As I continue to speculate on which properties Warner Bro’s Studio’s will likely add there patented Nemesis System to I have gotten to the one I’d be most excited to see.
I most recently wrote about Suicide Squad in the article above, but this article will focus on how a sequel to 2015’s Mad Max could use Warner Brother’s acclaimed game mechanic. It’s unknown if a Mad Max sequel is even being planned but in some ways I think it fits the Nemesis System better than the studio’s higher profile series.
The main reason I think a Mad Max game would be so well suited for a version of the Nemesis System is because Mad Max villains have many similarities to the orcs and trolls used in Shadow Of War. Both are eccentric, have bizarre names and titles and serve violent rulers. It would be relatively easy to make Mad Max gang members and war boys work within hierarchies split between different factions that suit the game’s narrative. The unusual naming and characterization of Mad Max characters would make it much easier to randomly generate enemies the way the system would need to. Realistic human names and traits are harder produce through randomization but that’s not an issue in a Mad Max title. Other orc traits could also easily translate to Mad Max enemies. The occasional gang member could have a flaming guitar. War Boys could use chrome to become enraged. They could have unique strengths, weaknesses, partnerships and rivalries that change based on how the player interacts with the world to make for a very investing interpretation of Mad Max’s setting.
I speculated that a version of the Nemesis System could be propelled by character deaths in a Suicide Squad game and capturing henchmen in a Batman game. However, I think Mad Max should be able kill enemies but not be able to be killed himself. Instead, when Max is on foot player defeats should result in Max losing all currency he is carrying and waking up in capture scenarios at certain probabilities that are influenced by upgrades. For example, the most likely waking point could be a cell in a large citadel that would take a while to escape from. Other options could find Max muzzled and strapped to a vehicle like the Max from Fury Road or in a cell in a smaller fort. Yet the best waking point would be a combat arena in smaller fort that would be somewhat like a thunderdome from the 3rd Mad Max film. This waking point is best for the player because a good performance in the arena could let a the player break even with or gain valuable resources. However, escaping from other options would have the player finding valuable parts and resources missing when they return to their vehicle. This would encourage players to try and avoid defeats, and use skill points to make them more likely to re-spawn in the better scenarios or make their vehicles lose less resources to looting. This would hopefully provide a good balance for players in that they would try and avoid the consequences of defeats while on foot, but would still enjoy the capture scenarios if they don’t think too hard about why enemies keep capturing Max despite his escapes.
On the other hand, their should be different consequences for defeat while in vehicles. Chase missions should have minimal consequences or reload at a checkpoint, but failure in vehicle combat should leave Max’s vehicle as a wreck. Therefore it would be strategic for players to have a lot of currency on them before starting vehicle combat so the can purchase a new vehicle if things go wrong. This would naturally incentivize players to pursue vehicle missions when their currency is high but favour missions on foot when currency is lacking. I’m no game designer but I think it’s clear that incorporating Nemesis System elements over concepts that existed in the previous game would be something a lot of players would be eager to play.
About the Creator
CK
Glad to have a place to write my thoughts down
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