This is a rough feedback in relation to GreenSkulls latest Campaign footage.
What I noticed is that the game is a lot tell than show. You know it tells you a unit has low health instead of showing you it has low health. Now i commented on this before and there has been a report released stating how they have addressed this issue. I’m mainly writing this in the case that GS’s footage is a reflection of these changes. I noticed that units don’t show changes in design until a significant health is lost. Eg the hunter pairs who loose one of their pairs when the health drops about 70%, this is a very poor reflection of their state as no other change is shown. The animation should reflect the health every step of the way. Such as models for 1/4 the health as well as 2/4 3/4 and full. Again touching on the idea that upgrades should be visually shown and differentiated from other forms.
Also an added bonus would dynamic elements that can be added to the units. Though this maybe my poor perception skills and just lack of playing the beta but i did not notice much of units levelling up. Unlike the previous tittle where a heavily active unit gains stars which further increases their damage and health output i did not notice this in HW2 . If this is present than it should be easily identifiable, just use the old style of stars above the unit. And if it’s not in the game than it should be implanted as it adds another layer to the game, also increasing the immersion. To add to this is the dynamic elements i am speaking off. Say a marine unit looses health, this would be reflected by the unit loosing visible marines. However in the case that they are healed it should visually show another unit being added, whether by pelican drop or Pod drop or from a nearby bass. If this is not possible the unit should have a pseudo-health recovery which drops faster to a specific level. Another is when a unit is ranked up(levelled up, STARS) this should be reflected by change in design, though not for every level but maybe 2 or 3 design changes. Say they pick up enemy weapons, like carbines, brute shots. and at higher levels they may even pick up an energy sword/hammer. This can also be reflected in vehicles such as the Grizzly being in high ranks, obviously it has seen a lot of battle, and this can be reflected through changes in design such something flimsy holding the two canisters together because they are a bit loose. These would add a sense of depth to the game which would really set it out from a good game to a masterpiece. Things like these which may not be noticed all the time but will surely be appreciated now and then. Eg would by the sky pillars in Requiem in HALO 4 which had shadows, every single one of them. And this was a slight thing, which many players may not have noticed, but this really made the game so much more immersive.
So far the game looks amazing, and one thing i have noticed in GS’s gameplay was in the ending where units surrounded desimas and it looked like a boss battle. Things like that are important as repetitive levels are highly destructive to games. This being something HW1 did really well with changing dynamics from mission to mission. From the survival Mission with the flood to the mission on top of the spirit of fires to rescuing the civilians. Each mission was unique and this was added with the consistent and heavy plot. I hope to see this being continued and improved upon in HW2.