AsianJoyKiller, on January 01 2013 - 07:21 PM, said:
LordofNosgoth, on January 01 2013 - 07:16 PM, said:
And it's entirely possible to make a balanced sniper/sharpshooter/marksman class without relying on dumb mechanics like 1-shot kills.
I only partially agree with this statement. Allow me to elaborate:
BF3, while a mediocre game, is a great example. The most powerful Sniper weapon is the M98-B. Which, unless it's a headshot, only deals 95% damage unless its unscoped and extremely close range. While this doesn't mean an instant kill, what it does serve to do is put an enemy out of combat for a brief period, unless they like the idea of dying repeatedly. Meanwhile, the sniper class in this game does have the ability to CQC... even if its severely limited. With the 93R, you'd be surprised how efficient a good marksman can be running minor assault if forced to. The key emphasis here being placed upon "...if forced to...". Will a proper assault class mount a much better offensive_ Absolutely! Is it possible for a Sniper to defend himself if caught in a bad CQC_ You betcha.
The larger point here is pretty damned simple: Even in mediocre games, the gamer can adjust on the fly based upon the situation in order to increase the gamer's probability of survival. You can argue that Hawken allows you to do the same all you like, but it really, really does not. Which is sad, because in CBE2 it most certainly did (at least to some greater or lesser extent). Now you're just a walking target. Maybe after a player gets a few dozen or so tech points to add to their mech's tree, this changes, but I somehow severely doubt it.
When was the last time your infiltrator didn't absolutely decimate any SS on the field_ I know mine has certainly never had any trouble out of them. I see one on the field and think "Cool. Now if I can scoot around his teammates, that will be a free kill!" And I'm usually right and they always are, unless some TOW spammer hops in the way first. SS just can't take on any of the faster classes. Truth be told, unless you tech all of your points to movement, it can't even outrun a Brawler, which is just lunacy.