Muttrah gameplay feedback
Posted: 2012-01-17 19:08
The map as it is currently is getting very repetitive and boring.
What it comes down to almost every match is a stalemate between West City and North City. Eventually the MEC will push the USMC back because of their superior infantry (G3 just overpowers the M4s mostly) and capture North City and possibly even Docks.
What might be one of the problems here is that the MEC have 3/4rds of the map to build and hide FOBs in. They can build them way back if they have to, so it's fairly impossible for the USMC to effectively find and overrun them. The trucks are, compared to the Hueys, very quiet and can go anywhere on the map unnoticed. The USMC however are almost always directly compromised because the Hueys give them away. Also, the North City and Docks areas have very limited FOB building possibilities. Only a few places are suitable and all of them are well known.
- Slow down the MEC so the main fight will be between West City and East City (Mosque)
One major fix could be to give the MEC an extra flag, or do something else to slow them down significantly early on. This will result in the USMC being able to capture and secure West City which brings the main fight further into the city. This gives the USMC room for more FOBs and will give them a much greater chance.
It further improves because East City is much harder to defend than West City. The latter is kind of cut off, and only accessible by choke points which favor the defending team. East city can be flanking by at least twice as many approaches and it even leaves the USMC with the possibilities to build FOBs down to the south, as East City is much closer and the walk from a FOB down south to the flag is shorter and less dangerous.
- (Perhaps) Give the USMC one less Huey and one more logistics truck
This will give the USMC more opportunity for proper logistics and will make building FOBs easier as the trucks are harder to track. One truck means it's only used in emergencies right now, and almost never will someone make a logistics squad or even use it. This leaves the team without proper FOBs (yes, they have Hueys but using these for all logistics takes too much time; they also can't hide the crates properly which makes the FOBs very easy to spot) and leaves the AAVPs without field repairs.
- Remove acces to the hills
This is a major flaw in the map IMO. Snipers are annoying but not too much of an issue, but a HAT up in the hills means end of game for all USMC vehicle support. Landing choppers are easy pray as well and can almost always be seen from on top of the hills. It also gives manpads a big advantage.
I'm not sure if it's fair to still give the USMC acces to the hills but it does make more sense for them to position there given the fact that they have choppers. Still, this would only mean access to the northern hills. The western ones should be a no-go for both teams.
- AAVP-7s
These things bother me. They are more dead weight than actually worth something in urban combat. The MEC has two HATs, two TOWs and twice as much APCs of which any can bring down an AAVP fairly easy. They are slow, clumbersome (not to mention they're very tall and the bloody turret sticks out above everything but a skyscraper - which is an easy shot for a HAT) and can't give any proper infantry support or even transport without a taking significant risk of getting a rocket in the face.
This might be because currently the MEC will dig in south of the main road that seperates North and West city which limits the AAVPs significantly because all roads in North City lead straight down to the South. There is no safe approach whatsoever. West City has a lot more bends and less straight roads so resolving the main fight issue might also resolve this.
However, I'm still unsure whether the AAVPs should stay. Personally getting the LAV-25 (at least one) back could give the USMC more of a chance. The LAV-25 can at least properly engage the MEC's APCs and will do much, much better in the transportation role. Not to mention it has way more survivability due to its speed.
The USMC can really use proper asset support, as the Cobra often cannot do much. Getting rid of the APCs and possibly a FOB or two is all, but it cannot hold ground of properly clear it. This is where armor comes in normally, but the AAVPs kind of suck at it.
- A ramp at the repair station
Nothing major, but when the MEC are attacking Docks, and the AAVPs could make a difference, they can't get into the docks properly. They either have to swim around the water dike and risk getting shot while flaoting in between the docks, or land on the beach and drive all the way around the fence which leaves them in North City which is most likely overrun by the MEC. A ramp at the repair station (like one part of the fence fallen down to 70-80 degrees so it can drive over into docks but no one can get out this way) could resolve this.
What it comes down to almost every match is a stalemate between West City and North City. Eventually the MEC will push the USMC back because of their superior infantry (G3 just overpowers the M4s mostly) and capture North City and possibly even Docks.
What might be one of the problems here is that the MEC have 3/4rds of the map to build and hide FOBs in. They can build them way back if they have to, so it's fairly impossible for the USMC to effectively find and overrun them. The trucks are, compared to the Hueys, very quiet and can go anywhere on the map unnoticed. The USMC however are almost always directly compromised because the Hueys give them away. Also, the North City and Docks areas have very limited FOB building possibilities. Only a few places are suitable and all of them are well known.
- Slow down the MEC so the main fight will be between West City and East City (Mosque)
One major fix could be to give the MEC an extra flag, or do something else to slow them down significantly early on. This will result in the USMC being able to capture and secure West City which brings the main fight further into the city. This gives the USMC room for more FOBs and will give them a much greater chance.
It further improves because East City is much harder to defend than West City. The latter is kind of cut off, and only accessible by choke points which favor the defending team. East city can be flanking by at least twice as many approaches and it even leaves the USMC with the possibilities to build FOBs down to the south, as East City is much closer and the walk from a FOB down south to the flag is shorter and less dangerous.
- (Perhaps) Give the USMC one less Huey and one more logistics truck
This will give the USMC more opportunity for proper logistics and will make building FOBs easier as the trucks are harder to track. One truck means it's only used in emergencies right now, and almost never will someone make a logistics squad or even use it. This leaves the team without proper FOBs (yes, they have Hueys but using these for all logistics takes too much time; they also can't hide the crates properly which makes the FOBs very easy to spot) and leaves the AAVPs without field repairs.
- Remove acces to the hills
This is a major flaw in the map IMO. Snipers are annoying but not too much of an issue, but a HAT up in the hills means end of game for all USMC vehicle support. Landing choppers are easy pray as well and can almost always be seen from on top of the hills. It also gives manpads a big advantage.
I'm not sure if it's fair to still give the USMC acces to the hills but it does make more sense for them to position there given the fact that they have choppers. Still, this would only mean access to the northern hills. The western ones should be a no-go for both teams.
- AAVP-7s
These things bother me. They are more dead weight than actually worth something in urban combat. The MEC has two HATs, two TOWs and twice as much APCs of which any can bring down an AAVP fairly easy. They are slow, clumbersome (not to mention they're very tall and the bloody turret sticks out above everything but a skyscraper - which is an easy shot for a HAT) and can't give any proper infantry support or even transport without a taking significant risk of getting a rocket in the face.
This might be because currently the MEC will dig in south of the main road that seperates North and West city which limits the AAVPs significantly because all roads in North City lead straight down to the South. There is no safe approach whatsoever. West City has a lot more bends and less straight roads so resolving the main fight issue might also resolve this.
However, I'm still unsure whether the AAVPs should stay. Personally getting the LAV-25 (at least one) back could give the USMC more of a chance. The LAV-25 can at least properly engage the MEC's APCs and will do much, much better in the transportation role. Not to mention it has way more survivability due to its speed.
The USMC can really use proper asset support, as the Cobra often cannot do much. Getting rid of the APCs and possibly a FOB or two is all, but it cannot hold ground of properly clear it. This is where armor comes in normally, but the AAVPs kind of suck at it.
- A ramp at the repair station
Nothing major, but when the MEC are attacking Docks, and the AAVPs could make a difference, they can't get into the docks properly. They either have to swim around the water dike and risk getting shot while flaoting in between the docks, or land on the beach and drive all the way around the fence which leaves them in North City which is most likely overrun by the MEC. A ramp at the repair station (like one part of the fence fallen down to 70-80 degrees so it can drive over into docks but no one can get out this way) could resolve this.