Having never designed an FPS before, there’s a good chance the following grand theory of combat design I’m about to propose is reeking globnonsense, but here goes: I figure you’ve basically got two approaches. You can either keep it simple but chunky, and use this to lure the player in right away by making them feel powerful and capable. Then, you can keep your relatively pithy verb list interesting by riffing on things like encounter and enemy design.
Then, there’s the Texnoplazm method (Steam demo here) which is to slap you across the chops with a phone book of gun fu possibilities straight from the off, offer a taste of stylishness just piquant enough to convince you that mastering this toolkit seems like a fun and worthwhile idea, and let you loose. It’s the “I suck at this, but I will not suck eventually, and then my enemies will be sorry and also impressed at how cool I look” approach. This method also ends up with you feeling much more capable than the first guy, even though they got to have more fun earlier.
That was a lot of words to say “game good, if a little overwhelming initially”. Here’s a trailer. It may contain the following verbs: punch. Punch but big. Slide. Slam. Dodge. Throw weapon. Grab weapon in midair. Kick. Wall run. Block. Parry. Have impeccable android butt.
Here are some features, handily formatted as yet more verbs.
- Fight enemies by wielding their own weapons against them
- Switch combat styles mid fight
- Blend movement and combat abilities for inventive takedowns
- Explore the gothic cityscape of Europe, in a future that never was
- Uncover your mysterious origins
I should add that wall running is the good kind, not just the situational ‘run across a wall with special running arrows to cross a pit’, although that does happen sometimes. You just hold space and run up any wall. Then slam down. Or kick while you’re in the air. You are truly free, for about half the height of any given wall.
However. You cannot use the vending machines. 2/10. Please add the verbs ‘spend’ and ‘guzzle’, developer Mothership Loudspeakerz who also made Ghostware: Arena Of The Dead. Texnoplazm is “coming soon”.
