I struggle for words right now, but this review and verdict feel just so wrong to me. I haven't enjoyed a game this much in years, and I been gaming since the 80's. Must be something wrong with me then, enjoying a "medicore" game so much. TSW is a HUGE breath of fresh with fantastic atmosphere, gameplay, quests - and of course the horror, the horror. :) I honestly didn't expect this from mr. Chick, but opinions and tastes differ.
Supposed to be: TSW is a HUGE breath of fresh air
So far I'm having a great time with the game mostly because of the themes and lore, but I have to say you're on point in regards to your criticism of the broken investigation missions. I see people making the proportion argument, but I think it's more like taking a piss in the drinking supply. Sure it's only a few drops but you've just contaminated the whole pool. Tom can't review a game based on expectations that bugs are will be fixed. As of right now, after the first patch, investigations are still bugged and people still need instance invites to fix them, which often leads to shared objectives being rapidly completed and in-game events playing out before you even realize what's going on. Also the in-game browser is bugged, so doing a google search in-game is a hit or miss. I've had it lock up my game on multiple occasions. So one of the core elements that makes this MMO stand out, for all intents and purposes, is broken. There is no point in trying to solve these puzzles, you will more than likely waste your time and will need to look at spoilers to figure it out. In-game chat, which is based on IRC, is still broken. PvP is nothing but three zergs chasing each other capturing points and occasionally killing lemmings who lag behind or bumping into each other and then running in opposite directions. Everyone knows it's just a grind for AP and SP.
But the missions that DO work are one of the best I've ever played in either a MMO or Single Player Game. The combat is active and the gear management is refreshing. I personally find the main cities to be much more atmospheric than anything I've experienced in fantasy MMO games. I love the in-game lore and mission tracking. And thanks to outspoken gamers and reviewers like Tom's I do believe Funcom is aware of the serious issues and is working on fixing them. Some of the broken investigations work properly now, and I'm confident that the rest will be fixed soon. But you can't fault Tom for reviewing what was delivered.
It really sounds like you just encountered a bug that ticked you off. This has been one of the smoothest launch MMO's in history, and the storyline, plus the different approach to questing, plus the very detailed environment, plus the open ended combat system with a unique perspective on advancement -- what's really not to like?
I"m definitely enjoying my time with the game so far. I could see a 70/100 for bugs, but I bet you didn't give WoW that right out the gate. But a 40/100? I'm in agreement, that's crap.
Fanboy uses fanboy logic.
I'd agree in a game that wasn't an MMO. The fact that there are constantly players using general chat to ask "Is [this mission] bugged?" means that you don't have to deal with that uncertainty. Not to mention that it is sometimes possible to then shift instances to one where the quest is not bugged (I've personally managed to complete all the potentially bugged missions I've come across.)
The bugged missions are annoying, and ideally shouldn't be bugged, but I'd disagree that they completely undermine the entire mission system in the way you're describing.
The author of this review is totaly useless, he is a looser.
I have clean the lore of this game and i have seen only 4 broken quests on ~250 quests ... and ~ 1600 tiers of quests (and the quests bugged have been fixed only 7 days after the release of the game)
There are a lot of investigation/infiltration/escort quests, multiple solo dungeon ...
There are few bash of mobs, 10-15 quests on maybe 250+ ? ... -_-
I repeat it again, looser :D
Considering most issues were addressed in a patch a day later, I would suspect there was a plan to address the issues before BRAVE TOM, gave the game a vapor ware 40 score. I like your pee in the drinking water analogy it actually makes sense, unless of course you are talking about software...every release from games to operating systems would be piss by that standard. It's especially true in a MMORPG where literally the next day those issues might be addressed. I was a closed beta tester who stopped logging in, did not buy head start but only tried because Diablo 3 had no appeal, became a equipment trading game. I'm shocked at a the current "fun" level of the game now.we aren't sending up the space shuttle, we are playing games and a 4/10 is a silly, small temper tantrum and does not reflect the game fairly. By your piss in the water standard it should have received a 0, along with every other MMORPG, OS or other ambitious project ever attempted. There is nothing courageous in trashing half a decade of people's work because of nerd rage over a few bugs (fixed within 1 week). It's small and petty
By the way I would give the game a 70-75, too many combat states in PvP, weak crafting, poor UI, Poor Character Creation tools, glichy quest sometimes.....tons of FUN
WHOA, found this site by accident, hell what's wrong with this guy, bashing this amazing MMO? and how the hell can this be a professional review? Seems more like some hate troll post from someone who doesn't have the slightest clue what this game is about. He is a big fat liar if he says the game wouldn't work. Now tell me how I am playing PvE and PvP every day five hours, if it "doesn't work" ?
This guy is a troll, nothing else.
I'm assuming you're here because of Metacritic, as you seem to be fixated on this "40" score, which is what MC converted Tom's 2/5 score to. Sorry if Tom's actual use of the full review scale some how shatters your comfortable notion that all games that compile should automatically make it to the "70" level and range between 70 and 100.
So Tom is supposed to be psychic and know when a patch was supposed to come out?
I don't think you got the analogy or the point that Tom was making when comparing TSW to other MMO games. Of course other MMO games have buggy quests, but you usually know right away when it's bugged and it's not a huge issue. The problem with TSW is that you have no idea if your mission is bugged or if you're not solving the puzzle correctly.
For example: Something Wicked. There was, and for some people still is, a bug where after you manipulate the game in order to get your next clue, and the next step is supposed to be obvious to you. It's literally supposed to happen right in front of you. But it was/is bugged, so instead you run around trying to decipher the clue. If you are dedicated to not looking up spoilers, your game has ended, done. Only if you decide to ask for spoilers will you know that your game is bugged and you need to get invited to another shard to get if fixed. Ok, you do that. As soon as you load the next shard, the group you were invited to already solved the next puzzle piece, and an in-game event plays out. But you're back at the police station still, and whoops you never saw that part of the game, which is considered one of the neatest missions.
Oh what if you're lucky and you do get the trigger that allows you to get to the next part of the puzzle? Well, chances are that next part is ALSO bugged, and again you will have no idea unless you look at spoilers.
So what's the lesson learned? There is little incentive to solving investigation missions when there is a chance that your solution will be ignored and you will need to look at spoilers to figure out if you solved it or if you are bugged. This is a unique, and tragic, issue with investigation missions and unique to TSW. If it was some fetch quest that was bugged like any other MMO than this wouldn't be a huge issue, but it's not, it's the investigation missions, a central and crucial element that's suppose to make it stand out from those other MMO games.
It's the different between having an OS bug that crashes causes web pages to load slower and an OS bug that crashes your browser every time you open it up. Sure, the OS "works", it loads, but a core function is broken. How much is that worth?
Sure the game is fun, I'm playing right now and having a blast, but I'm unfortunately just about every investigation mission I need to look at spoilers. And about 50/50 I had solved the puzzle already but due to a bug I couldn't move forward. If it wasn't for my absolute dedication to the theme I would have been very upset and quit the first few days. So a 2/5 is fair. Many of the usual things that work right out of the gate for MMO games are glitchy, so knocking it down to 3/5, which is a "good" game, but one of the core elements, the investigations, as the time of the review, are flat out broken, so Tom was generous knocking it down to 2/5. If I bought an RTS where everything worked fine except that 50 percent of the time instead of a unit going where I clicked it didn't work, then I'd expect a similar score.
If in half a decade you couldn't test that your multi-shard system wouldn't brake QUESTING, which is the core element of your game, then your software developers have a serious issue and deserve a wake up call in terms of a low review. I'm glad they got this score as I believe this and other criticisms lit a fire under them to get this fixed. Even in the latest State of the Game post Funcom acknowledge bugs in the gameplay, they should be very thankful they have such devoted players.
Either he is a Blizzard whore or simply prefers brainless 10 hour lootgame with 1996 graphics because he can't afford a PC with current hardware. Or he got a cheque for bashing a contender of Squidwars2, the hundredth wowclone set in the dark ages with cartoon animals
stop encouraging this shill to further play TSW. All that happens is that he is further spilling this kind of crap reviews, after pretending to be interested in the game. All he is interested in is further bashing this game as part of his Blizzard agenda, possibly Arenanet agenda. He should keep his nose out of it, no one wants him there.
agree, a loser feeling relevant by having "a different opinion" as life motto. No matter how wrong he is. This author is a double loser.
"Sure the game is fun...I'm playing it now and having a blast" as you say...the exact point I made and why a 40 is so silly. So If you had every thing working perfect but were not having a "blast" what would the score be then? The first measurement and most important of reviewing "Games" is are they fun..... Too many people forget that simple truth. A score of 40 somehow does not seem to match the (very fun) game you are playing. Re: wake up call.. Too funny, this review was so far below the median it discredits itself, easy to ignore, an outlier When your score is 50% the other publications and 45% the actual players no one even bothers to even link it... What's this review had 2? You are correct in your assumption, I did come from metacritic, just to see what kind of axe to grind the reviewer had. Like I said, I stopped even logging into beta it was so bad and am actually waiting for GW2 which has much better character customization, combat, PvP... Not your typical fanboy just fair. By the way, I think those sites scoring 90's are just as off, but 40, come on, that's vapor ware territory. Especially compared to some other reviews.
Sirs, I believe we have found the man with the lowest professional pride on the planet! Fox news step down! Author didn't play the game, the end.
Funny how fanboys attack the authur for his review yet the review at gamespot talks about the same problems.
The review itself is kinda meh. I am unsure why your opinion is professional to be honest. That is okay though. I think one of the things this mmo really takes is dedication. Every bugged mission I either worked around it or came back to it later. The important ones always worked for me. Even big terrible picture was solvable working with a partner. Anyway i wish metacritic wouldnt filter in spew like this.
Judging by his Diablo review and this terrible backwoods website that looks like it was made in the early 90's (seriously, change the font color so people don't have to highlight the damn responses to read them), I cant take anything this reviewer says seriously.
You obviously just do not get this game at all, based upon your comments, and I would suggest that you have played very, very little of it prior to writing this trash you call a review.