The tech demo's were very impressive, but I seriously doubt that this will not require major investment for PC gamers once more. The 680 is around 500$ at the moment and as soon as the "next generation" of consoles hits the market, NVIDIA and AMD/ATI will be sure restock their rosters with new models that will certainly lie in a similar price range. It doesn't matter whether the manufacturing process gets cheaper, it's gotten cheaper each year. Yet we still see similar price ranges as in 2004. (Even though the decrease progresses faster, admittedly)
I'm excited to get my paws on the new U4 engine, I'm just scared about what it might do to my poor little wallet.
Borderlands 2 is looking good from what I've seen so far. I do have to say that unless they introduce some groundbreaking changes from Borderlands 1, this should basically be an automatic win. Shooters have become very stale and the Diablo-ish loot formula really helps in differentiating your game from this bland mass. Also, offline coop is still the one feature that can make any half decent game a gem in my mind. In the nineties I predicted, that offline multiplayer would become a standard feature in gaming and it's still mind-blowing to me, that this is still not the case. For that simple fact, I'll support this game as much as I can, in the hope that other publishers may at some point see the light.
Also, don't take this the wrong way, but there's nothing wrong with fixing yourself up a little, if you're going to be on video. I don't think it's something to get mad about, as some do apparently, but if you're going to keep doing this, it might be a good idea to 'follow suit'. (sorry for the pun)
Anything else would have been stupid, since the genre is completely dominated by the free 2 play model. Also, considering the (yet) small difference between Dota 2 and the current map, I don't think a lot of people would have spent their money on it initially. I welcome the idea of not having to unlock heroes, but I fear this may make a huge difference in the profitability of their shop. I've always figured Riot earned a lot that way.
@Floymin Unless that was sarcasm, I'd like to hear an explanation as to why you'd need to have sub-par graphics to "make room" for Kinect controls. It's not like it has a substantial effect on the game size. This is about budget. Expensive license, cheap production cost. As always.
With so many complaints about how publishers handle DLC these past few years, I don't really get how things like this happen. The exact issue of having to unlock content that ships with the game has always been met with huge disapproval, it just seems ridiculous to still think that this is a good move. If there's one method that's been met with even more fury in the past, it's the option of gaining lasting advantages by paying for them. Especially if these advantages can exclusively be gained by using real money. Doing BOTH in one game makes your priorities very clear. Personally, I'd think that even the greediest men should have a basic understanding of the influence this is going to have on the public reception of your company and product. To say that market is the problem for this game is, while obviously true to some degree, a very poor excuse. I don't think the "too many fighting sims" argument should count for a game with such a huge fanbase, or rather for a game combining the two biggest fanbases in the genre.
I guess you covered most of it and the grade is also acceptable. As an ex-D2-fiend I would have rated it a little lower.
I do feel like you forgot about the AH and the long-term consequence of the item and skill system. The AHs outpour of cheaply sold, yet rather powerful items, makes even higher difficulties very easy. The skill system does not encourage you to build more than one character per class, as there's no need for "builds": Last but not least, the item system rolls up powerful items, but from lvl 1 to lvl 60 and onwards the stats that you need and look for don't change. Items are uncreative. There are no items that let me use new skills or severely improve upon the ones I already have. All you're looking for in a weapon is DPS, Vit and your dmg attribute. Maybe LL. You don't even need to look at what kind of weapon it is, as long as the game lets you use it. It's dumbed down to the max.
@TaintedSaint79 No, people do know that and that's exactly what's so aggravating about it. We've had real money sales for quite some time and for Diablo 2 it was the beginning of the end. Most players hated it and the consequences it brought, like excessive botting, duping and other ways of cheating your way to virtual riches. What we can't fricking stand is that Blizzard has now basically spread it's proverbial legs to further motivate people to **** this game up. I guess it just worked so well with WoW. All those little chinese kids forced to farm gold., cause it's become an actual business.
@Agent-M I feel with you, I had a phase of severe frustration after I first started with D3. But the atmosphere picks up towards the end of act 3 and the game really starts coming together from nightmare onwards. Normal is a waste of time. I agreed with the structure (norm-nm-hell) in D2, but this time I'm with you, if they make one difficulty so mind numbingly boring that it stops you from actually enjoying the game, they should give you an option to sidestep it.
I'm sorry but I don't believe this has any chance to be good. This smells like one of those "Oh let's use our license to sell a 2$ game for 20$"-games. It's time these studios understood, that they would actually earn more money with their licensed games, if they actually put in some work.
Schwarte's comments