my thoughts on the alpha

i appreciate the "heavier" feel to everything(shooting, animations, realism based visuals, etc) in contrast to sp1. i wouldnt say either aesthetic is better than the other but its refreshing for a change. the "arcadey" aesthetic will always be there in sp1 and could return in future entries. graphics looks very nice. the sliding mechanic is cool. i like how the jetpack accelerates much faster than it did in sp1. i think the class split and class exclusive passive/ability is nice and make things feel fresh but at the same time they didnt go overboard and add too many class mechanics that would have made it feel like a hero shooter. it still feels like an arena shooter first and foremost, like the first splitgate, despite these changes. the netcode seems much better than it was in sp1. more than anything else, im glad bots are nowhere to be found, at least during my playing the alpha.

however, i didnt like the changes to the portal mechanics where you have such limited control over which portals you can keep open compared to the first game. in the first game you can decide whether to keep your yellow or purple portal open as long as possible and shut either at will with their designated close button. in sp2, they dont have designated inputs, whichever portal you opened before your previous portal gets closed whenever you open a new portal. you cant use portals as creatively as you could in the first game, basically. what really bugs me as well is that it feels like theres at least a second of lag between weapon switching and about a split second of lag when opening portals. portals are still very useful and essential to success like in the first game but it seems like the skill ceiling has been lowered somewhat as a result of these changes. the stages seem a little too conventional with less interesting portal placements compared to the first game. i much prefer finding weapons in stages instead of having them dropped onto the battlefield via sky drones. i also think the leaderboard should show non assist kills and deaths during games.

overall i enjoyed my time with the alpha. i think this game has potential to be successful, especially if it doesnt mishandle bots like the first game did.