Some suggestions regarding sounds and commentary from an RO2 vet

Hey guys, I've just got some suggestions regarding some of the sound design.

First off, the game is great, the gameplay is really solid and the gunplay is as satisfying as it always has been. My gripes, as a long time RO2/RS player, are just the things that strike me as very immersion breaking and kind of annoying.

First off, the in-game commentaries regarding the status of objectives: just remove them altogether. Its a bit jarring and distracting when you're running through the forest scanning for enemies, and a random voice in your head says 'scout, report in', followed immediately by 'we are losing alpha', etc. It wouldn't be so bad if there were radio beeps with each check in, but it's just a random disembodied voice. In RO2/RS these events (objective-related) were prompted with a short, soft drumroll, which was far more subtle and less distracting. I understand the need to notify players of changes in objectives, especially with so many conquest-esque maps, but just do it in a more subtle way, because these random voice-overs make it feel very arcadey, like I'm playing Quake. The simple drumrolls used in RO2/RS were fine.

Second thing is just the gun and explosion sounds themselves. Let me be clear - I'm not talking about the bullets, the whips and crack sounds are fine, but the sound of the guns themselves (or more specifically, the soundscape) are lacking. Everything sounds too muffled and low-pitched, nowhere near loud or sharp enough. People who are firing near me sound like they are cooking popcorn, not firing a rifle; if someone is shooting at me from fifty metres out, I should be able to hear it loud and clear, not muffled like a cap gun (though the sound fading out with a headshot is a nice touch). I'm not sure how to put it, the weapons just feel like they need more oomph, and should definitely produce far, far louder reports than they do currently. RO2/RS was fine in this regard, and look at Squad, too; the weapons sound sharp, loud, and powerful, even from 400m out.

Anyways, just wanted to get it out there; the biggest thing here is the voice over commentaries, it feels really out of place in a game like this. These are the only two things really bothering me about the game, otherwise its fantastic!



Some suggestions regarding sounds and commentary from an RO2 vet