2
The Interesting:
Hellfire rockets
SA Hawkins
HEAT Cannon
Repeater
The Ok:
TOW Missile
Grenade Launcher
The uninspired:
SMC
AR
Vulcan
Flak Cannon
Sabot Rifle
The Rifle that isn't the sabot
What's Kiwi getting at_ Looking at it, half of the guns are pretty standard FPS fare. The AR, SMC, and Vulcan are your run of the mill automatic weapons, the Flak is your shotgun, the Sabot is your sniper rifle, and the other rifle is like a bolt action rifle (the only difference here is that there's no pretty bolt animation).
The TOW is a rocket launcher and the grenade launcher are better, not really groundbreaking in implementation, but they don't have the standard feel that the above mentioned weapons do. (Though Kiwi has a bone to pick with the TOW that he'll get to later)
The interesting weapons, however, are ones that Kiwi got more play time with, the Hellfire Rockets, the Hawkins (which Kiwi did get enough time with), the EOC Repeater, and the HEAT. Part of why Kiwi thinks they've resonated so strongly with Kiwi is that they don't feel like infantry weapons upscaled for walking tanks. They feel like something that was made to be on a walking mech from the get-go. Charging mechanics (like with the HEAT) are always an interesting way to make a gun stand out more, but there's more to it then that. Using the SA Hawkins as an example, it looks and feels like a heavy weapon which makes it stand out more then the rather ho-hum Assault Rifle, even if the Hawkins also has a real world equivalent (autocannons). Hellfires are fun "FIRE ALL THE MISSILES" affair, the EOC is a thing that exist (make no mistake, Kiwi is happy it's in the game), and the HEAT Cannon is a chargeable bundle of joy, blasty joy.
Don't misunderstand what Kiwi is saying, the standard automatics, shotguns, and rifles are not bad weapons by any means, but we've seen so many, that it's hard, at least for Kiwi, to get all that excited about them. Those weapons are standard for a reason, and they're a good thing to have (not to mention they're gonna be the most used). You have a workable arsenal with just them, but Kiwi thinks it's the HEATs and the Hawkins, and the Hellfires that will stick out in people's minds, and it certainly will stick with Kiwi.
You're gonna need a more varied arsenal, if for no other reason, then that repetition is already rearing it's ugly head. Out of the 6 chassis available, 3 of them have the TOW as a secondary weapon. The Assault and Berserker have identical weapon loadouts. There is very little reason to use both. Statistical variations are not a good enough motivation to drive sales, they're gonna need hooks and interesting bits (which the Hawken team has proven they can provide on the audio/visual side) to them to drive sales, this applies to both chassis and weapons.
Edited by TheChaffeemancer, November 15 2012 - 02:01 PM.
