I found the combat frustratingly bland, and Hello Games don’t seem interested in improving it. The first time I played was several years after release, and I was surprised to learn the only two enemy encounters that were at all fun or interesting (the sentinel mech and capital ships) were only recently added. That was years ago, and I don’t think they’ve added any new major enemies since. Last I checked there were less than twenty enemy types in the entire galaxy and most are braindead “approach and shoot at the player until you die” types.

The on-foot weapons also feel anemic and sluggish - even your heavy weapons feel like shooting someone with a Nerf gun while whispering pew pew under your breath until they explode, and your actions will often be delayed waiting for an animation to complete (unstowing your weapon every few seconds being the main offender). Ship weapons are better by virtue of not having animations and being the same as every space game ever.

I hope Light No Fire has more enemy variety and a better-designed combat loop.