(VERY LONG EARLY ACCESS POST) Nowadays is really hard to find some good drive combat videogame, and while Diesel Guns is still in developement, it is still promising and has a good foundation. Sayd this, maybe is because of it's Early Access nature but there are things that definitely need improvement in order to make it a good game that can bring back the Drive Combat genre. First off, let me list what's good about it so far: - Good weapons variety. I especially like that you can choose which weapons to equip for each kind, and apparently it seems there will be more in the future. - Good gameplay. It's a drive shooting game and blowing up other players with the various weapons and sub-abilities always feels fun and satisfying... even the explosion of your own car feels somewhat fun to watch. - Easy to play, easy to drive, easy to shoot. The controller support seems to be a bit lacking but the game is still relatively easy and straighforward to play. - Many sub-abilities. Is really nice that on top of equipping various weapons your car can also jump, dive, boost, and have a shield... and that you don't necessarely need sub-weapons to kill or damage your opponents. - Nice graphics. Simple as that, not too flashy, not too simple, a nice middleground. - Potential vehicle customization. There will probably be more colors and patterns to choose and customize your car but as of right now there is already a decent choice already, can't wait for more. Ok, now that i've sayd what's good about the game, here is what i think it should be improved: - Music. Just add some music, plain and simple, the car engine noise gets really bland and boring after a while - Better balancement. I don't know if it's just me but i always feel like whenever i pick a tanky car i always have an easier time than when i pick a fast one. Either give the squishier ones better mobility (so speed AND steering) or give them better energy regen/stock. Also make the cars take a little less abuse overall, as of right now it seems like they take forever to explode. - More content. As of right now, 3 maps and 5 cars is not much, old drive combat games had around 8 or 10 different maps and 10 to 15 different vehicles. Sure it takes time to put in so much stuff but i feel like it should be mentioned (being worked on) - Better controller support. While playing with the controller i noticed there are many features that are not transfered from the keyboard despite some buttons being unused. - Richier environments. As of right now the stages feel too empty, i know the developers are trying to give the game an element of speed but that doesen't mean the environments should have more stuff to hide, ambush, and possibly even blow up (it would be cool to do something like ram another player to death by first breaking thorough a wall). It doesen't have to be anything overboard but more stuff like big rocks, small buildings, large props, and barricades would be nice. -Better UI. As of right now some of the HUD informations are not too clear, most in particular the "energy bar" (How much energy to activate the shield ? The jump ? the boost ?), the sub-weapons ammo reserve (which could be on the bottom right instead of next to the selected weapon), and the enemy hp (which is already on the enemy targeting). -More gamemodes. As it is right now it would be nice to have a customizable "Arcade" mode instead of "pratice", but it would be nice to have something as a "Juggernaut" mode (like, one player drives the bulldozer and the others try to take him down with the cars) and an "attack/defend" mode (one team defending a structure or a vheicle from the other team attacks). It would be nice to also have some PVE gamemodes as well, something like a "Horde/survival" mode (Has been added) or an "Endless defence" just to make some examples. - Get rid of the player level. I don't understand what's the point of it (and i hope is not supposed to involve lootboxes in the future) but people could be discouraged from this kind of progression as could feel unable to compete against higher level players just because they "don't have the time to get to the cool stuff". Put "money rewards" and a "weapons/cars shop" instead, so everybody can unlock anything and choose what kind of strategy to adopt anytime instead of being forced into something specific until only God knows when and get discouraged by the grind required. - The "Overlord" special weapon is just way too strong. A lock-on double minigun with hudge ammo stock, which translates into a "M1+W" weapon that rewards you for holding down the fire button. Either remove the lock-on or tweak the numbers because as it is right now is just way too easy to (ab)use - The "Wolf" special weapon instead is a rewarding weapon with few ammunitions, very slow firing speed, and massive damage, but with one fatal flaw: the "top" placement makes it nearly impossible to aim at anything. If your target is too close the shot will fly above and miss, if is too far it will hit the ground. Either give it a specific targeting reticule or change it's placement because as it is right now is nearly unusable. Now for the last part is just a couple of personal suggestions for the developers. Based on the relatively low pricetag, i belive there will be some kind of extra monetization later on, so first and foremost, DO NOT PUT LOOTBOXES... for the love of God, the Virgin Mary, and Baby Gesus, DO NOT PUT LOOTBOXES. Simple as that. Second, do not sell extra vehicles or weapons UNLESS they have the same stats or mechanics of already existing ones. "Selling power" is the best way to give the game a P2W stigma, so don't sell more powerful guns or cars with weird stats. If you can, sell skins instead, do what Warframe does and sell us cars that only look different but don't play different, sell us fancy, crazy, overblown colorschemes and attachments, sell us stuff to "pimp our rides look" and make it really unique. i'd really buy into that ! Also, let us create our own custom servers, this way we can join and play with friends, and it also will guarantee a potentially everlasting longevity (not bound by the game servers themselves). Sorry for the long post, but i hope it will be helpful for anybody buying this game and anybody working on it ^.^ !
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