Hi guys, in fashion of the Rewind Theater videos that IGN does, I decided it would be fun to fully analyze the contents of the video that the dev team recently uploaded showing their studio, what they're working on and out first sneak peak of the gameplay. Disclaimer: As the devs mention repeatedly, this is still a work in progress, and what's been shown does not necessarily have to make it into the final product. Also, please excuse the poor resolution. With that out of the way, let's start with this pic: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Asurael/CharacterSelection-LoadoutSelection.png Here we can see something Nick (Lead UI Designer) was working on, which looks a lot like a Character Selection screen or a Loadout Selection screen. Not much can be seen of it but maybe this is a start to what was mentioned that the UI will be designed to match the faction you're playing. Following up we can see this nice piece of artwork: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Asurael/DarkReaper.png So artwork should not be taken as confirmation of anything, but of course it would make sense that Dark Reapers would be one the Eldar's playable classes, filling the role of heavy support, and this artwork seems to back this up. I'm not sure if the front of the launcher has been cut by the screen or if this is another weapon, but for the most part it seems to be a regular Reaper Launcher. Then we get to see more artwork on the fullscreen: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Asurael/Heroes-Farseer.png Other faction artwork pieces were shown, but this own caught my eye as it suggests what hero classes we might get to see, and as I said earlier, artwork should not be taken as confirmation of anything, but the Farseer seems to suggest the obvious inclusion of this unit into the game, likely as a Hero class. Then we get a sneak peak to the design process of the level where we see the gameplay: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Asurael/LevelDevelopment.png This is the same stage that the team was play-testing later in the video, as can be evidenced by the Fortress of Retribution shown on the lower side of the screen that's seen later in the game, as well as the ominous castle in the distance. This seems to suggest to me that the Fortress if SM territory, mayb Dark Angels specifically given the Fortress. And so the ominous castle to the distance could probably be Chaos SM territory, if so, then frontlines will be much tighter that I originally expected. Then we finally make it to the Gameplay: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Asurael/LandingCrosshair.png Of course, at first we get to see some gameplay from the point of view of an Assault Marine. In this screen, we can notice a bit about how the UI might work for jump units. After a massive jump, you get to see a crosshair that lets you know where you're going to land, allowing you to correct your course as your are falling, similar to what can be seen in the game "Space Marine". Here we get to see some damage in action: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Asurael/DamageUI.png People have wondered about how health was going to be displayed and what damage is going to look like. This part of the video seems to suggest that you do get a health bar along with a "shields" bar, and your screen will start flashing brighter the more damage you receive, most likely until you die or stop to recharge your shield. This is also in line with modern shooters and the gameplay of "Space Marine". Now we see the full UI in action: Here we get a better look at the health and shield bar, most likely having the red bar for health and the yellow bar for shields. We also see that there's a cross-eye, but whether that's there permanently or to help the devs is unknown. At the bottom right corner you get to see your equipped weapons (in this case a Bolt Pistol and a Chainsword), as well your remaining Ammo and available Grenades. In this part of the video you actually get to see this CSM run out of ammo, at which point he opts to go full melee, most likely because he didn't have any other choices, meaning that he needs to find a point where to reload and find more ammo. Also, at the top right corner there's an Aquila-like symbol with a number, which corresponds to your team's remaining lives. Given the number of lives shown, it's likely that the limit is set for Squads. At the bottom left, over your health bar, you also get to see recent kills by other players, and whether they've been executed or kill the old fashioned way. Throughout the playthrough you also see moving Chaos eight-sided stars moving along the edge of the screen marking where your friends are, and when you're close enough, the objective will also be marked. Up next, we get a good look at the Drop Pods: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Asurael/DropPods.png Now we've known that players would be able to drop into the action by means of Drop-Pods (or whatever other means other factions use), and this seems to indicate players can be placed right into the action. In fact we see another drop-pod in the distance, suggesting multiple points of entry. However, we don't know how these would work in an ongoing battle and whether their landing points are predesignated (most likely they are). And a nice little Cannon for show: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Asurael/ChaosControlledCannon.png Here we get to see what looks like an AA cannon currently being held by the Chaos SMs. This seems to suggest that objectives have practical effects on the battlefield. Also, during the AMA it was asked if players would get to use these, and it was confirmed that they would, but how that would be done was still being figured out. Victory! http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Asurael/Victory.png Another victory for the Imperium. The illegible text beneath probably describes the conditions of this victory, but the fact that you get a victory screen seems to suggest that battles will work by means of consecutive "matches", where either of the participating factions get to win depending on the objectives they met, but whether this means the other team gets a failure screen remains to be seen, and we still need to see how this works when multiple factions are participating in a battle at the same time, can there be only one victor? or many? Happy times are to be had: As evidenced by this big smile, we can see that there's nothing sweeter than sweet sweet victory, and that it's good to kick Chaos' a**. I hope you guys enjoyed this rundown and please add any other info to this thread that you could take away from this video .
Also, I would like to make note of this screenshot taken from the first "Meet the Team" video: You can see that since this video, the UI has already evolved quite a bit, like we can see that the weapong icon at the bottom right seem quite different and smaller. The level they're in also seems to have a lot less work into it and much more on the open field. Also, MAULERFIEND?!
