Is it possible for any game to fail as hard as moo3 did ? ( I don't think it is )
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What about Endless Space or Endless Legend? I think they changed a few things, not the big ones but some of the execution there with their game feedback systems.
Bah. DA2 was the best of a bad bunch, the only one with a coherent story, rather than just wandering around murderizing packs of not-orcs and badly drawn green shadows. Granted, it falls apart a bit in the last act, with far too many absurd fights against absolute legions of possessed mages out of nowhere, but up to the senseless boss fight (I know, redundant) at the end of Act 2, its the best thing bioware has put out in decades.
I found them both fairly formulaic, to be honest, and mostly on the dull side. The changes from tradition were mostly in the combat (which was terrible in both), and the wacky races, some of which had the potential to be interesting but mostly were just an excuse for semi-functional mechanics that didn't actually do very much. [Nomads especially. I can pick up and move, but... the game completely disincentivizes me from wanting to do so]
Partly it is a flavor thing. The background is offbeat and written in such a way that I found it a complete turn off.
As for failing as hard as moo3, as badly as that failed, sure. It is pretty easy. There are loads of games that come out and just die upon release. Most people never even hear about them. And then there are the triple-A games that vanish after a month, so forgettable that no one even bothers to remember them, even if they played them.
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That's why they keep the brand name and put a number on them. It helps people remember. If not 4, then at least 3. If not 3, then at least 2.
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SotS II. There simply isn't a better written universe than what they had going on, and despite its flaws, the first SotS was very promising. Until Stellaris likely replaces it, I still hold the first SotS to be the best 4x game.
Also, ME3 could have been better, but the mechanics were worlds above I and II, and the story was at least better than two. Most of that game was just elaborate fetch missions for new teammates--the plot did little to actually further the story.
Also, ME3 could have been better, but the mechanics were worlds above I and II, and the story was at least better than two. Most of that game was just elaborate fetch missions for new teammates--the plot did little to actually further the story.
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As soon as the game was actually released to the public and it became apparent that the behind-the-scenes infrastructure couldn't possibly keep up, leaving many players unable to play the game, Polygon downgraded the rating to a 4. They couldn't have known the game's back-end couldn't handle anything based on their pre-release review experience.
Polygon's one of the better sites, the people there actually try. It's not IGN.
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They both were fun, especially space. But they kinda lacked personality to me.
Story-wise, i would actually agree with you. For example, the expedition to the Deep Roads was brilliant.
But... but... the bloody re-used artwork. Two-three dungeons with the same layout. Only differentiated by the "magically" stuck doors. Same with city houses and noble houses. They were bloody same all around, expect for the Hawke mansion that was the only small noble house in all of Kirkwall, apparently. Come on, they got away with creating fewer zones anyway, because the action was happening around the Kirkwall and it makes sense that you visit the same locations again. But they had to cut corners even more...
But.. but... the bloody re-spawning enemies. Usually appearing out of thin air. Most of the times, literally. They were bloody annoying- especially when there was waves of enemies, just appearing.
But... but... the uninspired side quests (though they were still better the DA3-s MMO style collect this shit quests)
But... but... the really dumbed down combat system.
Mostly the artwork that got me...
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Dragon Age 2 bordered an indie game. There was nothing in the game that wasn't dumbed down from the menues, over the gameplay, to the whole world. The game had a great fundament but there was not enough time to make something out of it and I have to say that I think this is a main problem of all the Bioware games after Jade Empire. Most of them have great aspects and innovations but Dragon Age 2 is really the one game which is released in a state that should be called alpha or beta, not because it's bugged (even though there are pretty ugly flaws from right of the beginning) but because it wasn't even half finished.
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You know, i've adopted approach "screw professional game reviewers". I don't really care what score they give no more. I'm using two things nowadays- Steam reviews. Yes, they can be wall-to-wall, but an average gives quite a good indication of the state of the game. And Let's Play videos from Youtube. From there, i can see for myself how the game looks and feels. Takes more time to decide, but well, sometimes it's fun on it's own.
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MoO3s Ethos system had me extremely excited but it never quite made it to the game. It didn't make it bad per de but it was disappointing to me.
This is actually a thing Bioware are doing right now...
goosecam...
Tho i must admit, it's still more thrilling content than ME3's ending
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Yeah I don't mean the server problems. I mean problems with pathfinding:
And tons of flaws with the underlying simulation.
I can't trust any outlet that would give a city sim with flawed traffic and simulation issues a 9.5!
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Going by steam store comments for sword of the stars 2 it is still crashing at best once an hour at worst maybe like immediately for some people or when they click interface options.
So after all these years and an "enhanced edition" still unfinished.
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Well to be fair this would also happen in Cities, since they take the fastest path ignoring traffic; though it's less obvious because the speed difference in roads. That said its still a massively shitty game.
And I'm surprised there's only 1 mention of Legends of Pegasus, it came out for pre-order at the same time with Endless Space pre-order. Suffice to say I picked the wrong side, that's why I remember it
. This thread reminded me of that thing and I'm trying to steam refund it right now.- 1
And I'm surprised there's only 1 mention of Legends of Pegasus, it came out for pre-order at the same time with Endless Space pre-order. Suffice to say I picked the wrong side, that's why I remember it
Oh...Legends of Pegasus....that is the single worst game I've ever had the misfortune of buying. I've even removed it from my Steam list so as not to ever think of it again.
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Civ Beyond Earth was interesting and I gave it a good try. By then the standard Civ game model bored me to death. Then I played Endless Legend thought it was brilliant but again the closeness to Civ made me not as interested.
Gal Civ I bought beta. Thought it sucked but believed with every patch it'd get better and better. Every major patch I'd start a new game and be dissapointed. My belief that it'd become a good game died about 5 months ago.
I long ago discovered that games based on the Alien franchise were doomed to failure. I had no expectations on this one but it was damn funny reading the review of it.
Alien Isolation was pretty good though. Can't believe that every game is a 1st person type of game. I want to play Gorman in a top down strategic type of game issuing orders to different marines who may or may not follow your orders depending on how well you've done in the game.
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Nobody remembers Daikatana? Remember, John Romero is going to make you his bitch. Except that Romero had no idea how to manage a company, so the whole thing was three years late and flopped like a landed whale.
MoO3 was like The Dark Knight Rises: the guy who ended up running the show hated the franchise, so of course it was going to flop. Rantz Hoseley took over the design from lead developer Alan Emrich (who wanted, essentially, a more polished MoO2 with a bunch of new features), forced the game into empire-by-spreadsheet and got rid of all the iconic races because he didn't like people-in-rubber-suits. Combine that with Atari simply not caring, and you've got a recipe for a slow-motion train wreck.
SimCity had the opposite problem: EA milking its good studios for all they're worth and forcing them to release overmonetized shovelware before closing them down once their goodwill is exhausted. Dragon Age 2 had a lot of the same problem, as did Mass Effect 3. Though even then, stuff like DLCing major plot points was there in Mass Effect 2, just under better control because the original Bioware team was still ultimately making the game. And henceforth, EA is going to keep milking Bioware until it stops printing money, then close it down.
Lessons learned: Good management is, in fact, as important as having good designers.
MoO3 was like The Dark Knight Rises: the guy who ended up running the show hated the franchise, so of course it was going to flop. Rantz Hoseley took over the design from lead developer Alan Emrich (who wanted, essentially, a more polished MoO2 with a bunch of new features), forced the game into empire-by-spreadsheet and got rid of all the iconic races because he didn't like people-in-rubber-suits. Combine that with Atari simply not caring, and you've got a recipe for a slow-motion train wreck.
SimCity had the opposite problem: EA milking its good studios for all they're worth and forcing them to release overmonetized shovelware before closing them down once their goodwill is exhausted. Dragon Age 2 had a lot of the same problem, as did Mass Effect 3. Though even then, stuff like DLCing major plot points was there in Mass Effect 2, just under better control because the original Bioware team was still ultimately making the game. And henceforth, EA is going to keep milking Bioware until it stops printing money, then close it down.
Lessons learned: Good management is, in fact, as important as having good designers.
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Last I'd heard the final Moo3 product really depressed Alan. Breaks my heart when I think about it as Alan is one of the most-fun individuals I've ever worked for.
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This is going to be out of left field. I don't think anyone covered this. Keeping in mind MOO3.. was sad. I get that, but they had a limited budget. I have never used IGN as a review site after MOO3, they gave it something like an 8 or a 9 no joke. The guy reviewing it must have have accidentally put MOO in instead.
For me though the cake has to be D3. With that budget and franchise it should have been the greatest thing since sliced bread, or women deciding shaving their armpits is the way to go.
Diablo 2 hardcore ladders were such a blast. I spent a ton of university playing that when I wasn't playing DOAC or Shadowbane. So whatever it's like my youth will have a second shot when D3 is announced and comes out...... And then the itemization.... the auction house.... the story...... the everything just fell flat. Millions and Millions... and FML that was a hot mess of ruined childhood memories. Didn't have a single friend that played it longer than a month. Either way someone buys me the expansion on a lark. I give it a go thinking ok ok Blizzard has a rep for kinda giving a care about their product... The expansion was better than Cossaks for Eu4 (and the same price) but still not good.
Actually the more I think about it the more I realize I am an odd duck. Civ 5 is on my list for biggest let downs. I mean Civ4 complete edition.. gaming perfection on so many levels. Civ2.. Civ... Soo much storied franchise success and they release a 1up game where the AI puts archers first and many wonders are almost worse than regular buildings. I know it is better now, but I just went back and did a diety run without a single issue after not playing it for years, so IMO still a huge flop and let down. If only I learned my lesson and didn't buy Beyond Earth.
For me though the cake has to be D3. With that budget and franchise it should have been the greatest thing since sliced bread, or women deciding shaving their armpits is the way to go.
Diablo 2 hardcore ladders were such a blast. I spent a ton of university playing that when I wasn't playing DOAC or Shadowbane. So whatever it's like my youth will have a second shot when D3 is announced and comes out...... And then the itemization.... the auction house.... the story...... the everything just fell flat. Millions and Millions... and FML that was a hot mess of ruined childhood memories. Didn't have a single friend that played it longer than a month. Either way someone buys me the expansion on a lark. I give it a go thinking ok ok Blizzard has a rep for kinda giving a care about their product... The expansion was better than Cossaks for Eu4 (and the same price) but still not good.
Actually the more I think about it the more I realize I am an odd duck. Civ 5 is on my list for biggest let downs. I mean Civ4 complete edition.. gaming perfection on so many levels. Civ2.. Civ... Soo much storied franchise success and they release a 1up game where the AI puts archers first and many wonders are almost worse than regular buildings. I know it is better now, but I just went back and did a diety run without a single issue after not playing it for years, so IMO still a huge flop and let down. If only I learned my lesson and didn't buy Beyond Earth.
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