My top problems with Iron Brigade. Devs FIX!

[Okop]

1. UNSKIPPABLE DIALOGUE!

I have read your reasons and that you might work on it if you have the time but please please fix this. Maybe you could make it so if no one is in the game with you then you can just skip the cutscenes if your by yourself since working that between more than one players is more complex.

I realize you dont' have time to fix much if anything BUT PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR GAME AND YOUR FANS FIX THIS!!!! If this goes unfixed I really won't be able to stand playing your game and I want to so badly. This isn't really a story driven game and is made around replayability and playing levels over and over and this kind of thing would drive me absolutely mental if I had to hear this stuff over and over and over and over and over.

2. No break.

The game has no difficulty setting which is fine but many other tower defense games at least give you a break to start the waves. This game just STARTS. This game of all other needs a pause to walk around before the match begins or in between because in THIS game you are a giant slow moving robot. It makes sprint legs pretty much a requirement in every level and even that doesn't help. This also means players need to plan on the fly. That might be ok on higher difficulties, but as this game only has one then you should have anticipated players would want the choice and some would like a moment to plan things. Not 5 seconds.

3. No Map.

Perhaps it was a gameplay choice and this would be nearly impossible to add at this stage in post release but a minimap or gamemap would be so useful. Some levels have hills and obstacles blocking your view of seeing if enemies are coming behind you and it would just be so much better to get a layout of the levels and the paths.

4. Too subtle hints.

Aside from level memorization and the "recommendations" before selecting a level there isn't really a way to see what you'll be up against. Most other games just straight up tell you what enemies you'll be fighting in a specific map but this game doesn't. I found it frustrating and ended up watching videos of others playing the levels so I could see the enemies it had so I knew what to bring.

[RowenWindsong]

1. I totally agree, I mean i can understand them forcing you to sit through it once so you get the story but after that you should be able to skip it. This would be especially useful when farming certain levels with long cut scenes at the end.

2. I walk around with Fortification++ legs and Karlsson Mk 3 Chassis IE slow boat and I do just fine. So not sure what your getting at here but the 5-10 seconds between waves works just fine for my slow Trench. If I can do it in that then so can you lol.

3. A minimap with an active mob radar could be very useful, but it would also take some of the challenge out of the game imho. But I get where you're coming from.

4. I disagree here, both on the level select screen, the voice audio from the general, and the loadout screen's hints pretty much tell you exactly what you need on every level except for a few key levels. Those key levels are usually large fights or boss encounters. It's suppose to be fun, use trial and error. If the devs give you EVERYTHING then the challenge of the game has been lost. :p

[AntiFear]

I played this game for up to 80 hours or so on the Xbox 360 when it came out back over a year ago under its first name "Trenched" or "Entrenched" or something like that and I guess some of the complaints seem valid to me, but others not.

1. Yes, it is always annoying when you cannot skip dialogue. This is probably something which is a design feature that was inherited from the initial design for the Xbox 360 where the dialogue or cutscene times are used to pre-load the levels and create a feeling like there were no loading times.

2. Short breaks between waves could be difficult if you are not fully prepared or if you are playing for the first time, it is true. But I believe it is a vital part of the gameplay. Many other tower defense games either have no time limit to set up your defenses or have very long times which you always have to skip. This one rushes you to make quick decisions and for me that makes the game more fun.

3. Like another responder RowenWindsong said, this is also a feature which is there to add some realism and to make the game a bit different from other games. Maybe they chose it because so many games have the same copy and paste mini map. Maybe because they thought having the enemies highlighted on the screen in your view is a better more realistic way to play.

4. Disagree as well. I think the hints are there. Sometimes subtle, sometimes clear. But most levels are designed in such way that you can choose 2 or 3 unique defense/attack approaches. Either focus lots of resources on powerful cannons you carry, or you can choose to invest into powerful stationary "towers" Each approach in turn requires a unique mech build, like big and heavy "tank" or small and weak but powerful "tech wizard".


While I disagree with 3 out of 4 complaints you wrote, I realize that these opinions are subjective because every player plays differently and prefers their own style of gameplay. I totally understand if you wanted the game to be more streamlined and traditional.

[Okop]

Also....

Scrap disappears too quickly.

We're playing this on PC now. Usually more powerful than years old consoles. I'm pretty sure they can handle more things happening on screen like more and more scrap on the ground and remaining on the ground for some time. The scrap doesn't even last an entire wave before it vanishes wasting precious movement time that it takes me to go all the way over to it.

Always online GFWL.

I understand why they had to use GFWL but some other games that use it don't always require you log in meaning you don't have to always be online. By doing this it could limit the longevity of the game if/when the service for the online ceased and could render our games unplayable and forgotten to time. I'm not experienced on the subject so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about and this is not exactly the case but I hope I'm wrong.

PS: It would have also been nice to see jump legs in the game. I have beaten the main campaign and have yet to see such a thing but its annoying to have to walk all the way around small bumps/curbs when a little jump pack would give some added mobility. Just a thought.

[Ghostdog]

1. Imo the cutscenes in this game are really nicely done and quite cool for the first couple of times you play a map. However since this is the sort of game where you replay maps multiple times, could really do with some way of skipping or disabling them.

2. The gap between waves does seem very short (annoying when you have scrap spread around the map), but lends a feeling of urgency and relentlessness to the game. However would be nice if the gap between waves was configurable (say up to 30 seconds) for those who prefer a more leisurely pace.

3. Personally feel a map is unnecessary and would actually remove immersion to some extent.

4. As RowenWindsong said, giving you everything on a plate would detract from the game imo. Some intel is fine, but I wouldn't expect to be told the exact composition of enemy waves (unless we had psychic intel agents!).

[Badgermilk]

1. Games for Windows Live, an extra hurdle that does not add value to the experience, only grief.

2. Bugs, bugs and more bugs. Multiplayer is so unstable right now I can't believe they released the game to be honest. (single player seems fine for me).

3. Auto Aim, devalues the player skill.

4. 30 fps limit, makes the experience seem unrefined, choppy at times.

[Ghostdog]

Always online GFWL.

I understand why they had to use GFWL but some other games that use it don't always require you log in meaning you don't have to always be online. By doing this it could limit the longevity of the game if/when the service for the online ceased and could render our games unplayable and forgotten to time. I'm not experienced on the subject so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about and this is not exactly the case but I hope I'm wrong.


'Always online' would be a deal-breaker for me. Fortunately GFWL allows offline login and you can play offline (I have tried this with internet disconnected).