My Opinion
Halo Xbox One: Flood 2.0 or rather Infection 5.0; should include more fear, paranoia and blood lust. But i think were going about it the wrong way… Survivors should always be working together as a team, resting on each others shoulders to survive; while Flood are just an endless wave of constant enemies, pounding at your defenses until your consumed.
My Idea
Here is my ideas to make Flood a more fearful, paranoid, blood lust filled match type, while adding some unique and fun features.
Smart-Time Maps (Unique, Fun)
343 Industries could actually make a few maps that has complex smart-time mechanics, that changes weather and lighting elements randomly, making each match unique. The smart-time map could constantly change with implemented weather like some matches it may be foggy, other raining sometimes it during the day and others at night. They also have unique features like open/closing doors and buildings to hold up into.
Smart-Time Map Example:
Think Halo 3:ODST campiagn level Mombassa Streets.
Sound Effects and Music (Fear, Paranoia, Bloodlust)
To really get fear, paranoia and blood lust feelings across in Flood, the sound effects and more specific game music, should be centered around these emotional tones, or situations. When the music changes, it gives players a ear curling feeling, and strikes the targeted emotion in people, create a lot of immersion.
Sound Effect and Music Example
Imagine your a survivor, and the music suddenly changes to a fast-paced action sound that signifies being in a firefight with the flood, and that your life is at risk. Or your exploring the map and trying to find somewhere to hold out, which could have paranoid exploration music playing. Or if your a Flood you go into a frenzy and the music speeds up, and becomes louder and more heavier. Or your a Survivor, and are running from flood, and the music becomes fearful and slightly high pitched… all these techniques can be used in various ways, to give a sense of emotion and immersion to players.
Survivors (Fear, Paranoia)
Survivors should have flash light, which are their armour abilities, they constantly go out, if not managed properly; and survivors have sprint, like in Halo 4; but only for matchmaking Invasion and Flood; competitive matches no way! The Survivors should have basic weapons, like in Hivemind which promotes teamwork, but have other weaponry pickups on map, and some other ones spawn in later, creating risk over reward moments.
Survivor Example
Imagine you and your fellow survivors are in a raining, night time match, so would have very poor visibility. You and your team mates are in a firefight with Flood, yet you don’t notice your flash light starts to die out… You loose almost all your visibility… making you even more fearful and scared, you try to sprint away but get caught in a flood ambush…
Flood (Bloodlust)
Flood players should have Promethean Vision, as their only armour ability, but it is slightly unique. It has the silhouette colors as green, yellow and brown (flood bio-mass color), instead of orange/red and white. This way it could actually imitate a pheromone, or biological, attraction to sentient life, so Flood Vision. It would work like Promethean Vision, but has a few changes… the Survivors would be brown, the terrain green, and a yellow pheromone trail, that lingers in the air, which shows survivors movements for like a few moments which leads to their hit box; thus gives a constant fear of being tracked by a flood form. They could also add a unique feature, that if a flood successfully infects 3 survivors, without dieing, he goes into a frenzy mode, which increases speed and damage (damage boost and speed boost). Survivors could know if their is a frenzied flood by a slight red glow around their hit box, like how damage boost is a red glow, the frenzy mode would only last a few moments, like how damage boost. Flood players should always have the Flood tentacle, as their base weapon.
Flood Example
Imagine your a flood, it is a foggy, night time map, which has poor visibility for the Survivors. The Flood forms use their flood vision and catch on to 3 survivors scents, or trails, they follow it to the source and unleash hell, you manage to infect all three. You then go into a frenzy mode and decimate most of their team, in one coordinated and swift move, the Survivors have become extremely fearful and uncoordinated as a team making it easy to pick off the last few stragglers.
Traps/Fortifications (Unique and Fun)
Maybe an auto turret or mini-dominion turret to assist players… or build defenses like deploy-able cover or building onto other objects…?
Traps/Fortifications Example
Survivors are trying to find a good place to hold up into, they find a building with an open/closing door, they get inside and deploy two deploy-able cover just behind the door, making a make-shift wall. The other survivors use the buildings balcony which overlooks the door and set up a few mini-dominion turrets. The Survivors then start patrolling, their defensive positions, and are hoping they survive.
