No weight or inertia or substance or fun
I was going into the beta after spending several hours recently playing Battlefield 3 and 4, and a lot more than several hours playing Helldivers 2. The general experience with the series included BF2, BFBC2, BF3, BF4, all of which I enjoyed greatly, and also the Hardline beta and 2042 which I didn't like for various reasons.
I have a few thoughts to share, as well as the reason I'm uninstalling the beta after just a couple matches and will not be spending my money on this game as I do not believe any of the following concerns will be addressed in a meaningful way. I'm just looking for a void to shout into at this point.
1. Speed and weight
The only part of the core gameplay mechanics that I got to experience and found to be satisfactory was the gunplay. That part was fine, shooting feels solid, the sounds with the new war tapes mode are incredible.
Everything else, from running around to changing direction to vaulting to crouching to throwing grenades feels like it happens in a vacuum. The grenade throw animation is especially feeble, there's no other unoffensive word I have to describe it.
Vaulting in particular is an outlier because, one, it happens way too fast, and two, it feels like the character is getting sucked towards the obstacle, especially if it's low.
Otherwise, the majority of actions happen at warp speed, have no inertia, you do not feel the weight of things you're interacting with or of your own character's body.
I would catalogue the list of things I have a gripe with, but I am leaving on a work trip and I had only so much time to enjoy the game.
BF3 and 4 both have a subtle and non-invasive way of conveying the solidity of the game's world, and that seems to be a lost art now.
2. The interface
Everything that happens between the moment you launch the game and the moment you have control of your character feels completely unnecessary.
The 3d model of your character in the menu when you are not customising it is unnecessary.
The 3d models of your squad before the start of the match and after its end are unnecessary.
The little scene with your character arriving on location is unnecessary.
Everything tries to be too in your face and flashy, for no reason.
This game tries to make you feel like everything is way more grand and important than it really is, and that detracts from the main experience.
It feels like a subtle insult to your playerbase's intelligence. How old is your target audience that these are the tactics you resort to in order to capture their attention, and why do you think they have the kind of money you are asking them to pay you for this game?
3. Call of Duty
It just feels like Call of Duty. There, I said it. Almost every aspect of the game, and like half the design decisions feel fake and superficial, introducing a massive disconnect between how the gameplay feels and how the game looks.
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The only constructive thing I can say at this point is that there are many things you can still learn from the older installments in the series. Until then, the regression is very real and completely tragic.
