It struck me that the same 4-player vs Horde formula could perhaps be improved in a relatively simple way. Made more … alive-ish.
Its somewhat heretical to the idea of the games, but Fatshark has given us a glimpse of it in Darktide already. In several of the Beta levels, you recall the troops standing by gates and such, that the Rejects pass through to enter the level proper?
Admittedly, when I first saw them I shot a few expecting them to be enemies. But they weren’t. Might as well have been pieces of the scenery for all that they did, but it was a new, rare thing to see. Other NPC’s other than Enemies in the game.
And that opens up the possibility of an encounter that I think Darktide could build on. I’m not sure how rare they could make it, and I’m not a coder myself, but I wonder if they could actually include ‘friendly’ squads into the game? Of course, ideally, they’d have an assigned area, so they wouldn’t follow you through the level, or trivialize the difficulty.
Personally, I would actually love the inclusion of such a feature. The stories that would come from it. Finding a pocket of NPC Rejects or Troops up ahead in a random encounter. Bunkering down beside them to shoot an incoming horde. A team of Rejects charging out to fight a Plague Ogyrn in melee, with NPC supporting fire. Watching Snipers pick both you and the NPC’s off.
The implementation of this could certainly be a bit of aid to players, and no doubt some people would be offended by the dilution of the ‘4 Players vs the Level’ formula, but I think it would be good for the atmosphere and as I said first, make the game a bit more alive-ish.
Thoughts?