The upcoming shooter Predator: Hunting Grounds (PS4) could have had an exciting feature, but it would have violated laws. Therefore, you cannot imitate the voices of opponents from Teamspeak as Predator.
What is Predator: Hunting Grounds anyway? Predator: Hunting Grounds is an asymmetrical multiplayer shooter for the PS4 from IllFonic, the creators of Friday the 13th – The Game.
There, an elite soldier team of four players faces another player who embodies the Predator: The Predator is a warring alien with superior technology, who subordinates everything to the hunt.
The team must carry out paramilitary actions before the Predator catches them and makes them his trophies.
Predator should be able to tap into the enemies’ ingame voice chat
This is what the idea is about: The game places great importance on authentic character representation – especially for the Predator. Iconic weapons or abilities, like the shoulder plasma cannon or cloaking technology, are integral parts of the game. But unfortunately, a cool trick of the Predator will not make it into the game.
In the films, the cult alien is able to record and play back voices of its victims to create chaos, panic, and confusion within its prey. This idea was also discussed for the game, as Charles Brungardt, the CEO of IllFonic, recently explained.
They wanted to use this ability of the monster as a mechanic for the ingame voice chat of the game. There, soldiers can talk to each other while the Predator can comfortably sit on a tree and also cause all sorts of mischief.
This would be the perfect opportunity for the alien to record parts of the opposing voice chat and play them back while threatening its opponents – just like in the movie.
That’s why this idea was discarded: Unfortunately, the idea cannot be implemented like this. According to Brungardt, it is not technical reasons that prevent implementation, but rather legal aspects.
“We could not implement it because you cannot record someone without their permission,” said the CEO of IllFonic. This feature would therefore have violated existing laws and thus be illegal.
These are possible alternatives: Even though the original idea cannot be implemented, the developers are brainstorming possible alternatives.
It sounds like some fixed, iconic voice lines from the films could return instead. As Brungardt explained: “You can sit on a tree and then give a ‘Do you want a candy?’ from you.
Other interactive variations are also conceivable. The team members could communicate in samples, meaning predefined sentences, or something similar. They really want to implement it, as it would have such a great impact, according to the CEO.
Here you can watch the gameplay reveal of Predator: Hunting Grounds on the PS4:
Would you like to see an implementation of this idea in some other form in the game? Or is something like that absolutely unimportant to you?
