DZR 2 - Demo - Xbox Impression
Played through about 15 rooms last night..
Overall
Very impressed and this is honestly now my most anticipated title even over GTA6.
Controls
The defaults were WAY too fast and "twitchy" but after playing with them a bit, found the combo that was perfect. Aim acceleration off. Sensitivity lower to like, 75/55 (IIRC?). The aim assistance or whatever could be just a liiiitle bit less "sticky"; it works well, but there are times where it sticks so hard you can be moving directly off and away from an enemy and it will still pull your camera to be centered on them. (i.e. a bit too magnetic) (p.s. did not adjust any of the auto aim / assist settings).
Dodge
I find that mapping dodge to A : which is far more useful given how important and often dodging is during combat. I map jump to clicking the Lstick which is also mapped to a button on the back of the controller. I tried mapping jump to B.. but given the muscle memory of B very often being crouch I end up fumbling with it.
Everything else is responsive and crisp!
Visuals
Just love the look of the game.. bright, crisp, sharp, cool enemy designs, good weapons and effects. Love some of the new room "environments" and ESPECIALLY love the look of things like the lounge or areas with the lit signs (more on that later).
It would be cool if things had some more "destruction" to them.. the TV/screens shatter, for example, but in the bar/lounge the bottles don't break. If things like seats and signs or other parts of the environment looked like it was damaged from weapons fire that would be cherry on top.
Sound
You've done a great job with the audio.. weapons sound punchy and mean, there's satisfying sounds from enemies when they get hit / die, there's some good ambient sounds: well done. I found I didn't like the music as much as I did from the first game.. but honestly, after a while I ended up turning that off anyhow to focus on the sounds of the "environment" and do that with many games.
Other
I like that you can sell / buy / upgrade some of those items and perks in that vending machine. Nice touch.
Like the redesigned fabricator, although some sizing tweaks would help where now and then things get obscured because a popup blocks the thing that's under or next to it. Minor.
Planty
I love Planty. Thank you for keeping Planty in the game.
That's all for now.. but hey, splendid work by the team on this. I can't WAIT for the full game. The first was one of the best coop shooter experiences I've had in a long time and was absolutely something that just didn't quite check the boxes in other titles.
PS
... if there was a more contemporary / cover shooter sort of title with this same engine.. have you ever played the Division 2? There's this thing called the Summit.. a skyscraper with 100 (random) floors that you battle through. I'd lamented many times why they didn't expand on that, or why another company hadn't just taken that sort of idea and expanded it. Guns, attachments, and then just random / procedural floors to just enjoy some action. Take some of the ideas from roguelites and combine them with something like Terrorist Hunt from Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. I don't need (or want) PVP. I don't need to have to go on a forum to find out what the meta and super unlockable grindable parts farming crafting thing is. Just wanna blast some bad guys with a friend or two (or alone) with a whiskey at the end of a work day and not be mired in six hours of buying and selling stuff at a vendor. Choose a direction, grab some guns, and blow away some bad guys that isn't in the same 5 maps.
Anyway... EXCELLENT job even on the demo! Cheers to the whole team on this, it's an absolute day 1 purchase on this end.