I got this game through Impulse 2 days ago, I promise a review later 2nit. But for now, I need to warn all forum members that the game is a complete mess, a harsh downgrade in everyway compares to the PQ: Challenge of the Warlords. The game require for the players to enter their opponent's IP address before connect to a online match with no timers restrictions. In other word, there are NO online support. Yes, you can't even have a random online match.
Of course there are many other major flaws as well, BUT what's important here is that DO NOT PURCHASE THIS TITLE, YOU WILL REGRETE IT, I am not being a ungrateful gamer, I am just trying to warn you so you won't make the same mistake as I did, impulsely. I WILL write a full review if I can finish my paper, so don't worry I will tell you all why in details with at least 15+ hours game experience, and yes I am good with puzzle games.
My buddies are here to watch Kobe and Shaq play tonight, and to celebrate my birthday. I am so sorry to do this, but I thought I could have a nice chill evening b/c we are going to have a party tomorrow night, but I guess I have to be a nice host tonight as well, lol. But don't worry I will write the best review of the game anywhere online to beak it down to you all the dark secrets behind this frustrating game, hopefully in the morning, I won't drink too much.
This is all assuming you like to play multiplayer, right?
Looking forward to your review RoyalRook. Meanwhile, more by RoyalRook on Galactrix at the official forum:
http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/showthread.php?t=4651
And a general initial feedback thread for the release version on the official forums:
http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/showthread.php?t=4629
It would appear that RoyalRook is not the only unhappy camper.
Gamespot gave Galactrix a 5.5, Mediocre. But IGN gave it an 8.4. Go figure.
GameSpy 90
Wired 80
Games Radar 80
Game Zone 70
Game Revolution 58
1Up 58
The official reviews are "mixed," I guess depending on what the reviewers had anticipated.
Thanks again, Royal Rook, for the headsup.
It would be so much more helpful for reviews to just have in depth descriptions of the elements of the game and any absolute pros and cons without an overall score. Personal opinions and preferences by the reviewer taint any type of scoring.
Read up on all the unbiased info you can and try a demo. Unless it's an SD game(Which I preorder most of), if they don't have a demo 99% of the time then they don't get a sale. Of course all that is subject to change if the price is right and the game is proven .
I played the demo and thought the game was an improvement in many ways over PQ. However, the demo is limited, and I could see hacking jumpgates as being tedious (if you had to re-do ones multiple times). It's too bad they didn't decide to partner with SD to provide multiplayer.
Wait guy please, I beg you, please don't buy this game, I am begging you. My birth day parties went out of hand during the weekend, but please don't buy this game. I know it's sounds bad, but I call for the power of bit torrent right now for you guys, because they deserve it. The PC version is a port from the DS version, and that's not a joke. It's only prettier because of the voice over and art works, but the "game" is the DS built. This is what we call a Russian Mafia game, a game to swindle as much money as it could before the world knows about it.
Check this thread out as well:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=942612&topic=48332580
http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/index.php is the official forums. Scroll down to Galactrix and read opinions pro and con. Some issues can be fixed with mods on the PC version, and are being worked on. That being said, for me the most fun was had by playing the flash demo of the game's combat.
http://www.playpuzzlequestgalactrix.com/ is the flash demo of the combat. If you play this flash demo until you can beat the general about half the time, you will have no problem with the game. (My best string was 11 out 13)
I also played the PC Demo.
I like the combat, I liked hacking gates, not that hard. It's just that what Royal Rook says is true. It really is at the moment basically just the DS version for PC. Now they did improve the art for the PC, and there is voiceover.
The game has great potential, I am going to keep my eye on it. But look before you leap. Infinite Interactive is very good folks. I am sure they will do all that they can to respond to player feedback.
II does not have very good folks. If they are they wouldn't have released this sorry excuse of a game to the market. On top of that, this game is a hoax and this is something most people don't understand: Challenge of the Warlords was in fact, developed by Vicious Cycle Software, but somehow among all the confusions of D3 buyout storm between the Japanese software giants Square Enix and Bandai Namco, II got some credit as the co-developer, which is pretty much BS. So as you were fooled and dreaming about playing the next puzzle quest, the game was developed by a group of 20 something college kids that is supposed to be part of Infinite Interactive.
How could you fix the game when every items in the game is over powered? How could you fix the online portion when the game doesn't even have chat and random match support? How could you fix the game when it's only a puzzle game but routinely crashes on high end computers randomly? And why should people have the patient for the fix, when they know the core "puzzle" portion of the game is entirely broken? I have matches, when I had 1 hp left and my opponent had full shell, hull, and energy, but one super nova and bola mines (or any useful offensive item)later (super lucky huge combo that has nothing to do with your skill), I end up as the victor. The sad truth is that, they can't fix the game. If they had the integrity to man up their game, they wouldn't have released it in the first place.
What's even scary is that when you go to their webpage, and pay attention to the posters like I did that you will find out that they began to delete portions of their negative forum posts yesterday, especially in the "how's galactrix" thread.
Just check out how angry some of the customers get: Garbage Product
And check out the company's integrity: Wrong game video to fool customers
I know what you are thinking: no that's just an honest mistake. I would believe that if the other game wasn't supior in every single aspect than D3's lastest outing.
I am still putting the new pieces togather to un-earth the dark secrets behind the developement of this unbelievable failure of a game. There are things that I could be wrong but will be fixed as I can get more truth. So stay with me, but stay away from this developer's games.
You may not like the game, but you make this sound like some grand conspiracy. It's just a game...
I know I know, but it's kinda cool once you dive it a bit deeper. What I do know is that this is not the same team that developed Challenge of the Warlords, I can say that with confidence, the difference between the two games are night and day. Something is not right, because there is no point for the developer to tank their ONLY recognizable franchise. As far as I concern it's never just a game if you are playing it, lol, but I know, let me have my fun while it still serves some purposes.
Interesting it might not be the same developers. I wonder if they're working on the PQ follow-up, Deathbringer. I remember seeing posts about that expansion/follow-up not long after PQ was released, so I'm surprised it took this long. I've also found it odd how long it to Infinite Interactive to update their website with info about Galactrix. Now it's a new (and better) website, but it wall all very strange...
This game is messed up
An impression about the DS version, but not much different from the PC version. I felt the same way.
The world is suffering greatly from this abomination. The truth is coming out to save more gamers. One of the better reviews:
I'm going to break a lance in favor of the II guys and Steven Fawkner. Warlords is one of the games I have enjoyed the most in the past (specially Warlords 1 and 3) so even if they screwed with Galactrix I hope they'll keep doing good games in the future (to be honest after Warlords Battlecry 3 and Warlords 4 I thought they would die but hey, they were able to surprise me with PQ).
I like Galactrix, and it's hard for me to fathom what anyone would consider so bad about it. I do think the timing seems off on the animations which hampers the gate unlocking, but either way I like the game and it's certainly not the only game I'm playing at the moment, so even with that it's worth the purchase.
I don't think I would've wanted more of the same from Puzzle Quest 1.
I think you had enough time with the game now to weight in again. I wonder how do you think about the game now after all of these time. You could at least enjoy the beginning of the game, so I presume you got the PC version.
The guy says himself it's not a review. And anyway why is there such an uproar of a clearly mediocre game? Not bad, mediocre.
One of the most heard arguments is that the game is too random. Well hello, here's some news for you, it's a random puzzle game! Sometimes you are in luck, sometimes the computer, but it's the same game as Bejeweled or even PQ1 and there's randomness there too. Having a hexagonal board does nothing to change that, either ways.
The first two arguments the "review" names are just minor annoyances. You cannot see what's in a system without going there but that can be fixed with a patch. Having to unlock those gates, you do by playing the game. Isn't that what a game is for?
Not having background stories on the factions..... it's a puzzle game, not an RPG, go play Mass Effect or Fallout 3 if you want a rich environment.
Anyway, I find it a funny little game. It has shortcomings, but lots of games do. In the end it's a mediocre game, not one that causes the world to end
Royal, you need to keep your rants accurate. You sorta look like a lunatic now that I read them.
Having been a tester, you're way out of line saying II didn't develop the original Puzzle Quest. I dinked around with them in the early beta stages when it barely resembled the final product's quality. Unfortunately I hate puzzle games, so my pain tolerance was outdone before they finished, although I went ahead and bought it anyway just because I like the guys... Good thing I have a sister with no taste in games.
Even while raging at them, the IP behind the game should tell you that, it's directly from Fawkner's Warlords universe. Perhaps you aren't interested in looking at what they've done previously and just hadn't noticed? It's their game from the ground up, a PC original, it was practically finished a year before they finally got the thing out. The "pirates are evil and steal all our money" nonsense is the only reason it was delayed for several months before coming out on the PC, it was likely finished before the year started considering the condition I played it in late summer the year before. Vicious handled some of the ports, but it was not their game.
I know several people from the group that tested for them that stayed all the way down the line, if you're really convinced they didn't make it, I'm sure one of them still has some early versions from mid 2006 sitting around on their computers.
I'm going to ignore all the rants, you seem unstable, but then I haven't played it and don't really give a rats ass to begin with, so my opinion is baseless and will remain so indefinitely. Maybe you're right and Galactrix is the worst thing since sliced bread, maybe you just don't know how to change settings in the options. Either way, stay out of paranoid conspiracy theory land, they really were the developers.
You are right, I said I could be wrong, because it was hard for me to compare Warlords and Galactrix as the same class of game. Although, thanks to you, now I know for sure, but doesn't it just makes I2 looks even worse? The team has the talent but decides to burn their customers anyway. I was very angry with the quality of the game, I put aside precious time to play it instead of Entrenchment(released on the same day). Sorry for being curious, gee.
I am just speculating, don't get angry at me: it's seem to me that I2 understood they messed up Galactrix, and that's the true reason behind the several months delay. They are professionals, someone must've known the game is not up to the standard. It's not that hard to figure it out, just get Bola Mine.
Don't worry, I feel alot better now, I had more fun bash the game online than I did playing it. So I guess, on the entertaining side of things, I got my money's worth. Ok, just one more thing: did you test the hack gates, or just used cheats to bypass them? Because no one in their right mind, should able to endure that ordeal.
P.S. What settings? the game is as barebone as it could get, and besides all the items are so overpowered, it's doesn't really matter how smart AI could get. Or should I mute all the sounds so I could listen to my own musics and make the gaming experience a little bit better?
I tested the original Puzzle Quest, hence my being able to assure you that they were indeed the developers of it. Read more slowly perhaps?
As a small, largely impotent developer studio, they have very little control, if any, as to the quality and time of the release. They may share your views, but it wouldn't be unusual for them to be contractually obligated to keep their mouths shut and release it anyway without warning their fans. It's no small thing to go into breech, it would be the end of their careers with how little pull they have.
I can say they've released patches on their own dime for previous products when the publishers refused to fix them. D3 is an icon in the mass production of crap department. Their website isn't even fully functional or up to date, support doesn't seem to be a concept they've heard of.
You know, I don't think I have thought about it like that before. That's a very interesting take on I2's dilemma. Although, it's really hard for me to forgive them, because they have really burned their fans this time. Like I said, I love Sins, I think it's a great game, I preordered Entrenchment which released on the same day as Galactrix did. I acutally hold off Entrenchment for 2 days to play Galactrix, therefore I am not going to forget this one for a while.
As far as I2's reputation goes...I am pretty confident to say, it's over. I have talked to alot of gamers who bought the game, and sooner or later, they realized the truth, even the only one who is making the mode for the game. It's really sad.
Their next game is Puzzle Kingdoms (just remember this is the same developer who made Galactrix, LOL), and let me tell yea, it doesn't look good.
I sorry, but I just can't forgive someone who mess up an online puzzle game, because it's really not that hard to make a puzzle game these days, I am sorry, but there is no excuse.
You seem pretty angry that the game doesn't have online mode, but there are other people (like me) who couldn't care less about that. What I don't have any clue is if their fan base demands multiplayer or not in general...
I've actually seen a lot more bitching about the DS version than the PC version, but it's too below my interest threshold to actually try and figure out what's going on.
Considering they expanded significantly and have other projects going on with different publishers, D3 probably shafted them with an early release. It makes sense, Kingdoms would likely have come out first considering the project has been in development quite a bit longer, if it's through another publisher, that's a competing product beating D3's Galactrix to market. But I'm way too lazy to investigate, getting a developer to dish on their publisher is like pulling teeth. They wouldn't dish on Enlight, and even their own employees complain about their treatment of small studios...
For one the menus for interacting with stellar bodies are all small. The buttons in the menus are about the same size as the tip of the stylus. Which would be livable if the game never misinterpreted where you touched, but as it stands you can end up trying several times to interact with something. A problem that makes this worse is that the if you touch (or the game thinks you touched) outside the interaction menu it will immediately close the menu and fly your ship to where you touched (or it thinks you touched). A large amount of frustration would be avoided by having one the first touch close the menu and only flying your ship somewhere if you touched the location when no menus were open.
The worst part is it feels like it simply has not been play tested, as these things should have been picked up on and fixed if it was.
Your mileage will vary with the hexagonal gravity defying version Bejeweled they used. I personally think it's much better than the square downward falling version. The items are designed to take the place of the spells from Warlords, so they're more or less as overpowered as the spells were. There doesn't seem to be a replacement for Warlords style items.Overall I'd say it's decent, but the DS version's not really worth the cost
I still like it. And I still have better things to be doing.
That's about the summary of it.
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