[2019] The Little Things Matter - and TD2 Delivers

I'm only level 22 so I'm sure there is more to discover, but I wanted to share some observations that may have been overlooked that I think make this game very special. I don't think any of these are really spoilers but I've hidden them in case you want to discover them for yourself. None of them have anything to do with the story.

EDIT: ADDED GIFS!!

• Weapon animations are accurate for small arms. (I do not own a gun, and do not know all of the correct terms so I apologize if I mess up on that). For those that are familiar with conventional fire arms, you'll know that many games do not accurately represent them. If you are familiar with how they work you'll understand what I'm talking about.
  • When you reload your weapon with at least 1 shell in the chamber, there is no need to release the slide or c*ck the gun since there is already a round in the chamber, and doing so is redundant. The game accurately does this and even adds the round in the chamber to your total number of bullets loaded. So the game shows an animation of your agent simply removing a magazine and replacing it. (This is why reloading a fresh gun adds a single round)
  • When you have fired all rounds and your gun goes dry, things change a bit. Some weapons will lock the slider in it's rear-ward location, others require rocking it back again to chamber the first round in the next magazine. This is again portrayed accurately in the game. Sometimes it can be hard to spot especially for M16/M4 variants (for these a button is simply pressed to release the slide and chamber the first round - it's subtle but it's there). It's most obvious with traditional semi automatic pistols such as the M9 (where you can see the slide is held back, and is released when the new magazine is inserted) or the FAMAS which animates the full rocking of the slide chambering the first round.

Reload of M1A with chambered round | With out Chambered Round

Reload of P45 with chambered round | With out Chambered Round

I look for these mechanics in every game that features conventional fire arms (real or fictional). The games that accurately portray this in recent memory include the Call of Duty Franchise and Titanfall 2. Even Destiny does not do this (although you could argue that these weapons aren't based on conventional fire arms)

• weapons display accurate cartridges remaining in a magazine
  • This pleasantly surprised me. When you fire belt fed weapons (LMGs) you can see the belt feed into the gun, and when you begin to run out of ammunition you can watch the end of the belt go up and into the weapon. Many games never bother to animate this. I was stunned to see that this was accurate, and worryingly watched the end of my M60 belt vanish into my weapon as the yellow Hyena with the axe didn't die as he walked in striking distance.

Gif of Infantry MG5 Belt drying up

• So naturally when I picked up my first G36 I had to check this. For those that don't know the G36 has a semi-transparent magazine that allows you to see the rounds inside it. I tested to see if it would accurately show the rounds being used up - and I was not disappointed. When you fire this gun you can actually see the ammunition inside the magazine gets lower and lower from use. This left my jaw on the floor. I never expected this kind of detail. (To the person that made sure the G36 magazine actually had bullets move inside the magazine - I appreciate that and now want to find a named end game variant to use all the time) I would post a gif showing this but I haven't found a G36 since level 10 - so it might be a while.
• Some weapons will begin to glow red hot after several Magazines of ammunition have been fired in quick succession. Some will smoke, and others will even radiate heat creating a distortion in the air around them. Gif of an ACR glowing red, with heat distortion
• Enemies are always doing something before your agent's interventions. They all have their own agenda.
• Patrolling, Scavenging, Supply Runs, and even guarding. This isn't a game where the enemies sole purpose for existing where they are is to kill you. Most every one is already doing something - lending a bit of realism to the game. Even stationary enemies that are on guard duty will have banter going. I saw a squad of True Sons on patrol and one of them was doing push ups while being berated by another!. Definitely makes the world feel more alive with believable enemies.
• I was horrified when I watched a patrolling squad of Hyena's kill a stray dog for fun - they even had banter about it. It's really cool to see NPC enemies interact with random encountered wildlife. (Those Hyena's ended up having a completely unrelated accident with a grenade.)
• Pulled these from u/FourEyes87
  • A spectacular bout of poor marksmanship lead to me suppressing, but not hurting, a True Son for an extended amount of time. He proceeded to scream "do I look like your goddamn ex or something?!". I've never heard that before or again.
  • An announcement in the White House that "off-duty guards must report to [Gate] immediately" isn't just for fluff. I witnessed several NPCs grabbing guns and walk to the appropriate section of the outer fence, taking up defensive positions. Once or twice I've had announcements about imminent attacks on certain sections of the White House, and enemies will indeed throw themselves at the defenses in that area.
• Enemies will move to flank you, and they will also communicate with their fellows to overtake you. I've heard lines such as The agent is healing! and I'm Reloading! and Grenade out. Some of these lines are a great way to telegraph to the player enemy actions and give us an opportunity to interrupt them. This makes every engagement unique and you feel rewarded for accurately countering telegraphed abilities.
• When walking through dusty or dirty hallways you actually leave footprints. I'm surprised they even bothered to do this.
• Straps, zippers, trinkets located on backpacks, holsters, guns etc... have their own animated movement when you move.
• Concrete doesn't just feature bullet holes, chunks of it will get blown off when fired at.
• variety in wildlife. I've seen your run of the mill crow - but I've also seen scavenging buzzards, and even a bald eagle!
• The weather is dynamic and impacts enemy encounters. Thunderstorms feel terrifically powerful, and at least with headphones have an amazing sound.

These little things all add up to a great immersive experience. I wanted to applaud the devs and let them know all these little things that were a pain to make happen I definitely appreciate. I really want to find a named variant of this to use forever in the end game. Not sure how to tag devs in the post but hopefully they will see it.

I [edited] love this game.

What little things have you discovered?!

External link →