Some reviewers have criticized the game for being too pre-scripted, too linear and having poor AI. That after completing the first set of missions the others become repetitive. They are missing the point.
Tekki works on an entirely different mental and emotional level than other videogames. The fear is palpable as you progress through the game thanks to the saving feature. It is this, and not the controller, that makes it so chillingly realistic: without the fear of death, the possibility of the save game being erased, Tekki would have been one tenth the game it is now. It is because of this reason that it could only have worked as well as it does being pre-scripted, as opposed to non-linear with adaptive enemy positioning and AI. The game would have been rendered unplayable if the missions had any kind of randomization in them. On later missions, which are tough enough anyway, the possibility of encountering a rogue Behemoth or hidden Jaralacc would have been simply too terrifying for all but the most battle hardened pilot. There is a point in gaming where realism must be left behind, where the limits cannot be pushed further or the game would lose all elements of enjoyment. While Tekki puts us in as real a situation as possible, that genuinely makes us fearful of our own demise, to go any further would be to cross the boundary. Imagine if the attack chopper convoy from mission twelve suddenly swooped in whilst trying to destroy the battleship because it had called for reinforcements. Or if light enemy VTs could be sent in via an aerial drop at a moment's notice. Already frayed nerves would snap under such unpredictable tension. Even with enemy layouts memorized some players have trouble focusing, since at the back of their mind are they thinking ‘what if I don’t make it back after this mission?’ Mission nine (the one I was relegated on), has a slight degree of randomized elements, with the position of the enemy occasionally changing and even higher level mechs showing up randomly. This can frustrate; since enemies are not where one expects them to be, the mission becomes frantic as you run around wildly taking damage trying to find them, only to be taken out by a Behemoth that has suddenly appeared, or a Regal Dress that didn’t show up on radar.
I really loved this review, but the reasoning in the above passage is deeply flawed. John rightly praises the hell out of the game for erasing his saved data, thus heightening suspense and excitement; but he defends the lack of randomized elements, which, if included, would have heightened the suspense and the excitement even further.
His excuse: randomized elements would have made the game TOO hard.
My reply: well then balance that by giving the player more hit points or some shit.
It really is as simple as that. And the game would have had even more suspense than it does, as well as lend itself better to repeated plays caused by multiple deaths, without being any harder.
Oh well.
PS. Note that I haven't played the game yet. My criticism of the review is based entirely on game design principles.
