Let’s talk about it, considering that the vehicles are classified as supply stratagems and some are only available in the various DLCs, the answer is yes, but the real question to which I refer is: Does their driving physics FITS with the gaming environments? For me the answer is no, and I say this as a lover of sim-arcade racing games, but this is just a personal opinion. In fact, what i’m not going to critize is the ratio of weapons/armor that I think is balanced in all vehicles (except in the TD-110 Bastion, which when compared to AT-47 Anti-Tank Emplacement, about a shot fired at something within the cannon, the TD-110 receives a serious damage, almost destroys the vehicle itself, but if taken individually it would make sense, perhaps it should be balanced imo) What is critical instead is the mobility, they in fact have a poor maneuverability, or if we wanted to see from my perspective, not adequate to the game environments (It’s as if the maneuverability of the vehicles was calibrated for larger spaces); and at the same time a generalized slowness both in the movements and in the speed of gait. For these reasons, the vehicles cannot be adapted for the more difficult levels, when a higher speed of action is required, not to mention the 13-15 levels where it’s practically impossible to use them.
Now, I would like to divide all the vehicles into two macro-categories (Exosuits and Shared Vehicles) of which this last category divided, in turn, into two micro-categories (4 seats and 2 seats) in this way we can see case by case.
Exosuits
From the name exoskeleton and the aspect of a MECH, one would expect to replicate the movements of a Helldiver, but it’s not. The clumsy movements of the machine body and the gait speed make them a burden for the rest of the team, especially when there is more than one in the field. In my opinion the Exosuits should have the speed of a running Helldiver or incremental: from standstill to 5 seconds walks, from 5 seconds onwards, runs.
Shared Vehicles
These vehicles should bring together the forces of the team, instead they are the bone of contention, let’s see why.
4 seats
The APCs are the worst vehicles in the game in my opinion (always from the point of view of mobility), because they have a very bad steering! The turning radius is so small that it is impossible to perform a 180 degree reversal without colliding somewhere. There is no synchrony between the movement of the analog and the wheels! It makes the perception of vehicle trend much more complicated, so you are always stuck with something, and don’t tell me it’s a question of skill because you don’t see where the vehicle will turn. I also noticed a slight asynchrony between walking speed and wheel rotation speed (but this could be spoiled by the PS Vita version)
I invite you to see how can be pushed an APC to “do a donut” in real life. I’m sorry if can hurts to someone, this video is just an example, any real life reference is purely casual. (you have to see just what the driver do, if you pick out from the situation it’s a bit fun lol) https://youtu.be/UtfL54BLV7s
2 seats
- TD-110 Bastion
This vehicle faithfully replicates the commands and movements of a real modern tank, but the speed is that of a 2084 tank? And above all, is it adequate to the speed of the game? I don’t think so.
- MC-109 Hammer Motorcycle
Same problem as the APC, the turning radius is very tight, it is really difficult to make a 180 degree reversal at low revs, while it seems to be reviewed what happens during a drift.
In conclusion, everything that is needed for vehicles is a balancing work (always from the point of view of mobility) with all the other elements of the game. The goal should be in my opinion to increase a bit maneuverability and speed of them, which would be compatible with the mobility of a Helldiver as a result is less frequent to get stuck in the surrounding environment. Probably these are just “words to the wind”, because that was how the developers designed the vehicles, but I think they have a lot of potential and deserve a better place in HD.