• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PC) Review thread

_Aaron_

Member
Reviews coming in for the 1.0 PC release.

Metacritic - 86/100 (29 reviews)

Polygon - 10/10
Battlegrounds is the refinement of a new language of play, but what may earn it a spot in the video game canon is that conceptual efficiency. It isn't accessible for every player, but it's understandable. Anybody can easily learn to read this game, to watch it, to spot the tension and excitement and drama. Critics and fans have speculated on how PUBG will operate as an esport, whether or not its pacing works for competitive play. But that ignores the obvious fact: Battlegrounds works as entertainment. Sport or not, it has found its audience of players and viewers alike.

We've already seen Battlegrounds' first ”cousin" in the form of Fortnite: Battle Royale, which beat the game to market on console. Expect to see more in the coming years, as every AAA publisher finds ways to put its brands, talent and money into exploiting the language of the battle royale genre. I have no doubt a few of these games will be great. One or two may be superior to Battlegrounds.

But they will never capture the magic of first becoming fluent in this imperfectly perfect game.


Game Informer - 9.5/10
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds brings the battle royale genre to a smashing mainstream success, packed with memorable moments and action-packed adventures. Solo or with friends, you're in for an intense ride that's different every single time.


IGN - 9.5/10
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has taken the military-sim gameplay popularized by games like ARMA and DayZ, boiled it down to its most exciting parts, and streamlined it into quick and accessible rounds of pure, hassle-free, survival-based action. Even though each game starts the same way, its remarkable ability to feel like a new, tense adventure each and every round has kept me coming back for hours on end.


Metro GameCentral - 9/10
PUBG is one of the best multiplayer experiences of the generation, and this is the best version of it so far – even if it's still a work in progress.


PCGamesN - 9/10
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is without a doubt one of the best and most inventive multiplayer shooters of all time, and its persistent flaws have done nothing to detract from that, or its popularity. Perhaps it is not the first of its kind, but it is the purest distillation of what battle royale games are about: self-preservation by any means. And that, as 26 million people have now discovered, is endlessly appealing.


GameSpot - 8/10
PUBG's technical shortcomings can undermine its broader achievements on rare occasions, but they don't override your desire to continue playing. Each phase of a match presents a different type of tension that is equal parts thrilling and terrifying, driven by the insatiable desire to be the last person (or squad) standing. Whether you play solo or in a group, successfully executing adaptive tactics to win intense, high-stakes firefights makes for an incredibly rewarding experience. Every player has unique stories of their most memorable matches, and even after hundreds of hours, PUBG continues to inspire rousing tales of victory and defeat.


Windows Central - 4/5
Battle Royale games are very similar by nature, but they play differently. PUBG offers the best experience to date, but it's far from perfect. Even at 1.0, there are serious issues still plaguing players, including instability, inconsistent gameplay and lack of polish. This is something that's (hopefully) likely to change with future patches and further development, but with the push for esports and console support, we could be in for a long ride.

That doesn't detract from the highly-addictive experience offered by PUBG that will ensure you keep coming back for more, even if you win a few chicken dinners or are left to fight over leftover scraps.


USGamer - 4/5
PUBG is such a pure and fun experience that it overcomes its many flaws. There are glitches, there are crashes, there is jank. The game will probably never be fully done. But parachuting down onto that island feels new and exciting every time. A number of simple ideas comes together to make a great game and establish a great genre.


GameRevolution - 3.5/5
The strangest thing about reviewing PUBG is that this doesn't feel like a full release at all. It just feels like another patch, albeit a major one. I know that there was pressure on Bluehole to release a 1.0 version of the game, but given the issues still in the game, it might have been best to continue hammering away at it for a few more months. I have faith that with such a large following (and cash flow) the PUBG team will eventually get things squared away, but for now, this game still feels like it's in early access. However, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is an absolute blast to play and has a broad appeal that few other games can match. As long as you temper your expectations (and make sure you have a decent PC), then this is one of the top games of 2017 to check out.


Eurogamer - Recommended
In its 1.0 form, Battlegrounds is the year's best hangout game - the most reliably enjoyable social gaming experience that doesn't involve sharing a couch. It appears to have evaded the longevity issues that have dogged its multiplayer survival counterparts, and its success affords its developers the opportunity to invest in solutions to the doubts and weaknesses that remain. Expect studios of all sizes to vie for its position over the next few years. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is ground zero for battle royale games in the way that World of Warcraft was ground zero for MMOs or League of Legends was for MOBAs - not the first, but the one that made it.


VG247
There's still room for a lean, polished Battle Royale game that borrows the same systems. Until then, PUBG's innovations and triumphs are firmly its own, and I am just happy to have been along for the ride.


Kotaku
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds isn't the most technically capable or mechanically complex game, but it is laser focused on delivering excitement. My coworker Gita Jackson called Battlegrounds ”the video game that your aunt has always imagined you play when you say that you play video games." It's as perfect a summation as any. Battlegrounds is exactly what it wants to be and, love it or hate it, that honesty makes for a remarkable game that changed multiplayer forever.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds systems read as simplistic when compared to other modern multiplayer games. There aren’t dozens of character classes with hundreds of interlocking skills. There is no AI director monitoring players to dole out excitement in set portions. Safe zones and bombing zones are randomly placed. But its loose grip upon player’s experiences means you’re more free to decide the kind of excitement you get from it.
 
Last edited:

Senua

Member
10 is a bit extreme considering the jank but it's definitely the best multiplayer experience around ATM.
 

Shifty

Member
Polygon bringing that 10/10 hyperbole.

They even call it 'imperfect' in the goddamn header. Give me a break. Just say the game is a technical mess that achieves more than the sum of its parts and move on if you're not going to actually bother critiquing the thing.
 

Bamihap

Good at being the bigger man
Polygon:

"Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds is imperfectly perfect"
"BATTLEGROUNDS STILL CARRIES FLAWS FROM ITS EARLIEST DAYS"
"The game’s controls lack the smoothness of modern shooters, collecting items feels unintuitive, ammo and weapon information is obtuse"

10/10
 

wipeout364

Member
Activision is probably trying to figure out how to fit this into Call of Duty while avoiding paying for dedicated servers.
 

BibiMaghoo

Member
I would normally scoff at that 10/10 from Polygon, but the game informer score supports it to a degree. I'm not sure either review actually justifies the score in the text though. Rather they seem more "We really like this game no matter it's faults which are many", which seems like a poor way to give them a score. Just recommend them if that is how you view their worth. Slapping the highest score possible while lamenting its problems seems like bait.
 

DonF

Member
that polygon review is a disgrace. The game lacks tons of polish, it can't be perfect. Perfect because its the most popular battle royale? Thats dumb. Its not a popularity contest.
Well...I already didn't take polygon seriously.
 
10/10 should mean the perfect game, pubg is far from perfect.

The jank, poor optimisation, poor controls and just general feel of the game put me off it. If PUBG is a 10/10 then fortnite BR deserves to be a 11/10.

I can't take any review seriously that gives PUBG over a 8/10 in its current state, there's just too many issues with it and it feels like a game still in alpha.
 

Isurus

Member
10/10 should mean the perfect game, pubg is far from perfect.

The jank, poor optimisation, poor controls and just general feel of the game put me off it. If PUBG is a 10/10 then fortnite BR deserves to be a 11/10.

I can't take any review seriously that gives PUBG over a 8/10 in its current state, there's just too many issues with it and it feels like a game still in alpha.

This. As of now, I consider Fortnite to be a superior game. These crazy 10/10 scores leave no room for differentiation between the two games. Just silly. PUBG is a fun game, no doubt about it. But it also has a lot of issues. Right now, it's an 8/10 for me, with Fortnite being a 9.5/10.
 

thelastword

Banned
So where are the other reviews? I'm not going to comment on Polygon's review, it's their opinion I guess...but it defintely runs better on PC than consoles though, but it still has it's problems there..
 

Dunki

Member
Polygon bringing that 10/10 hyperbole.

They even call it 'imperfect' in the goddamn header. Give me a break. Just say the game is a technical mess that achieves more than the sum of its parts and move on if you're not going to actually bother critiquing the thing.

Just think about who financed them in the beginning and I guess you have your answer for the 10.
 

lpking2005

Neo Member
10/10 score is a joke!

I like the game but i dont play it with rose tinted glasses!

The game is a buggy mess and just by watching a few streamers today playing ver1.0, there is new bugs appearing. (eg. players floating in mid-air stuck in a falling animation)

If anything, this sends the wrong message to developers that gamers will accept broken and unfinished games.
 
That 10 is one of the more ridiculous 10's of recent times. This shit is broken enough in technical regards to lose a point or two or a few poorly based on that
 

lpking2005

Neo Member
Hold up, is there some sort of alleged Polygon-Microsoft collusion going on that I'm unaware of?

A while ago, im sure Polygon were exposed to be either taking money from Microsoft or Microsoft owning part of the site.

Im not sure if it was this or something entirely different.
Google it and im sure you will find something.
 
I definitely don’t think PUBG is a 10/10 game. People love it an it’s popular but shouldn’t get a 10 just for that.

10 isn’t perfect because no game is perfect there’s never ever been a perfect game it’s not possible. 10 means masterpiece which does not mean perfect.
 
Polygon:

"Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds is imperfectly perfect"
"BATTLEGROUNDS STILL CARRIES FLAWS FROM ITS EARLIEST DAYS"
"The game’s controls lack the smoothness of modern shooters, collecting items feels unintuitive, ammo and weapon information is obtuse"

10/10



This is hilarious, like, has to be a joke..
 

Woffls

Member
10/10 has never meant perfect, and it never will, but PUBG is still way too clunky and unrefined for any kind of 10/10.
 

BionicRoo

Member
So, this happened: https://news.microsoft.com/en-gb/20...-creator-brendan-greene-on-his-mega-hit-game/

f9efcdc672d280395121cdcf5cf6a176-1200-80.jpg
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
Is there some significance story behind this video? Because all I'm seeing is him answering couple community questions.
Xbox fans so fans of the console version.
not sure if you have been living under a rock.
but being a fan of the console version is pretty much impossible.
and releasing a video about the console version in this way is pretty fucking insulting.
 

Calibos

Member
Xbox fans so fans of the console version.
not sure if you have been living under a rock.
but being a fan of the console version is pretty much impossible.
and releasing a video about the console version in this way is pretty fucking insulting.

Huh? Insulting? It's just a game...I am not insulted? I am a big fan of the console version...
 

quickwhips

Member
Xbox fans so fans of the console version.
not sure if you have been living under a rock.
but being a fan of the console version is pretty much impossible.
and releasing a video about the console version in this way is pretty fucking insulting.
I’m a fan of the console version don’t speak for me please.
 

Shifty

Member
Xbox fans so fans of the console version.
not sure if you have been living under a rock.
but being a fan of the console version is pretty much impossible.
and releasing a video about the console version in this way is pretty fucking insulting.

Haiku
 

chemicals

Member
I don't understand the crazy hate for Xbox One PUBG players. The devs are working to improve it all the time. On both PC and Xbox, the devs know they have work to do. The core game is the golden nugget. Just let people enjoy the game, for christ's sake.
 

i7 5820K / EVGA 1080 Ti FTW 3/ 16gb ram / high preset. There's very little reason, at least from what I can see with my own two eyes, why this game shouldn't run at 4k 60fps on high settings on a regular 1080 or Vega but what can you do.

Edit: game ready drivers can't fix the crazy rubber banding in this game. Reminds me of BF4 during launch--straight unplayable and borderline cancer.
 
Xbox fans so fans of the console version.
not sure if you have been living under a rock.
but being a fan of the console version is pretty much impossible.
and releasing a video about the console version in this way is pretty fucking insulting.
So now you speak on behalf of all the fans of this game on Xbox? Sit your ass down son.
 
Top Bottom