The first time I saw the Hive was my uncontested favorite and most frightening encounter; it had the most impact and it delivered in a high-paced motion. There is only 1 reason as to why... [u]I wasn't able to properly see anything.[/u] Aside from the fact that my radar was blipping in nearly all red (all of that red has the effect of rendering it useless), the room itself in which I encountered them... [u]was pitch black[/u]. The Hive are essentially entitled to live in a dark place, and when they attack you in a dark location... the Thralls gain the most out of it. [b]Which is why it was such a huge letdown to see how brightly lit their moon tunnels were.[/b] Out of all of the tunnels, only one was pitch black. And that single tunnel... didn't have a single enemy. Why is the majority of their tunnels so dark?! It makes no sense! So basically, I'd recommend that more of their moon tunnels are so dark that you require your Ghost to see. [u]It's bad enough that I've only seen 3-4 flashlight locations so far, because it means that a great deal of potential has not been fully utilized.[/u] I want to see Thralls running at me in an thickness of darkness that only allows light to penetrate at least 5-10 feet through... I want to feel the pressure, and be reminded... that these are forces who embrace the darkness, and that their might threatens to quell the light of me and my Ghost... But I feel the important need to point something out: It got me thinking when I saw how eerily bright the hellmouth really was (along with a few other places). For a brief moment, I almost felt that perhaps it was they who embrace the light and were trying to do something good, which I stopped thinking when I fell back to thinking about the weird, creepy, moving barnacles, the piles of bones, and the fact that the Hive die and turn into soot and ash... So... dim the lights here and there, but leave enough to contrast what you might have been led to think about the Hive. The second thing I wish to point out, is the fact that the Fallen occasionally seem to strike me as... very blunt and dull, or at the very least, confused. It's easy to see why when you think about the way they act. Take one group of Fallen near the hellmouth; what are they doing? This particular group (that constantly respawn at or around the same place) [u] are just standing around, near nothing of significance whatsoever, [b]in their standard in-combat poses[/b][/u], while again, doing nothing else but standing there. (in empty space near no cover whatsoever mind you. Aren't these Fallen supposedly near one of the biggest locations in which the Hive gather, and should therefore, be thinking of potential combat ahead?) Which got me thinking "What the heck!? How could any race be so tactically stupid?" They're ruthless scavengers right? Why aren't they say... near something and scavenging it? (Where are the idle animations?) Maybe this group is on watch? Why aren't they standing upright, or on top of something for the best view and optimal protection? My point being... it's got to feel like they're acting like they've got a purpose being there, rather then just be these guys... who spawned there... at the same location... If they're on watch for enemies (like a person would likely do if they worked at a watch tower), make them act that way (they might have a scope of some kind). If by being on watch they are more likely to see their enemies, then I'd call that a success. If they're there on guard, make them unmoving or something. And most importantly... animations! I don't think I've ever actually seen a Fallen pick up or examine a single thing! They're just sitting there waiting for a person to come to them. (I'd also like to occasionally see a response group. A group of Fallen who are arriving to see what it was that exactly happened, or maybe are arriving to a radio message about hostiles. If the player is hidden, he might witness the Fallen examining the dead?) There's a bit of a shortage in the enemy's arsenal. Fallen: We've got blue slow-moving bolts that follow you, (sometimes poorly) aimed normal blue bolts, fast sniper-speed bolts that you never see enough of (some might disagree since these ones actually hurt compared to the others)... and we've got red shotgun cannon things that enemies rarely carry. (This is just as an example. Point is, it feels very weird that the wide arsenal of weapons the player can sometimes loot from the enemy, is not composed of the weapons that they are using.) Enemy positioning is too predictable once you know the area... you've got to mix it up a bit. Some patrol missions feel like they were put there as placeholders for 'things to do'. Here's an example: One of the missions at Old Russia is to go to The Divide, and examine the old tanks that were left behind there. You go there, you scan one tank with a Ghost animation that you never see in actual missions, and you're done. "Wait, what? But there's another tank over there, and a third one behind us. We didn't scan those..." Doesn't matter. Mission's done. This sort of thing makes it feel like you're doing a half-assed job for the mission. I wouldn't mind or care if I had to scan two more tanks for the mission, however brief it was. It makes no sense that so much of that particular mission was composed of just getting there though. Sometimes, these missions could stand to do with just a little extra... There's the lack of communication. Lets take the Tower that labels itself as the 'social hub'... [u]the absolute lack of any voice chat whatsoever[/u]... [b]strikes me as so weird and wrong![/b] I've actually formed more firesquads... outside... on the field. The idea that you need to form up a firesquad first to be able to talk to someone... well, that's a backwards way to do it. More importantly, the inability to socialize... at a social hub... is wrong too. Over near the shipright, there are a couple of nice club-like places over there. But they'll never get used in our current state since no one can talk to each other. Maybe I just want to listen to people or something; maybe hear some stories or news... I shouldn't have to group up with people to do that... I wouldn't care if it was optional, permanent, or if the user needed internet premium to use it. I'd just like to see some good method of communication get added in. (Maybe some more emotes too? I noticed that it's hard to actually sit on a couch and not look weird doing it. Also, I can't sit and wave at the same time... The lack of a how-to on forming up a firesquad was also weird too. I had to look that up online to find out... I failed to mention this at the top, but I think a few enemies could stand to be buffed, like Cursed Thralls for instance. They're not a threat to anyone with a gun OR a pair of functioning legs. Seriously... they glow, they're slow, and they're not very tough. They're not a threat to anyone but themselves and their own kind. Some normal enemies also tend to be very weak to headshots with scout rifles. Lastly, this also needs saying too: Gravity (and jumping) feels weird at times. On Earth, my jumps felt like Borderland level heights of jumping: a little floaty. [u]On the Moon[/u], I felt cemented to the ground! I find it unbelievable impossible that I can only jump as high as I could on Earth... [b]when I'm on the Moon[/b]. I really love this game. [b]I really do![/b] Back when GameInformer did a cover story on it, I got extremely excited about it! I was eating up every word of it! I love the Grimoire cards, especially as to how informative a few of them are. [spoiler]I was able to use the knowledge I have learned from my Grimoire cards to take down a Walker with incredible ease! I'd never have known about their necks have I never read it.[/spoiler] They're just so great at building a backstory, and as anybody could know, most Sci-Fi's don't do well unless they have some sort of backstory. Randal the Vandal. Enough said. I also love finding completely optional places like The Grotto. Exploration really is a fun part about the game. It's incredible, we just need a little bit more!