Firstly I really like the walking animations of the bots.
The runner (dog) bot is awesome and I would suspect partly based on some dog mocap. Just sitting there hidden on the hill overlooking the camp that takes you to Alpine Unrest via the boat, seeing the runners pacing up and down and they turn, look around etc is just superb.
The bit that really breaks down for me is the walk to run transition, especially on the Hunters and bigger bots.
They tend to go from 1 --> 100 mph in a second. They are able to change direction on a pinhead. There is no sense of weight and inertia as they change direction or speed.
It would be awesome to see this worked on as it currently breaks the illusion for me on what is really a very well done game (give or take the inventory UI - separate thread on this I think).
To illustrate the point, there are lots of videos of Warhammer 40k space marines around on YouTube. The Space Marines are big and imposing wearing heavy power armour but most of the videos have them moving around as if there is little to no weight (the wearer is not really encumbered - which could be written off to the tech, training and power of the Space Marines themselves). What is missing is the sense of weight and power in relation to their surroundings. This is clearly a generalisation on the vids I have seen and not intended as a criticism of the animators in any way.
Now, when I take a look at (don’t have the link so please google it) 'The Lord Inquisitor - Grey Knights Teaser", the difference is clear with the animation portraying a sense of power and weight of the armour by the the bounce in the walking. I really feel like there is that weight there. Sure the sound design also helps but the combined package sells it to me.
Now, that is a video and this is a game. There are clearly differences but it is just to illustrate how the animation can better sell the reality of the concept and to me GZ is a bit lacking there, especially when the bots start to move fast / turn at speed.
Ok, so above is a big chunk of text on this but it is because with a bit of work on this subject I believe the bots could be some of the best in video games I have seen recently and I would so like for this game to be up there with the best.
