What if…?

Ever since NS2 was first announced, one thing I have always looked forward to is the hope of a new lifeform. We sadly weren’t able to get this – but I never gave up hope. Even now, I still dream of a sixth lifeform. Something totally new! And when I say this to people I hear something along the lines of … “What would it do though? the aliens already have most niches filled” …And to that my friends, I say: Hold my beer.

Below you will find 6 rough concepts of what I believe a new lifeform could look like and some examples of how it would play. I hope you all enjoy theorizing about these as much as I enjoyed making them! But, as a disclaimer, these are only ideas at this point. We have not as of this moment decided to pursue making a sixth lifeform.

Specimen One

I imagine this guy having a sort of mid-range attack with the tentacles on his back. But the primary fun factor for him would be movement- Comboing the jump with his grapple ability, I envisioned swinging around the map a bit like spider-man. He could also potentially use them to close distance very quickly by grappling directly onto an enemy.

Specimen Two

This creature I envisioned would have it’s bread and butter in it’s “mage”-like abilities – combing certain abilities to enhance each other. Drop a pool of acid and then ignite that acid with your spit attack, etc. Area denial or dangerous ambushes, there’s a lot of possibilities to explore there. And with his ridiculous back legs, of course, he’d perhaps be able to “super jump” and even chain this against walls to ping-pong down hallways or off of ceilings to setup his dangerous acid pools.

Specimen Three

This elegant fellow was made with some feline vibes in mind. Graceful and deadly fast, it would be almost a fade-like alternative. Dashing at blazing speeds, the nasty horn on it’s snout would make for a powerful opening attack, perhaps jarring aim or adding a short snare. It’s saber-like fangs could have a damage over time element, similar to a lerk bite – however this “bleed” effect could perhaps only damage you if you move. It could have things like a deadlier version of a skulk’s leap, being a damage based ability as opposed to movement. And of course, what kind of deadly feline-like creature wouldn’t be able to climb walls and enter vents?!

Specimen Four

A ranged fighter, this lifeform would have its bread and butter in how it moves. A time honored FPS classic, I imagined this thing’s play-style centering around it’s ability to “rocket jump” by propelling itself with it’s own projectiles through the air. It could have multiple types of projectiles or even cooler: Brock first looked at it and suggested it could use soundwaves instead of physical projectiles!

Specimen Five

This dude is a gorge’s big brother. I imagined this lifeform as being an offensive support, as opposed to the gorge’s defensive style. Scouting tools, brood mines, a dash of disruptive abilities and being a formidable fighter itself, this thing would be anything but helpless against marines.

Specimen Six

This bundle of fun I envisioned being a sort of Fade-alternative. Where the fade is a fast, deadly assassin, this lifeform would be a structure-busting bruiser capable of disrupting the enemy and bringing an element of chaos in its wake. One of the team even suggested he could curl up and become a deadly crashing Indiana Jones-like boulder slamming down the hallway.

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