DaBuddaDa said:
If there is any "popular groundswell" against the game, it certainly is in no way aimed at the quality of the game, which has across-the-board fantastic reviews and a vast majority of positive impressions in the OT. It's aimed at the utterly incompetent, unplayable PC launch.
Yeah, the PC launch was fubar, true. It's just that I was playing the game all day Sunday and loving the heck out of it, then I come back to read the Tom Chick, Destructoid, and JoyStiq interviews which just annoyed the heck out of me. Mind you, i've had issues with most of the major reviews (even the positive ones) that aren't actually 'reviewing the game' but gushing over parts of it like they're talking about the best parts of a highlight reel.
At least Tom Chick's review was clear and seemed unbiased. I didn't agree with his perspective, but it was a sound one. I'm angriest at these fucking bloggers who yield their journalistic hammer irresponsibly. I'm angry at the feelings that some of these developers must have when, after working on something for so long, that is CLEARLY well-made, getting ripped apart by some knee-jerk writer looking for shock traffic and ME FIRST hits.
I really hate how much gaming journalism has changed in the past ten years, and how RAGE is the latest victim in the race to be first review shit.
Even the positive reviews annoy me. I get that audiences have short attention spans, but *most* reviewers don't even seem like they're really getting dirty with the game anymore.
I've skimmed so many reviews - and i LOVE the game - but i've yet to see people discuss things that the developers/programmers can actually CHEW on:
* How the game still feels unfinished, ending abruptly, and not scaling the enemy types in Subwaytown to match the awesome weapons that you get later on. For that matter, how Subwaytown has been generally nerfed.
* How it's easy to get lost in the environments because of a lack of clear navigation. Imagine trying to get through Dead Space's cramped and highly detailed environments without the quick nav tool. Also, running into pitch black "rooms" where the design just 'ends'? uncool.
* How there's no over world map to see where you've been or what/where you've collected your items (like the Sentry-bot jumps).
* How there's very little to do on FOOT in the Wasteland, which would encourage exploration.
* How you pretty much go to every level TWICE, and how there's very little diversity in the SEWERS.
*How the design of the game seems to have changed midway. Giant Mutants in Dead City? Cherish them while you see them because you won't see cool stuff like that anymore.
*Story? More flesh out please...
I think that the Shacknews: Weekend Confirmed podcast took a good look at the game, which was a lot better than the written and video reviews that I've seen.