Yeah I've reached stage 3 (I think) and 28% global infection.
And I see what you mean about linear enemy growth. It's not too bad yet....I've only now run into the Fast Spitters and damn are those things irritating. The brutes aren't bad except when you open a door and suddenly you're halfway across the previous room with a broken leg.
Spiders are super freaking annoying. They're pretty much the only reason I can't move through a level at a good clip, because I have to nance around with their endless baby making. What's Stage 4 evo like I wonder. Do they just pop out Stage 2 Spiders Ad Nauseam.
The weapons do feel inadequate, or at least uninteresting. If the game swarmed you with any more stuff I'd say they're not up to the task.
Really hoping at least better and more diverse weapons are part of the final release plan. All this game really needs is some zany weapon modding to reach maximum fun.
But there's tons of stuff the game could have but is not in evidence.
-More grenades types.
-Mines.
-Flamethrower-like Weapon.
-Turrets.
-Drones.
-Stealth Field.
-Radar.
-Portable Recharge Stations.
-Remote Cameras.
-Dual Weapons.
-Minigun.
-Limited Teleportation.
-Door Welder.
-Night Vision.
-Body Augments. (Faster base move, health, melee damage, reduced stamina drain, contamination resistance, harder bones, thicker blood, added carrying capacity.)
With all that they could dial up the # of enemies way up.
Maybe some of that stuff isn't necessary due to highel tech I haven't seen, but as it is it feels like you discover most things at Tech Level 1 and stick to the same list the whole game. The only non-linear research I've seen is armor.
Also can someone tip me off to something? Does suppressing the infection at one site have an effect on the Global Infection rate, or does it just keep the enemy spawns down? I ask because I've gotten Filters and Regulators MKII but honestly going back through 1/2 the game's areas to replace the standard ones.....seems like a total drag, and a waste of rapidly diminishing time. Is it worth it? I've replaced the Mine, Biosphere, Research and Engineering ones.
Also, when the reactor has started to overheat and then you cool it back down....does that "time to overheat" ever go back up to 3 hours? Or did I literally lose half my "oh shit" time, and the next time the reactor overheats I've now only got 1.5 hours to get it enough power? I've started shutting down power to the first 4 real adventure areas because there's no way the reactor can deal with the added stress of each new area being powered on. At least with MKII tech. Right now I'm almost more worried about the reactor going critical than I am about the infection.
Also, Electro Resin is freaking killing me. I went from feeling like I could ignore junk to taking almost every last piece of it with me on my way out of levels. When I have to go through and start replacing all the MKII Reactor Cores I'm going to be seriously screwed if I haven't collected enough Electro Resin to meet demand.