- Some weapons/grenade sound effects feel a little underwhelming. More beef please.
This this this.
A major part of making KF1's weapons feel good is that there was a great reaction for your action.
The Commando was my fave perk, but the Commando guns sound (relatively) pathetic this time around. The Varmint AR-15 while it sounds okay for what it appears to be, it looks like one of those guns you get in games that you throw away as soon as you find an alternative as opposed to something you can use all the way through, like KF1's bullpup. Despite being the Commando's weakest weapon, it was loud, and it had attributes that made it special such as excellent accuracy, 500-rd ammo pool, 50-rd mags, and almost no recoil.
The 9mm sounds weak. In KF1, while the 9mm wasn't exactly strong, it was loud, it kicked, it flashed, and it had an audible reload. The 9mm managed to feel empowering. All the guns in KF1 felt empowering but I'm not sure that's the case in KF2, the gore and animations make them feel empowering, but that's not quite enough. KF1's 9mm shots seemed to last longer and echo a bit (as did all KF1 guns) but in KF2 it's very abrupt and "meh".
It's less like "A GUN IS FIRING, YEEAAAH" and more like "this happened". It's too alike to many other FPS games out there. The gunshot is underwhelming, as if its just a confirmation that it was fired. KF1 was sharp, loud, percussive, and winded down after firing. The new 9mm (and presumably other guns) sound like something out of Counter-Strike rather than Killing Floor.
I have fond memories of using KF1's AK. It was thunderous, as if it was resonating within the metal halls of KF-Biolab whilst spitting fireballs. In the videos I've seen so far, the new AK is more like a feeble chattering instead.
Grenades in KF1 used to be righteously loud, disruptive, and highly attention-grabbing when they went off. In this video it's like they're grenades from Halo or something, as if they blend comfortably into the background rather than intrude on your immediate environment/senses like a shrapnel-loaded explosion should.
The sharp, bassy, low boom from the Handcannon was very welcome. In Counter-Strike, the Desert Eagle had only a boom, but in KF1, it began with a swift punch to the gut followed immediately by the "boom" and most other weapons followed that trend in their own unique way. It was the epitome of "oomph" and it set KF1's gunplay apart from all others. It's like Tripwire had added all these awesome ingredients for great gunplay, but overlooked just one that they had already gotten perfect once before. I'm confident a Handcannon in KF2 will look absolutely excellent, but I'm not confident on the sound.
I also have yet to try the SCAR, I remember it being commonly used as a semi-auto weapon for chaining up headshots but I see the people in the video spraying it like just another assault rifle, with headshots doing seemingly little. I'll save my judgement til I try it for myself, but from the videos, the Commando seems to lack the appeal it had previously. In KF1 a Commando would pick different rifles for the kind of shooting he's going to do, but at the same targets. The people in the video seem to just be hopping up to different damage tiers for nothing but spraying.
After seeing the footage, I'm seriously hoping that the option to disable zed-time's visual effects becomes available. That bloom increase in the snowy map was close to unbearably glaring. Disabling bloom alone would be welcome.
KF1 got noted for its excellent gunplay because it was a highly sensory experience. This time around the visuals and animations have been hugely improved, but I think the sound needs revisiting, at least let me try it out first.
Regardless of my criticisms, I'm looking forward to seeing more footage and eventually playing. :IS2:
