Some ways to make the zombie mechanic more fair for both Nemesis and the survivors
The first thing that needs to be addressed is the randomness that can make zombies seem useless or overpowered depending on where they spawn. The most unfair place a zombie can spawn is next to a hook, so I feel like the best way to address this is to have zombies spawn in fixed places, preferably next to gens and loops. This would undeniably be a buff to Nemesis, so it would have to be balanced out by making zombies have more counterplay, and there are multiple options to go with.
The first option is to change zombie AI and movement speed so the idea of leading zombies away from generators and then breaking aggro is a valid option for counterplay that doesn't take years (hyperbole) to do. This counterplay option will still have risk, as the Nemesis will be able to find you easily since they can see the aura of the zombie you are leading away. I believe this is the best (but most time consuming to implement) option listed.
Another option is to increase the efficacy of existing counterplay options, namely dropping pallets on zombies to kill them. Pallets are a precious resource, and wasting one to kill a zombie that will just respawn anyway is a laughable counterplay option. If pallets killed zombies permanately, higher ranked players would definitely start using this counterplay option. However, if that change is made, it would have to be balanced out by giving the Nemesis more zombies. Add-ons like the one that respawns all dead zombies near an exit gate also would have to be changed to make sure that it revives permanately dead zombies too.
The final option I'll suggest is to make vaccines be able to be used on zombies to either stun them for a long period of time (like flashlights do) or permanately kill them. Vaccines aren't really worth searching for since it is such a long time investment for a minimal reward, since it's very easy to get contaminated again. If you go for the "vaccines permanately kill zombies" route, you will still have to increase the number of zombies and so on like I described in the above paragraph. I do not know much about the resident evil lore so I am not sure if this change is lore friendly or not. This also raises issues of how survivors will be able to inject zombies since zombies automatically hit you if you get too close anyway. This is my least favorite suggestion of the three, but I still thought it was worth suggesting. Nevertheless, I absolutely love this chapter, and this is coming from someone who has never played a resident evil game. The new perks and power is so creative and unique, so if they get balanced properly this might be this game's greatest chapter yet.
Comments