Gamespot Review
My beta review was 6/10 i guess Gamespot feel the same way.
Second, Demigod is not "broken." Broken would mean that the game is completely unplayable. Now you might say it is unplayable, but there is plenty of proof that games are actually being played. So no, the game is not broken. There are connection errors which cause the overall multiplayer process to move slower than intended. The errors are being fixed.
Lastly, as to expecting things that are supposedly "broken" to be fixed later, what would you recommend me to expect? Hope that they get worse? I tend believe in human competency and hope things get fixed.
To start, it's an unfair review coming from Gamespot. They give mediocre and bad MMOs good ratings (8.0+) that don't fix major issues within months of release, and they've given multiplayer-focused games stellar reviews (see: UT 2004) WITHOUT mentioning a lack of a single player/story-based campaign as a downside. Not to mention, I'm not reading anything about GameSTOP messing up the release.
It is fair as far as the connectivity issues go. I would have given this game a 7.0 out of 10 out of respect for its potential, but it really isn't playable online for most people to deserve higher. That being said, Gamespot should have waited a couple of days to review it.
Personally, I stopped listening to Gamespot LONG ago after the whole Kane and Lynch fiasco.
As for Gamestop, I know the ones around here started selling the game as of the 10th of the month. The whole company is freaking more incompetent than you know. I wouldn't understand how the hell they stay in business if they weren't a complete monopoly.
EDIT: In addition, in a case like this, I'd really, really like to see Gamestop get sued, or at least a nasty letter... I mean, I'm not one of those "Hey, you licked me, I'm gonna sue for assault!" kinda guys, but this really sort of warrants it as they've completely hosed the reputation of the game with this.
That is last the place to go...
It's a hard choice. I can't say I fault them for the review. At launch the selling point is broken. A review is basically a recommendation, or a warning. It's safe to assume any of you would warn a friend of buying the game. They did state in the review that it was fun, that the graphics were good, the music and sfx were good, but the core was broken.
I love the game, and I do think that stardock will fix the connectivity issues. But I won't fault gamestop (I don't like their reviews), but I won't say they were unfair (this time, lol.. the kane and lynch thing was just bad)
I think it wouldn't be a bad idea for them to Re-Review when the game gets patched to working state.
I think they were a bit harsh, but you know, I think at the same time that it's kind of fair.
They're totally right. Demigod has a GREAT foundation, with awesome visuals and sounds. The gameplay is simple yet has an element of complexity (which can easily be built upon) and is definitely addictive. The problem? There's not much else to it. Pick any other game that you pay $40-60 dollars for and you'll get a lot more content. Sure, I'm not a big fan of single player, but it would be cool to know that there was some single player anyway. And the online client does leave a lot to be desired in terms of features and functionality, connection issues aside.
I think once the connection issues are fixed and some more items / demigods are added, this game will warrant an 8. But it won't be anywhere near getting 8.5 or 9 until it gets much more substantial and they build more on the foundation which they've laid.
I know the economy is tough right now, and for that reason I understand why the game was released when it was. But I can't help thinking that if this were a Blizzard game (or a similar company) it would only be entering Beta at this point. The game could have used roughly another 6-7 months of development time. I really would have liked to see what it would look like if it had gotten that. Nevertheless, after a few patches (6 months or so down the road) it might be close to what it could have been.
This review is not fair at all. It shall be updated this friday. I guess the reviewer is upset because he wanted to take on everyone because he own at DOTA...
Stardock need to understand too that they have to fix it by the weekend. I'm pretty sure they working at it right now because they must lose a lot of profit. I know a lot of people that aren't actually buying it because of the major multiplayer issue.
For my part, I really enjoy that game! Maybe 8 heroes isn't enought but I hope we will have some more (maybe 2-4) this summer. 8 Arenas is enought for me they are well designed and very different. Hey there's only 1 map in DOTA... I'm just looking for an "ambush" map but I'm ok with those eights.
The graphic is incredible, spell and attack animations are very nice and it's kind of refreshing right now!
Hope I can have some fun online this weekend!
See ya
Honestly, connectivity issues are what made me stop playing the Beta. I couldn't stand the desyncs and connecting to more than 2 people was almost impossible. I made several complaints at the time, but I was generally flamed with the standard "this is a beta" response. The games I have played I have found fun, but generally the game is still unplayable. I really don't know why the release date wasn't pushed back. Honestly, there was only a few weeks of Beta 3 balance testing, so I am not even sure how balanced the game really is. The complete lack of ability to play 5v5 matches during the beta made it, so I was unable to even attempt to balance the game as I thought was needed. Regardless of my qualms, I am still excited about the game as I think it has promise. I just really hope the connectivity issues will be fixed in a matter of few days like they state. Honestly, I am not sure, but who am I to make judgement. I don't work for them. On another note, I am thinking about preordering Elemental but am scared. I once again think the game will be great, but I just don't feel like dealing with connection issues Demigod has. I don't mind beta testing connectivity issues, but I would appreciate it if someone believed there was a severe issue next time instead of hiding it behind a beta excuse.
A professional review site would delay the review until they can actually play the game and judge it fairly.
See: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3173758
Gamespot sucks. So does Gamestop.
A lot of the people played the beta for a couple of months now, and none of us (that I know of), ever had this problem. Most likely from the Stardock/GPG view, the game was complete and had all the wrinkleds ironed out I know a couple of times they delayed a release until they were sure it was working fine. The problem according to them (unless they are lying) is that the servers were getting overloaded (by pirates) and that what was causing a lot of the problems. Just take a look at this http://forums.demigodthegame.com/346815/#2143848
Umm...I've only played the "skirmish" mode on single player so far and I think the game has a ton of potential. Had the multi-player stuff been working well right out of the box, I think you might be dealing with a "Blizzard" level game on your hands.
I'm a long time WC3 player and what I love most about that game is I'm just one password, a click, and about 60 seconds away from a hot multi-player game. I love playing ladder w/ the auto-match feature based on skill level. I don't like messing with chat and surfing for people to let me play with them or any of that stuff. I just like to log-in, play, and lose or win based on my performance.
If Gamespot gave this game a 6.5 they are seriously underestimating it. Any game that has an online component shouldn't be reviewed for at least a month out of the box because how the online experience evolves IS THE GAME. You just can't judge an online game with any degree of accuracy until you follow the evolution. From connectivity issues, lag and game responsiveness to the spirit of the community itself, these factors all shape the game. And no matter what this all takes time.
Blizzard, bar none, is the best game company in the business, ever. Yet, as an experienced WoW player I can tell you that it has had a lot of connectivity issues and lag ups and downs through the years. At points in time, BWL and AQ40 were unplayable and whole guilds transferred off my server due to this. And when WoW originally launched, Blizzard was not ready for the volume and they experienced a lot of "can't log on" issues.
Despite all that, WoW has gotten amazing ratings and has become the most successful game of all time. And that's because the core of the game was solid and Blizzard fixed the problems.
It's just too premature for Gamespot to just Demigod.
I personally think it's a sleeper hit and that's coming from someone who's played a lot of games and the vast majority are just plain aweful.
Frogboy, let me log in and get in a competitive online game w/o any fuss or b.s. and you will have a major hit. The ease and reliability of the WC3 matchmaking system should be your goal.
Furthermore, I'd be happy to pay a monthly subscription for ongoing update and added maps, demi-gods, and other additional features. Many people like me view a game as an ongoing hobby, not just something to buy for $40 and then toss and forget.
I know if Starcraft 2 has premium monthly fees, Blizzard will have opened another gold mine. MMO's have changed the sensibility of what an ongoing game experience is supposed to be. Aside from that, Blizzard has always shown a good example of how to support games with game balance patches and maps that have been released for years. It's for these and many other reasons why Blizz is head and shoulders above the rest.
SINSoase is my favorite game of all time. I never played a game for so long (usually 6 months and I'm done; a year max). But I and another friend that got it AWAYS had problems playing online. Even alfter all this time and all the patches, difficult to connect and lots of dysink stuff. But playing on his lan or mine worked perfectly, so it was not "that" big of a deal with us. Some of my friends that are interested in this game (DG) don't live near me, so Lan is out. So they HAVE to get THIS game's MP fixed this time, and fast, cause this game is almost exclusively MP only (and their online rep is, well, on the line).
I hope Gamespot gives it another reveiw because of the "premature releaseiation" of Gamestop. And DG Devs, if you read this, think about a 2.O version for the future, then you'll get re-reveiwed for sure by most sites.
Its unfair because they're fixing it, and the reviewer was narrow sighted giving such a low score for only one known problem (again, thats being fixed) and forgetting about all the effort that devs have put to cook the game. That score is going to stay down because of a problem that (hopefully) will be fixed on the first week.
It's been a loooong time since I read a review from Gamespot. At one time I had it at my #1 site for reviews, now it's just a site with poor reviews and terrible scores, depending a lot on the name of the game and the money the companies put on them. Age of Conan got an 8.5! And it really sucked when it was released. But hey, it doesn't matter, we get good money. They reviewd a pre-realease copy of Lost Odyssey and said a lot of things that where not true, like the looong loading times and a few bugs that the final game had. And of course, with the Kane & Lynch incident I decided I would not read any more Gamespot "reviews".
1up has done the right thing. Waiting for Stardock to solve the problem, caused in part by the pirates.
It's a good game. I'll wait before passing judgement.
The extremely Highly rated Little Big Planet also did not work online for several days after its release.
Gamespot usually takes a few days after release to at least play their games before reviewing them. They took no real time at all and posted a premature review noting no Single player as one of the BAD things. Its got the same single player that Sins of a Solar Empire had.
But Im a little pissed that both Sins and Demigod have no 1280x720 support which is the only way I can get a 60hz 720p resolution on my HDTV/Monitor. 720p is THE standard for HiDef. Any other resolution drops it into Interlaced mode with only 30Hz.. meaning also only top 30 FPS. Which I kinda ignored this aspect and didnt complain much with Sins about it.. but they did it AGAIN!?
Ok, I'm too curious now, what is/was the "Kane & Lynch" thing? I have no idea, maybe others don't either. It sounds like the perfect punishment for Gamestop
Here is some info:
http://www.primotechnology.com/2007/11/29/gamespots-gerstmann-fired-allegedly-over-kane-and-lynch-review/
Basically, they fired one of the oldest reviewers on gamespot because he did a critic review of the game, giving a 6.0, while Eidos paid gamespot a lot of money in advertising.
Some of the Fanboism in here is hilarious. To wit:
"they've given multiplayer-focused games stellar reviews (see: UT 2004) WITHOUT mentioning a lack of a single player/story-based campaign as a downside."
Guess what, UT2004 WORKED when it was first released. What we have here is a multiplayer game where the multiplayer doesn't work, so I'd say 6.5 is pretty fucking generous.
At least you can play SP meanwhile. They have given GTA IV a great score even it's unplayable in SP due to bugs...
The most accurated review I have seen so far. At least this isn't biased like the ones they have posted in the main page of the game.
While I personally think that 6.5 is harsh, and would have given it more...
Some of the comments here are just as unrealistic. Why all the comparisons to TF2?
Demigod: a MP-focused game with a pretty basic SP-component, 8 classes, 8 maps, 40$
TF 2: a MP-focused game with no SP-component, 9 classes, 6 maps, 20
And yes, some MP-only games get much higher marks. But most offer more content (eg UT series), and work stright from the start. I agree that they maybe should have waited a few more days to see how things shake out, but at this point, the basic tone of the review is right (again, i think the score is a bit low). You have an almost MP-only game, with the MP not really working. And while I think that it is great of Brad and company to ne honest about these issues and even create a video response, blaming these issues on pirates is kinda old, and contrary to what Stardock is usually all about.
And I have to laugh at the guy who said that he doesn't want campaigns, as they are only there for the story. Right Sherlock, that is probably the reason that most people play SP...
this game does work. The SP is fine.... WoW a Massively Multiplayer Online game got AWESOME REVIEWS and Epic Accolades when it was released..... despite the servers crashing daily, the server side lag was so terrible that instant casts had a 2-5 second cast time, and the daily roll backs were so bad it took me 4 days to lvl beyond lvl 10......
Best MMO of the time and for most people a game that they couldn't play that they bought for 40 dollars and were paying 15 a month for......
Lets go to Warhammer Online. A game that upon release was BUGGY, class balance was terrible (One of the Chosen Debuff Auras was bugged to where it buffed the opposing side), Faction Imbalance was worse (they "hotfixed" nerfed all Destruction classes because Destruction was the more populist faction.), and the Server transfers litterally KILLED servers. The one Open RvR RP server was ABSOLUTELY destroyed by them opening up Server transfer only to non RP servers. So.... all the RP players and Guilds woke up to a dead server.....
Indeed, the SP works fine, and is fun (even though I only got two matches in so far). But, read this thread: most people will tell you that it is a MP game. If I bought Battlefield 3 and found that i couldn't play online, hearing "well, SP against bots works" wouldn't be much consolation either.
But it is interesting. Complain that the is no campaign, and you will hear "it is a MP game". Complain that the MP doesn't work, and you will hear "SP works fine"
"But it is interesting. Complain that the is no campaign, and you will hear "it is a MP game". Complain that the MP doesn't work, and you will hear "SP works fine""
Exactly, there's some horrendous fanboism going on.
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