Dear Esther Mac port confirmed
Killing Floor hits a million sales, discounted on Steam
Jam Live Music Arcade announced for PS3, Xbox 360
Metal Gear Online to quietly die this summer
Mad Riders: Techland's ATV racer coming to PC, PSN, XBLA
Hellgate: London Beta Bugs Don't Worry Devs
by Nick Breckon, Oct 15, 2007 1:57pm PDTCurrently populated with more bugs than beta testers can shake their swords at, playing Hellgate: London can feel downright hellish at times. With Flagship Studios' highly-anticipated online RPG only 16 days from release, many otherwise-glowing previews, including Shacknews' own, have included a caveat explaining the game's current instability and, in some areas, a disturbing lack of key functionality. However, watching closely from behind the scenes, Flagship staffers aren't especially worried. "We are aware of the issues some people are experiencing, but there's nothing we've seen that's any real concern to us," said Flagship's Ivan Sulic to Shacknews. "We're not flipping out, anyway." Throughout the testing phase, Flagship community managers have continuously stated that the various beta builds are outdated in comparison to internal versions of the game. "[The] changes we've been working on have not been integrated into the beta yet, which means that particular Hellgate experience is way behind the times," reiterated Sulic. "We do, however, hope to release a substantial beta patch in the near future, which should bring our test up to a level of quality that's more representative of the final release." A new patch released yesterday brought sorely lacking social features to the game, but also introduced a round of new problems. This process is hardly atypical for a beta test, but with only two weeks left, Flagship is certainly cutting it close. "Basically, it all boils down to Patch 0," explained Sulic. "Since our Hellgate multiplayer servers require users to create an account and login with us, we have the ability to incorporate fixes all the way up until launch and release them as a mandatory patch, our number zero." But with a release-day patch already planned, will the game's Halloween launch turn into a horrorific experience for fans? "You're not going to be hit with an enormous patch day one. We're launching alongside a small patch that fixes lots and lots of things--it's all data--not an enormous patch that changes art, sound, etcetera. Patch size is something we're real keen on keeping small." In all, Sulic is sure that early Hellgate adopters will be treated to a bug-free game, rather than tricked into buying an unfinished product. "We're confident we'll launch with a solid product come Halloween," he concluded.
Comments
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 6 replies.
This is bullshit. The game lacks substantial features, it's a Diablo 2 clone and heavily laden with bugs and hugely lacking in polish. Getting a patch to fix game-breaking issues in the beta seems to often be a low priority for them, though they say they've fixed it on their internal builds.
The biggest issue I had with the game is that it is drab and boring. None of the themes or NPCs or monsters are interesting in any way. I have zero interest in anything any of the NPCs ever say to me. I just click rapidly through the Quest text to get the quest and go kill whatever it is on my HUD.
So for people looking for Diablo 2 with guns in 3D, this is your game. However it does nothing different or even innovative from Diablo 2. They have a few new features like modding weapons and that's about it. Another thing that bugged me is that the enemies have no injured/damage taken animation. You just spray them with bullets and some blood may pop out, but you never see a reaction to shooting them. I've always hated games that do this because I feel like I'm playing a ten-year old FPS.
This is why I uninstalled the beta and cancelled my pre-order. I will be surprised to see this game get over a 7.0 in any review. Maybe a year from now it'll be excellent, but for now it is a huge disappointment. I was really looking forward to this title, too.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 9 replies.
The early lvls are too easy. Yes, you get mobbed on occasion, but in D2 getting mobbed meant quick death. There's no sense of needing to play carefully, especially with your early lvl, poorly equipped character. Also, something D2 had in spades was the sense of danger when approaching act bosses. Even that first chica in D2 was scary and would wipe whole groups...forget about taking her on solo with less than decent green gear. Duriel? ouch. Here I meet the first boss quite on accident, at a low lvl. Yes, I had to pot quite a few times, but it was not any epic meeting, a close call, required any prep...it was somewhat of a let down.
All the early reviews have stated the world looks all the same, and that's completely true. All the tile sets are the same thru the first 2 acts at least. Even the jump to a novel area (314's mind) is basically a ripoff of the tunnel section of act 2 in D2....nothing new. D2, by contrast, changed dramatically with each act. You looked forward to the tileset changes and the new mob types.
Blizz games rarely break the mold, but they are all shipped in a highly polished form. I'd be giving FSS a lot of credit if the game was in alpha, but it's basically in open beta (all preorder players are in) and no one has even seen the game above lvl 25 (including alpha testers). My guess is that FSS investors said "time for you all to get a revenue stream to fund further enchancements" and that is pushing it to market. It's a fun game, even in this unfinished state, but it feels like the skeleton of a game.
The one superlative is the voice acting....which is the best of any game I've played in a long while.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 6 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
It seems to me people are now so clouded by WoW and other MMO's they don't see Hellgate for what it is. A pick-me up fun RPG hack and slash non-MMO which you don't need 24 other people to obtain a weapon you want...
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
Sounds like it's either gonna have a last minute delay or they'll just push it out shitty and attempt to fix it with patches.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
It's not ready for primetime. Maybe I'll pick it up after a few months, but paying $10 a month to play 3d diablo2 is not my cup of tea. I know it's not much, but it's the principle of the thing. No Hardcore mode unless you pay? = lame.
I had high hopes for this game after reading the novel.. the game doesn't do the book any justice.
Ah well, there's still 2 more books coming out at least.
The first few levels are buggy, but I have a feeling they haven't been touched since pre-alpha. Once you get going, things get smoother. The stations are laggy, but other than that I haven't had many issues. If you're crashing all over the place, maybe upgrade that 386 to something newer. :)
This interview is REALLY unsettling as FSS won't even acknowledge this latest build is fucked.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 12 replies.
Probably not.
Probably not ever.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 10 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 7 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 10 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
With only 15 days left, how many testers actually buy into this crap?
Why would you introduce gameplay updates, but you know - not actually fix any of the bugs or have key features in?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 5 replies.