting feedback, I guess it is also still early days too - considering it is a beta and size limitations etc.

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