Support NeoGAF

[Desprado123]

Imagine if $7.5 billion dollar would have invested in better Api, hiring talent, developing new studios and invested in making in house graphic engine.

I am 100% sure that it would have resulted better than Redfall at least.

 

[GenericUser]

Imagine releasing a left 4 dead clone in 2023. The nerves, lol. Fuck arkane.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Imagine if $7.5 billion dollar would have invested in better Api, hiring talent, developing new studios and invested in making in house graphic engine.

I am 100% sure that it would have resulted better than Redfall at least.

in like 10 years.

 

[Banjo64]

WTF man grimacing like a villain in a live action Nickelodeon movie

 

[LastBattle]

One can hope, but bugs are just one of the many issues with the game. They’d need to do a complete and total overhaul of the core game to change things like host-only progression and fundamentally broken AI. I’m not even sure they can fix the graphical problems with simple bug fixes.

You never know. CDProject managed to turn the ship around with Cyberpunk and made imo one of the best games of the past decade. Likewise Sea of Thieves turned things around too. Maybe MS/Arcane will do the same for Redfall, to an extent at least.

 

[Fools idol]

Imagine releasing a left 4 dead clone in 2023. The nerves, lol. Fuck arkane.

it's not a left 4 dead clone. It's not even close to that quality.

It's like a mod map based on that concept, lol

 

[demigod]

Starfield Direct on June 11 is gonna be win-or-bust, no need to wait for MC. After Redfall mismanagement, they'll really need to leave a good impression with the game, and soon. Anyway, June is gonna be and I'm even more hyped now.

I'd just leave a word of warning here. Carefully cut trailers, shown on high-end PCs, are never an accurate representation.

Redfall also showed similar gameplay footage. Heck, they even let game reviewers and journalists play carefully curated previews, and they all came out feeling positive.

Some of us (cue: @Riky) were even calling Redfall a GOTY based on those early impressions.

Point is even if the Starfield Direct on June 11 looks like win, there is always a possibility of it busting up on release day -- especially because Starfield is going to be much more massive than Redfall with many intricate systems and worlds that will only open up after a few hours of play.

I'd recommend keeping expectations in check. That'll also help Starfield developers not feel as much pressure.

Refresh my memory but weren’t folks praising this game after the latest direct?

 

[bender]

Yeah, the ZeniMax IPs do certainly hold some value for sure, but nowhere near $7.5 billion. Like, if they were to try and outsource a future Elder Scrolls game to an outside partner to complete it, who the hell would be able to do so within a reasonable amount of time? Maybe Activision with their behemoth 3 studios of Infinity Ward + Treyarch + Sledgehammer, but obviously Activision would never agree to such an arrangement so that'd be an immediate non-starter. Otherwise, it'd take way too much time with a high level of risk that the project fails considering how ambitious and resource intensive a modern day AAA Elder Scrolls game is going to be to develop for.

Bethesda still has talent within but maybe they are spread a little thin given the projects they are juggling (ESO, FO76, Starfield, TES VI/FOV). Fallout 76 was rushed and misguided from the get-go, but give them credit for sticking with it and trying to turn it around. I think we all tend to forget about ESO which has been cranking along for a while now. Even if I've disliked their games post-Morrowind, I have all the faith in the world they could deliver TES/FO products that would appease their modern fanbase.

I think a lot of the issue with how Zenimax was running things was lack of focusing on what their studios were good at and chasing trends. Redfall being a prime example.

 

[Banjo64]

It bears repeating Ybarra told me when they got the email Jimmie was taking over Playstation Mike and Phil cracked open a bottle of scotch (I think it was scotch) and had a drink in celebration saying Jimmie would run PS into the ground

The same Phil who greenlit the first Halo video that gave us Craig and thought that shit looked good

And now this

Simply unbelievable. Jim has simply schooled Xbox none stop since arriving.

 

[Heisenberg007]

It was shown a year ago, barely in alpha stage and probably not even playable from start to finish.

They have pumped it out the door to get it over with and commit to their promise that titles would be released in the first half of the year.

It's not worth delaying the time to get this sorted, it would take months and months. Probably years - they do not have the budget or sales forecast / gp sign up data to warrant this. It is not suicide squad with DC behind it and already 500 million in the hole.

Also, on your point. I guess you think Sony thought forspoken was an amazing game and kept pumping marketing money behind it. Thought it was awesome?

Microsoft adopted this game, they didn't green light it, it was baggage that came with the purchase and was signed off by Bethesda. It could just as much be their thought process to cut and run but also give the studio the support they need from a marketing perspective to show their support for what is a small talented studio. They just didn't hit the mark on this one, making games isn't easy.

I blame ms more of not delaying it to support the bugs and still releasing a 6 to 7 out of ten game.

Still no counterarguments against mine.

If it was baggage, why announce it as a special game to close your show? Why charge $70 for something you don't think is worth it? Why release it just days before Zelda launches? Why would Satya Nadella name-drop it earning calls just last week?

It is clear as day.

The game looks and plays awful, but Microsoft did not think so. They thought the one-year delay fixed it, and now it is in much better shape.

You're underestimating how bad of an eye Xbox management has when it comes to judging the quality of games. It's the same people who thought Xbox Series X had a better launch lineup than PS5 (it literally had Halo Infinite scheduled for launch, and even that got delayed) and Crackdown 3 was an amazing game.

I know it's hard even to imagine it to be the case, but the Xbox management really is that tone-deaf.

 

[El Pistolero]

It was shown a year ago, barely in alpha stage and probably not even playable from start to finish.

They have pumped it out the door to get it over with and commit to their promise that titles would be released in the first half of the year.

It's not worth delaying the time to get this sorted, it would take months and months. Probably years - they do not have the budget or sales forecast / gp sign up data to warrant this. It is not suicide squad with DC behind it and already 500 million in the hole.

Also, on your point. I guess you think Sony thought forspoken was an amazing game and kept pumping marketing money behind it. Thought it was awesome?

Microsoft adopted this game, they didn't green light it, it was baggage that came with the purchase and was signed off by Bethesda. It could just as much be their thought process to cut and run but also give the studio the support they need from a marketing perspective to show their support for what is a small talented studio. They just didn't hit the mark on this one, making games isn't easy.

I blame ms more of not delaying it to support the bugs and still releasing a 6 to 7 out of ten game.

This is obviously nowhere near a 7. I trust the score to drop once more reviews start hitting...

 

[Banjo64]

Still no counterarguments against mine.

If it was baggage, why announce it as a special game to close your show? Why charge $70 for something you don't think is worth it? Why release it just days before Zelda launches? Why would Satya Nadella name-drop it earning calls just last week?

It is clear as day.

The game looks and plays awful, but Microsoft did not think so. They thought the one-year delay fixed it, and now it is in much better shape.

You're underestimating how bad of an eye Xbox management has when it comes to judging the quality of games. It's the same people who thought Xbox Series X had a better launch lineup than PS5 (it literally had Halo Infinite scheduled for launch, and even that got delayed) and Crackdown 3 was an amazing game.

I know it's hard even to imagine it to be the case, but the Xbox management really is that tone-deaf.

That tweet

 

[samoilaaa]

If starfield will suck aswell then xbox is done , i just dont understand how they keep failling with so many great companies and IP's , its insane

 

[Calverz]

Still no counterarguments against mine.

If it was baggage, why announce it as a special game to close your show? Why charge $70 for something you don't think is worth it? Why release it just days before Zelda launches? Why would Satya Nadella name-drop it earning calls just last week?

It is clear as day.

The game looks and plays awful, but Microsoft did not think so. They thought the one-year delay fixed it, and now it is in much better shape.

You're underestimating how bad of an eye Xbox management has when it comes to judging the quality of games. It's the same people who thought Xbox Series X had a better launch lineup than PS5 (it literally had Halo Infinite scheduled for launch, and even that got delayed) and Crackdown 3 was an amazing game.

I know it's hard even to imagine it to be the case, but the Xbox management really is that tone-deaf.

Jesus you must like store all this stuff as you go along….do you have all the folders organised aye? How is your starfield folder looking?

 

[shaddam]

I am suprised that even he is shitting on the game

 

[demigod]

I think Ms and Bethesda clearly thought there's no saving this unless they delay it like 12 to 18 months and start changing everything....the ROI just doesn't make sense so I guess they thought abort get it out the door....

..the problem is, its the last thing the brand needs right now.

Problem is, this is a GAAS game. You can’t just throw it out the door and forget it. They should’ve delayed it again and fixed the AI at least. First impressions of the game is what always matters especially for GAAS. Not even 24 hours and folks are already dismissing the game. By next month, you won’t even hear about this game with all the other heavy hitters coming out.

 

[Banjo64]

Ok, I can excuse bad performance on launch, but after watching Matty's review this doesn't look like Arkane. I'll check in after I get done with TotK to see if anything's unfucked.

Following the actual Game of the Generation with the Latrine of the Generation. Bold.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Jesus you must like store all this stuff as you go along….do you have all the folders organised aye? How is your starfield folder looking?

Eh, someone shared it. I used it as an example. Riky isn't even on my ignore list.

 

[Mephisto40]

I'm really surprised that in this day in age developers don't hire somebody that just looks at the projects at the start and either says "Yeh, carry on" or "No, close it down, this idea sucks"

I mean it was obvious from the first time we saw this game it was going to be bad

 

[DenchDeckard]

Still no counterarguments against mine.

If it was baggage, why announce it as a special game to close your show? Why charge $70 for something you don't think is worth it? Why release it just days before Zelda launches? Why would Satya Nadella name-drop it earning calls just last week?

It is clear as day.

The game looks and plays awful, but Microsoft did not think so. They thought the one-year delay fixed it, and now it is in much better shape.

You're underestimating how bad of an eye Xbox management has when it comes to judging the quality of games. It's the same people who thought Xbox Series X had a better launch lineup than PS5 (it literally had Halo Infinite scheduled for launch, and even that got delayed) and Crackdown 3 was an amazing game.

I know it's hard even to imagine it to be the case, but the Xbox management really is that tone-deaf.

All my points were in my message. Like honestly man, I'm actually having to put you on ignore. Your hate boner for MS is something else...

You are the opitamy of a warrior and can not see logic or have any real sense of how business works. The fact you are painting this as Microsoft is embarrassing.
Yes they should have delayed the game to sort the bugs but when do they delay it to, Xmas? To go against starfield and forza and spider man 2?

Just think, tell me what they do with this game to fix it? And when do they release it? How long do they delay it? Should they have cancelled it?

I'll read this one answer then it's the ignore list, sorry bro but you are crackers for xbox. Go play some games.

 

[Jadsey]

Arkane is one of my favourite developers....now MS has them, and they put out this shit.

I've always said GamePass is a breeding ground for mediocrity....well, now that looks like I was being optimistic.

I'm part of the problem because I subscribed myself for three years, cost me £112 in total. What did I expect for £3 a month!

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Starfield Direct on June 11 is gonna be win-or-bust, no need to wait for MC. After Redfall mismanagement, they'll really need to leave a good impression with the game, and soon. Anyway, June is gonna be and I'm even more hyped now.

Bethesda releases one game that is not TES. Sony will release 5 first party blockbusters. Wonder how this will go?

As for Redfall - if I understand correctly it’s only on Xbox as far as consoles are concerned, and on GP, so practically free. As such reviews are meaningless, people will still check it out.

 

[Banjo64]

On the game production side, we’re learning every day

Serious question. What has he learnt since Crackdown 3 launched in 2019?

As far as I can see this is the exact same scenario playing out in real time.

 

[Clintizzle]

Gotta admit, I'm sweating as an Xbox fan at the moment.

 

[Banjo64]

Everyone must stop shitting on Jim Ryan.

Mr. "Not a Real Gamer" has overseen the production and release of Sony's best era ever.

Substance over style. It is indisputable that Ryan is one of the best execs the industry has seen following the hardline torpedoing of ABK and PlayStation’s ongoing performance. The longer Spencer continues to be in charge of Xbox, the further their standards drop and the further the brand descends.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

This is exactly what I expected from this game. A game doesn't need to reinvent the wheel or even do anything novel to just be. . .fun. What struck me about the NP review was that the reviewer was saying they were just bored (while also lamenting not having strict Objective Markers) which is no good; this reviewer is saying the opposite.

What I am liking about both is that the SP experience is apperantly hard mode and I'm here for that. There's an interview with HARVEY DANGER who basically says SP and MP are two entirely different experiences and this seems like it is really coming through in some playthroughs. I imagine solo players playing this as a straight up "Bullets go in face" affair are going to be quite frustrated with their time with the game.

. . .the PC performance is VERY welcome news though.

All my points were in my message. Like honestly man, I'm actually having to put you on ignore. Your hate boner for MS is something else...

You are the opitamy of a warrior and can not see logic or have any real sense of how business works. The fact you are painting this as Microsoft is embarrassing.
Yes they should have delayed the game to sort the bugs but when do they delay it to, Xmas? To go against starfield and forza and spider man 2?

Just think, tell me what they do with this game to fix it? And when do they release it? How long do they delay it? Should they have cancelled it?

I'll read this one answer then it's the ignore list, sorry bro but you are crackers for xbox. Go play some games.

They didn't have to release this until it was polished up a bit yet MS still allowed this to be their first $70 game and without 60 fps.

Heisenbergs statement seems pretty accurate and the fact that you're getting so bent out of shape accusing him of having it out for MS actually makes you look like a warrior.

 

[Heisenberg007]

All my points were in my message. Like honestly man, I'm actually having to put you on ignore. Your hate boner for MS is something else...

You are the opitamy of a warrior and can not see logic or have any real sense of how business works. The fact you are painting this as Microsoft is embarrassing.
Yes they should have delayed the game to sort the bugs but when do they delay it to, Xmas? To go against starfield and forza and spider man 2?

Just think, tell me what they do with this game to fix it? And when do they release it? How long do they delay it? Should they have cancelled it?

I'll read this one answer then it's the ignore list, sorry bro but you are crackers for xbox. Go play some games.

I'm saying that management fails to gauge the potential success of games every now and then. It does not mean they intentionally took the PR hit. It doesn't make sense to jump in the firing line at this point in time when Xbox is already down. MS management would not do that intentionally to hurt the brand.

This is not just about MS either. PlayStation did it with third-party deals like Forspoken and even first-party games like Destruction All Stars. Shit happens.

While your argument says MS intentionally hurt the Xbox brand by releasing this game; I'm saying that it didn't hurt the Xbox brand intentionally.

But you see these comments as war materials for some reason. It's best you put me on ignore. I'll do the same. Cheers, mate. Have a good day!

 

[demigod]

Also, on your point. I guess you think Sony thought forspoken was an amazing game and kept pumping marketing money behind it. Thought it was awesome?

Microsoft adopted this game, they didn't green light it, it was baggage that came with the purchase and was signed off by Bethesda. It could just as much be their thought process to cut and run but also give the studio the support they need from a marketing perspective to show their support for what is a small talented studio. They just didn't hit the mark on this one, making games isn't easy.

I blame ms more of not delaying it to support the bugs and still releasing a 6 to 7 out of ten game.

Didn’t you say you work at a marketing firm or something? If so you should know that Sony has marketing for the game so they are obligated to do marketing for it.

 

[DenchDeckard]

They didn't have to release this until it was polished up a bit yet MS still allowed this to be their first $70 game and without 60 fps.

Heisenbergs statement seems pretty accurate and the fact that you're getting so bent out of shape accusing him of having it out for MS actually makes you look like a warrior.

He is literally saying he knows the thought process of a business. That is wild, why didn't Sony request a delay on forspoken? Why did Sony pump all the money behind it, why did Sony push horizon call of the mountain so hard? It's called marketing your business and product.

Marketing teams are given the info they have, they aren't sat there playing the game. They have a job to do. He is talking wild shit. I would put money he has tons of posts in this thread. When you realise that it doesn't matter, and someone has created their own wild conspiracy theories in their head to why a company that compromises of thousands of people released a game and supported it....its time to nope out.

No more bullshit from that loony for me.

 

[demigod]

Imagine releasing a left 4 dead clone in 2023. The nerves, lol. Fuck arkane.

A shitty one at that. Even Back 4 Blood is better.

 

[reksveks]

MS variation in terms of Metacritic score must be one of the highest of any publishers.

The thing that I am thinking about is that this is two Arkane (Bethesda) games in a row with questionable AI. They do seem to have a problem and hope that problem doesn't happen again with Starfield. Visually not too fuss with Starfield, just get the AI and feeling shooting right (although those aren't my priorities).

 

[Ywap]

Is it a coincidence that almost every Unreal Engine release is a buggy mess with horrible performance?

Is the engine difficult to work with/bad?

It´s no excuse for a mediocre game but i´m just wondering....

 

[StealthGoblin]

Hmm. Reviewers didn’t overegg that as much as I thought. I wrongly assumed that because it would be Xbox’s big game for the first half of the year that it’d get the benefit of the doubt and even a few extra points from sites they cover Xbox exclusively.

 

[Stare-Bear]

Funny that Crackdown 3 makes an appearance in this thread cause remember when they said the cloud would give games the power of a 1000 consoles?

Fast forward to 2023 and they’re releasing a competitive shooter at 30fps.

 

[Zheph]

Hmm. Reviewers didn’t overegg that as much as I thought. I wrongly assumed that because it would be Xbox’s big game for the first half of the year that it’d get the benefit of the doubt and even a few extra points from sites they cover Xbox exclusively.

The usual suspects gave it 85 tho

 

[SJRB]

Congrats to Phil Spencer and Xbox management for pushing out another clearly unfinished game to meet arbitrary fiscal year deadlines or sales numbers, knowing full well this would push a new and at least somewhat promising IP in a shallow grave and be a huge smear on a pristine videogame development studio that up until this point was still being held in very high regards by the gaming community as a whole.

Nice job, man. Amazing management. I hope you're proud of what you accomplished. As a sidenote: stop releasing unfinished games, you moron. Do I need to spell this out for you as if you're five?

Remember everyone: never dunk on the developer. This is 100000% the publisher's fault. I can only hope Harvey Smith and the other talented people at Arkane get outta there as soon as possible.

 

[balls of snow]

Yeah maybe I'll play an hour or so or maybe not. With Jedi Survivor and Zelda coming soon, I rather not be depressed at the mangled corpse of one of my fav dev studio.

 

[nbkicker]

Well even though i got this free with a gpu dont think ill be downloading now to play, was really looking forward to the idea of this game, seriously how are gaming companys messing up so much, does no one working there ever play games

 

[GymWolf]

I don't get how Deathloop scores 9s and 10s and then they go to this shit. What kind of inconsistency is that?

It's because deathloop was a 7 at best.

The better question is how you go from dish and prey to loop and fall.

 

[bender]

It's because deathloop was a 7 at best.

 

[Lions Gate]

I am suprised that even he is shitting on the game

this guy must be the biggest fucking looser on earth

 

[Bernoulli]

just woke up not as bad as i tought

 

[supernova8]

The reviews will be updated after patches drop. These type of games always have their reviews adjusted

Meh I don't they should. Not like it's an MMO or anything.

 

[bender]

this guy must be the biggest fucking looser on earth

Seems like Colt cleaned up some of his Twitter history.

 

[demigod]

Well even though i got this free with a gpu dont think ill be downloading now to play, was really looking forward to the idea of this game, seriously how are gaming companys messing up so much, does no one working there ever play games

I wanna know how the AI passed QA or is Arkane fine with the cannon fodder npcs? I don’t think I’ve seen a game with this bad AI before.

 

[J3nga]

I hope this was just a pet project for Arkane and they're cooking something good, it's hard to believe that with all that MS $ it's possible to make way worse game than your previous titles. Unless of course all those Dishonored 2/Prey devs long gone and it's game dev bootcamp students are doing it.

 

[GigaBowser]

Spencer if Starfield flops

 

[Inviusx]

How many more L's can Microsoft keep taking before Phil is booted out? Dude has not been a success story for them....

 

[GHG]

Didn’t you say you work at a marketing firm or something? If so you should know that Sony has marketing for the game so they are obligated to do marketing for it.

Oh he works in marking now? Before it was logistics:

Don't belive his lies, he's DarkMage in disguise.

 

[k_trout]

Arkane is one of my favourite developers....now MS has them, and they put out this shit.

i was stupidly hoping that a company as uniquely creative as arkane could persist within a financial monolith like MS, but that was naive of me,
creativity can not thrive when money types control the creative decisions, I just hope MS don't do an EA and can the studio