In the game, Max is wandering the wasteland when he runs across the War Boys of the brutal tyrannical warlord Scrotus. They steal his Interceptor and leave him for dead. Max links up with a deformed hunchback "blackfinger" (mechanic) named Chumbucket, who believes Max was sent to him by "the Angel Combustion" to help him complete his Magnum Opus, a customizable vehicle. Along the way, Max helps various survivor camps collect resources, dismantles Scrotus' hold over the wasteland, and despite his best efforts, starts to re-connect with humanity.
I played the game and actually really liked it. It didn't try to re-tell any stories from the franchise, and only used concepts from Fury Road to give it a vague relevance to that year's movie. (Scrotus is allegedly Immortan Joe's third son, but is unfit to rule the whole empire because of his rampant brutality.) Collectibles and other locations that you could explore built on the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max, giving you a sense of just how fucked up the world was before the end came, and how much worse things got afterward.
But there are some things I would introduce if I could have made the game. More below the break.
What Would I Change?
Well, the game itself was pretty solid, as I noted. I wouldn't really change much of the gameplay or story. But what I would do is add the Nemesis System. This system was introduced in 2014's Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (itself an excellent game), tracking the ranking of the enemy forces, and allowing enemy soldiers who distinguished themselves (usually by defeating you) to get promoted and develop unique characteristics.
In Shadow of Mordor, you could get killed by a random orc, let's say he's named Ragdûg. After Ragdûg kills you, he gets promoted, becomes a captain, and earns himself a sobriquet, such as "Ragdûg the Unclean." With his promotion, he gets an upgrade in gear, a more unique character model, and actual characterization. You could even run into Ragdûg in your explorations of the map, and have further interactions with him. You could kill him, to avenge yourself after he'd defeated you, or you could let him defeat you again so he could get promoted further. Letting such enemies get higher levels before killing them meant they would drop more powerful loot. The interactions between the enemy and your character would get subtly more nuanced as they went, as well.
The Nemesis System is actually a really cool mechanic that I wish was being used in more games than just the Shadow series. (It's getting an overhaul and upgrade with the sequel Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, which releases later this year.) And I think it would work in the setting that Avalanche Studios created for their Mad Max game.
How It Would Work
One of the other things that was put into the Mad Max game was Griffa. A mysterious drifter that Max encounters in the Wasteland, Griffa's exact nature is never explicitly made clear in the game. He seems to know a lot about Max's backstory and can help Max unlock his potential. (i.e., he helps you unlock the skill tree and its assorted perks.) But Max seems to be the only one who sees him, as Chumbucket will occasionally mutter about Max's "wandering off to talk to himself" when you go visit Griffa's locations. This is only strengthened by the fact that when Max goes to visit Griffa, the rocks and walls around him will be marked in tribal-esque patterns, but after you unlock your skills for that visit, Max will wake up alone, and the patterns will be gone.
Since we can't use the same in-story explanation for Max coming back from the dead as we can in Shadow of Mordor, it would come down to Max collapsing or fainting or otherwise being on the brink of death, and then awakening later at one of Griffa's locations. The drifter has patched Max up and sends him on his way, and Max can summon Chum (and the Magnum Opus) to himself by launching a flare. Chum can wail and exclaim about Max's "miraculous survival," or whatever, and no one would be the wiser.
And the enemies who Max fights? They'd still be the War Boys. The Buzzards would still be in the game as your nighttime pursuers, but they wouldn't have the same "nemesis system" set-up. The War Boys roam the map as per usual, with a handful of strongholds where their forces are concentrated and where they send out patrols. If a War Boy manages to kill Max, they get the same kind of upgrade. They get promoted from "war pup" (generic cannon fodder) to full "war boy" with the black paint on their face, etc. They even get their own vehicle to drive around in, but it's just going to be one of the generic enemy vehicles.
If they get promoted again, they become "imperators," leaders in Scrotus' forces. They get further characterization, and now drive customized vehicles. They have a squad of support vehicles with lesser enemies as backup. If they get promoted again, they become full "warlords," and now run one of the strongholds, which Max would have to attack and fulfill certain conditions before the warlord himself comes out in his souped-up rig to get revenge on Max.
To make it worthwhile to players, leveling up such enemies would not only provide standard rewards (scrap metal/currency) but equippable perks to provide buffs and so on.
Any Other Changes?
There isn't really anything else I'd add to the story. The same map could work pretty well, and the only changes that would be required would be that the enemy strongholds wouldn't be emptied out after being defeated. Conquering enemy camps would still reduce heat and the amount of patrols, but there'd still be plenty of enemies roaming the area.
The story and other characters all still work pretty well and I wouldn't change them. It's just the addition of the Nemesis System that I think would fit very well in the setting. I do think the Nemesis System is a fantastic thing that was created by Monolith Productions, and I wish it was being used in more games than just the Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor series.
Well, one can hope.
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