New Melee Features - Flash or Substance?

[CrashFu]

So we know a few things about melee combat in KF2..

• It's going to be deliciously satisfying to chop things apart
• There will be combos instead of spamming a single animation
• Directional attacks are now a thing.

I am very curious, however.. how much of this is just 'flash', IE things that look good but don't really make a gameplay difference, and how much actual depth does this add to gameplay?

Some particular thoughts:

Was it mentioned if we can strategically de-limb certain Zeds in any of the interviews/previews so far? If so, are they avoiding the mistake many games with limb-damage make, where it's easier and faster to just kill the enemy by targeting the head than even bothering to chop an arm or leg off?

Will weapon combos be something that requires timing to execute and provide greater damage or faster overall attack speed, or are they just less-repetitive attack animations?

Will directional attacks have some general function? Like sideways attacks hit multiple targets, upwards attacks make stronger Zeds reel back, Downwards attacks do more damage?

Will specific Zeds, or Zeds engaged in specific actions take extra damage from attacks from a certain direction? IE, is it somehow better to do a downard attack on a crawler (or a side attack if he's on the wall, or upwards if he's on the ceiling) than to just aim at him and do any attack? Are gorefasts vulnerable to upwards attacks since they have no lower jaw and you could probably get to their brain pretty easily that way?

Will your attack be interrupted or staggered, ala Darksouls, if you strike a hard surface mid-swing, requiring you to use directional attacks appropriately to avoid that?

Will tougher Zeds attempt to block or catch melee swings, perhaps? Is it a very bad idea to take your sword to a Scrake's chainsaw (if they're still around and still have chainsaws) or get it caught in a Fleshpound's spinny blade doohickeys?

And to bring back an issue I made a whole other thread for... when you engage something with a Chainsaw will you really stick it to them on contact and let the blade dig in, or just swipe at them like it's... not a chainsaw?



(I know official answers are unlikely here, but we can discuss these matters as a community, eh?)

 

[Stickeys]

I dunno, but those are some pretty good ideas.

I had an idea that maybe gore fasts would be able to block melee attacks with their arm sword thing. This way they would need the help of other players. I always find that bezerkers will just run off and do their own thing, which isn't doesn't really fit in with the whole teamwork theme.

 

[Spindletop]

Well as we are aware there will be new powers for enemies on harder difficulties. This implies that teams will have to be more strategic and coordinate to defeat the zeds. Perhaps the higher the difficulties are, the more strategic combos and tactics might come into play?

As for the dismemberment I am sure head shots will not be as easy (with other weapons) as they are for the Sharpshooter's perk assigned guns. Maybe de-limbing and dismemberment would make for good tactics for the close range Berserker.

I can imagine as the difficulties get harder zeds will start using better tactics against the players. IE: Scrakes and Gorefasts blocking to counter melee attacks. Fleshpounds might run at you and knock you down maybe even knocking your weapon out of your hand making you scramble to to avoid his wrath. Crawlers and Stalkers could start dodging and avoiding your attacks somewhat forcing you to use weapon combos and mix things up in order to make gameplay more interesting.