I really, really like Enlisted. I love the map design, really great, love the WW2 theme, love the attention to detail and innovation (flamethrowers so cool). The immersion is good, I really feel like I’m on a virtual Easter Front sometimes (see what I did there??). I want Enlisted to do well and play it for years. The guns feel amazing. Art assets look incredible. Sound design is great, for example shooting people with a Kar98k sounds so satisfying. Really so much potential!
I bought in to CBT, I bought in to Tunisia, I bought in to Stalingrad, I have renewed premium already…once, maybe twice, but point is I am also premium (all while being a War Thunder premium as well, and a War Thunder Old Guard, so have experience with Gaijin published/distributed games, I know Enlisted is not Gaijin developed).
So, I say all this from a place of respect, playing and enjoying Enlisted and hoping it has loooooongetivity of War Thunder. BUT…
There are some things, especially about Stalingrad, I just can’t stand and are starting to cause resentment and may drive me away. Some of them are bigger gameplay issue. Generally speaking, while there are some things about Enlisted I love, there are some structural game play issues, like the game design around separate campaign progression, unlocking things over and over again, etc…I’m SURE these things are all on Darkflow and community’s radar already, but whether or not they’re viewed as issues to fix, or working as designed, is a different topic.
For example:
-
Having to unlock everything over and over again. I already know what loadouts I want, etc, but have to unlock all the equipment again, etc… just makes me die a little inside.
-
It’s a total steam roller. The meta is so strong, in Stalingrad (event), and (some) other campaigns, you essentially already know if you will win or not based on the team/campaign you pick. Playing Axis in Stalingrad (event) , is essentially a race to see who can run fastest through the map (for Axis) to the other side. I just had a complete game of less than ~5 minutes, which prompted this post that I had been stewing on for awhile.
-
Progress is so fast in Stalingrad, impossible to really customize squads, get better weapons, etc… unlock progress is just to fast. I know this sounds like an odd one, just my feeling.
-
The bomber mechanic. To much shaking, to many red circles, just to much. What game play purpose does this mechanic serve? Smoke for Radio men was such an innovative, cool, tactical introduction, bombers, shaking, red circles blaring sirens are just …ugh. Please introduce more things like smoke, less things like bombers.
-
The game will never draw players in if it’s perceived as P2W. And let’s be honest here, whether or not you think Enlisted is P2W, there is a not insignificant number of people who think it is.
In one of the discords I’m in , some people were speculating whether the Stalingrad event is meant to be fun, or is more for balance and map flow checking. That’s not a good sign, “is this meant to be fun”. Incidentally, I’ve also heard some speculation if the campaign system is a place holder. Just a very, very small sample size of players, but it could be indicative of a wider held view regarding Enlisted Events and campaigns.
I WISH I could get more in to my individual soldiers, like take people across campaigns, have medals for them etc, and I WISH the campaign system was better. Having to unlock things over and over again, is just…bad game design (to say nothing of splitting the player base so much). I WISH, I could just have a play button, and then go in to a map/campaign, like WT. Sometimes I’d be like “this is my favorite campaign and map”, sometimes I’d be like “I hate this campaign and map”, but PLEASE Darkflow, do SOMETHING! I love your game. I want it to do well, to play it and shovel money at you for years to come, but there are some structural elements of your game that are just not fun. Meant with respect.
I guess this is a wall of text, with no one getting to the end, but thanks if you did. I have ~9 days of play time, less than many, more than some, so feel experienced enough to have strong views about above I wanted to share.