Quote Posted by heywood
I'd like any future DX game to have the following elements:
1. Gameplay that is a mix of stealth and combat, without overly contrived options for reaching your objective.
2. Intertwining conspiracies. Mystery and an urge to find out what's really going on has to drive the plot.
3. Character development. I don't think this has to be in the form of augmentation, because IW pretty much took that idea as far as it should go.
And the player doesn't have to be an uber-badass one man army type character to save the world, just look at Gordon Freeman. A skill point system would be obvious and easy, but possibly boring. What if your skills developed according to how well and how often you used them in game?
4. Consequences for your actions. DX1 teased us with this early in the game but didn't keep it going. DX2 never really tried. I would really like to see your choices play more of a role in defining your character, which would affect your options for interacting with NPCs. If you want to knock my socks off, give me different minor plot lines or side quests depending on how I've previously acted.
5. Allies. Throughout most of DX1, you were allied with some group and had some sense of camaraderie, first with UNATCO, then the Luminous Path, then the Vandenberg scientists. You even had some close friends who stayed with you throughout the game. There was also some good group combat early in the game where you fought side by side with your allies. In DX2, you felt like a loner. There was Leo, but he wasn't really on your side until the very end.
6. Plot connections to history and/or current events. One of the things that made DX so much more immersive than IW was the way they folded current day issues, events, places, and organizations, along with history, legends etc. into the plot.
7. AI that doesn't give up the chase so easily. When you alerted an enemy to your presence in both DX and IW (but especially DX), it was too easy to retreat a few steps and wait until you enemies reverted back to routing patrol mode again.
I agree. I would like to see a couple other things brought back too. A skill system is a must, as is a good inventory system. Permanet biomod selections also needs to return. In IW, you found way way way to many canister and could change them out far too often. Those two (to me) were one of the biggest failings in IW. without skills, and easily changed biomods; you could literly change your style of gameplay as often as you wanted. meaningfull consequences to charcter development are a must. I'd also like to see a return to the non-linear gameplay of DX. Granted, the overall plot is fairly liniar, but some of that is unavoidable. the game has to have an end. What I'd like to see though, is the more varrying carcactor interaction that was in dx. like how you could only stun people and get extra ammo from carter, or get grief from paul for killing too much, or get early plot hints from killing anna on the plane ect, ect.
But another thing I'd like to see a return of, and it ties directly to the skill system, is localized damage. take to much damage to your arms, and you shooting accuracy goes to pot. take to much to your legs and you can only crawl. a head shot and your insta-dead. same with the NPC. I personally loved the way you could one shot kill if you got them in the head, or even moreso, the way you could actually make a guard drop his gun if you shot him in the arm.
