Feedback on Review of Wastelands 2

Started by bayonetbrant, December 06, 2014, 02:31:28 PM

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bayonetbrant

Airboy's review of Wastelands 2 graces our front page this weekend.  Give us your thoughts!

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Kushan

Great review. Sums up my own feelings on the game pretty well.
PanzersEast: Have to think to myself.... will I play the first one by the Winter Sale?  Probably not, then I should remove Dragonfall
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Steelgrave

#3
Good review but given the games strong points versus the criticism, I'm surprised at such a low score.  I'd give the game at least an 85. The criticisms are valid (especially the mini-maps), but I had far less difficulty on the quests playing at the same difficulty than the reviewer states he experienced. Some things, such as vulgarity, are more of a matter of taste I suppose. This isn't a kid friendly game like Sons or Breaking Bad aren't kid friendly shows. What the game does do well is give you the sense of the original (which, of course, I'm old enough to have played to death) with all the same quirks, twists, dark humor and fun. The last is the most important part. The game is fun. Flawless, no. But having almost completed the game, I'll be sending out a second squad to reconquer the Wastelands after a few weeks have passed.

So I don't disagree with the criticisms, but if getting your money's worth in a game and enjoyment is what you look for, Wastelands 2 passes the bar.

airboy

Quote from: Steelgrave on December 13, 2014, 12:05:48 PM
Good review but given the games strong points versus the criticism, I'm surprised at such a low score.  I'd give the game at least an 85. The criticisms are valid (especially the mini-maps), but I had far less difficulty on the quests playing at the same difficulty than the reviewer states he experienced. Some things, such as vulgarity, are more of a matter of taste I suppose. This isn't a kid friendly game like Sons or Breaking Bad aren't kid friendly shows. What the game does do well is give you the sense of the original (which, of course, I'm old enough to have played to death) with all the same quirks, twists, dark humor and fun. The last is the most important part. The game is fun. Flawless, no. But having almost completed the game, I'll be sending out a second squad to reconquer the Wastelands after a few weeks have passed.

So I don't disagree with the criticisms, but if getting your money's worth in a game and enjoyment is what you look for, Wastelands 2 passes the bar.

Thanks for the observations.  The issue with quests was poor documentation and needless flailing around - not the difficulty of the quests themselves. I completed the original Wasteland at least 2 times.  Loved the original.

A "good review" to me is accurately describing the pros and cons of the game without giving away the entire story line (when applicable).  After that, the reviewer gives their opinion of the game and their score.  It is sort of like a movie review.  If the review accurately sums up what the movie is and the strong/weak points of the movie - then a "negative review" of a movie could be a strong signal to people who like that genre of movie to go to the theater.

Appreciate your reading the review and that the points made in the review were accurate.  Final scores and the "fun factor" are just opinions of the reviewer.  You disagree with the final score.  Good for you!  Glad you enjoyed the game!  Thanks for the positive feedback on the review (which is how I look at it)!

Steelgrave

I didn't necessarily take your review as negative and I agree with most of your points. Some of the quests could definitely be better documented or involve less flailing around. I got especially annoyed with a couple in particular. The bottom line is always (for me at least) did you get your money's worth from a game. I agree that you and I can have virtually the same experiences yet rate the game differently and I have experienced the same feedback when writing reviews. Hope you get that no criticism was intended!

On a somewhat related note....I've shared this before, but when my oldest son was in his early 20's, he went back and replayed the original Wasteland years after it first came out (I was a poor parent and let him play it on our old Commodore when he was maybe 14). He got stuck in one part, so he found Brian Fargos email address and emailed him to ask for the solution. Brian actually responded to him, saying in part that "you realize it's been ten years since the game was released and I really don't recall", lol, then thanking him for being a fan. It was cool and classy of Fargo.

airboy

Quote from: Steelgrave on December 14, 2014, 11:37:40 AM
I didn't necessarily take your review as negative and I agree with most of your points. Some of the quests could definitely be better documented or involve less flailing around. I got especially annoyed with a couple in particular. The bottom line is always (for me at least) did you get your money's worth from a game. I agree that you and I can have virtually the same experiences yet rate the game differently and I have experienced the same feedback when writing reviews. Hope you get that no criticism was intended!

On a somewhat related note....I've shared this before, but when my oldest son was in his early 20's, he went back and replayed the original Wasteland years after it first came out (I was a poor parent and let him play it on our old Commodore when he was maybe 14). He got stuck in one part, so he found Brian Fargos email address and emailed him to ask for the solution. Brian actually responded to him, saying in part that "you realize it's been ten years since the game was released and I really don't recall", lol, then thanking him for being a fan. It was cool and classy of Fargo.

Very heartwarming Brian Fargo story.

BanzaiCat

Very good review. Still on my wishlist on Steam but it will wait for a mega-sale, for me anyway.

To relate a game dev story, I read a book called "Masters of Doom" a few years ago, which was a great telling of the story of John Carmack and John Romero in their building of id Software and the Doom game in particular. It went through interesting detail as they struggled to build the 3D engine and the breakthroughs they achieved, then the highs and lows thereafter. Anyway I wrote Romero an email through his blog site to tell him what a great read I thought it was, and he answered me very quickly...really nice guy.