- Visceral Montreal is aware of the different reactions to the series’ past games
- Executive producer Julian Beak on the character changes: “It’s much more straightforward to start with characters that are in the universe but aren’t the ones you had before”
- New characters, setting, more mature tone
- Most of the team is new to the series
- Salem and Rios are in the game, and they’re a big part of the story
- At the same time, they’re both taking a background role as top executives of the Tactical Worldwide Operations organization
- New duo: Alpha and Bravo
- Game is set in Mexico, a nation besieged by extraordinarily violent drug cartels
- Tens of thousands of people have been murdered by cartels over the past 10 years
- This includes people involved in the drug trade and civilians
- There are decapitated bodies left in streets
- Mutilated corpses hung from public places to serve as warnings
- Won’t learn of Alpha and Bravo’s real names in the game
- Alpha is a veteran of multiple armed conflicts with the U.S. military and special forces
- Wasn’t until Rios offered him the opportunity to use his tactical skills “for good” that he considered becoming a mercenary
- Alpha considers himself to be more of a soldier or operative than a mercenary
- Alpha is a born leader
- He thinks of T.W.O. as a chance to bring military precision and ruthless efficiency to a para-military environment
- Bravo served one tour with the U.S. army
- After this, he decided military life wasn’t suited for him
- Bravo took odd jobs and was a freelancer with various private military companies around the world after returning to the U.S.
- T.W.O. headhunted Bravo after a high-profile urban rescue operation in the Balkans
- He jumped at the chance to work with Elliot Salem
- Compared to Alpha Bravo is more about quick reactions, instincts, and raw talent to keep alive in battle
- Visceral is treating the cartel wars maturely
- Alpha and Bravo won’t fix everything for Mexico
- Won’t he high-fiving during battle or anything like that
- Game begins with T.W.O. taking on a mission to protect La Puerta’s mayor, Juan Angelo Cordova, as he attends a political rally
- He’s only been in office for a short while but has already made enemies by taking on the La Guadana cartel
- This is a fictional organization also known as the Scythe
- The group murdered Cordova’s family in retaliation for his anti-cartel stance
- La Guadana has been built by Esteban Bautista into an international crime syndicate by gun running and drug smuggling
- It’s also a strong paramilitary force
- T.W.O. has grown since the events in The 40th Day in terms of size and reputation
- T.W.O. doesn’t operate in secrecy
- Visceral wants to provide context for the big moments
- Alpha and Bravo face difficult choices that pit following orders against moral instincts
- The two team up with GAFE and Salem and Rios during the story
- Mostly operate without backup
- Cover is important in the game
- Need to press a button to duck into or behind safety, unlike past games
- Other cover zones are marked with an icon
- Press the cover button to move into the new area
- Can cancel the animation by moving in another direction
- Also use the cover button to vault over low objects including air-conditioning ducts
- Use it together with the run button to make Alpha/Bravo move up and over smaller cover items
- New HUD direction
- Aggrometer seems to be gone
- Overkill feature brought in so that players can trigger back-to-back moments
- Overkill reinforces and rewards co-op
- When your partner activates Overkill at the same time, you go into Double Overkill
- Action slows down, audio comes to a crawl, and the screen takes on a sepia tone
- This makes your shots more powerful
- Double Overkill ends after roughly 15 seconds
- Cooperating can lead to more money and Overkill points
- Adjust weapon accuracy and recoil with upgrades
- Two main orders for the AI: follow and advance
- AI is more aware of how combat is unfolding
- AI will be balanced so that it’s tactically useful while not completely taking over
- Players can choose which part they want to play when the characters are split up
- AI interface still being worked on