Aleens: Coloneeal Mareens

[Doclector]

I still don't get it. I like the game. It's not great by any means, and the final product should have been like the demo, no matter how long that took, but I still had fun with it.

Is there something wrong with me? Perhaps. After all, my standards for a videogame's quality have been shown to be lower than some others on multiple occasions. Dead Island is a particular case in which I liked a game far more than I logically should. Hell, remember area 51: Blacksite? A fairly enjoyable weekend's play, I thought.

But so much of what is supposedly wrong with the game simply isn't subjective. The technical faults, all that stuff. But I still just don't see it that much. I see the poor AI, I see the shatteringly bad graphics and screen tear, I definately see the terrible story, but for some reason it just plain doesn't bother me as much as it should, and don't get me wrong, it most certainly should.

I may be confused by this for years to come. I'm actually wondering whether I should trade it in before I come to my senses and stop enjoying it, but I know if I trade it in before that point, I'll just end up picking it up again later.

Really, I shouldn't let it bother me too much. So I bought a game that most people hated, and I liked it. So what? Good for me. The more it happens though, the more I feel stupid. It's like I turned up to a party with everyone drinking fine rums and I'm just there enjoying some cheap white cider that almost certainly shouldn't be fit for human consumption.

Have I become a conoseur of bad games in the same way I already am a sucker for a bad movie? I didn't think such a thing was possible.

 

[Erttheking]

Bad games are nothing new for BioWare. Or have we all forgotten 2008's Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood? Heck, anyone who enjoyed Mass Effect 2 or 3 should go back and replay the first one. The action segments were unrefined and unremarkable. They've been on a downward spiral for some time now.

Gearbox? I don't really think it's fair to say they've always done crap. I haven't played the Borderlands games, but quite a few people seemed to like them. And if you go even farther back, there was a time when they pretty much only did ports, and they were the very best at it. The PC version of Halo was excellent, and the PS2 version of Half-Life was far ahead of console ports of the time (revamped graphics, good performance, USB mouse+keyboard support)... It's only very recently that the company has had a serious quality control problem, and in both cases the majority of the work was done by someone else. Give them some pure porting projects, and I bet they manage technical excellence again.

P.S. Thanks

FYI, I played ME2 first and then went back to ME1. It bored me to tears. If you like ME1 better, ok, but I prefer ME2 vastly.

 

[The Wooster]

I don't mean to inflame, but I wonder how any of the last three Bioware games qualify as even remotely bad. One of them is technically The Escapist's latest Game of the Year. Nothing makes me more sad in the games industry today than the amount of shit Bioware gets for slight flaws in otherwise great games. Especially in the RPG genre which I always considered quite tolerant of big flaws in otherwise great games (see Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, any Fallout game). Especially especially when compared to stuff like DNF and (apparently) ACM that has the same price tag. But that's just me.

Thanks for the comment. Bad is relative in this case. I thought DA2 was alright, better than its predecessor in some ways, profoundly worse in others. Likewise ME3 and TOR have their merits, they're just massive letdowns.

I'm not a BioWare fan (they've actually never written a plot I'd call good. Characters, yes. Plot, no.) but I'd quite happily take on of their games over something from Capcom or Bethesda.

 

[MopBox]

I think what everyone likes to forget is that Borderland was a suprise hit. I liked the game, but it was made to be shovelware and it just took off by the grace of god. What else has gearbox actually made outside of the series?

 

[The Wooster]

I think what everyone likes to forget is that Borderland was a suprise hit. I liked the game, but it was made to be shovelware and it just took off by the grace of god. What else has gearbox actually made outside of the series?

A really good Half Life expansion and several Brothers in Arms games.

 

[Darth_Payn]

I wonder, what are those 3 games they mentioned to have turned the fans against BioWare?
Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age 2 are obvious, but I have no idea what the third is.

I was confused about this too. I know that Dragon Age 2 is one of them, but the other two I don't know. Mass Effect 3 was great until that which won't be named, SW:TOR from what I heard was good but not the next greatest MMO it was hyped up to be. Maybe that Baulder's Gate remake?

Depends on your opinions I guess. There's many that found TOR a massive disappointment, but I gotta feeling it'll hold enough of a fanbase to live as a F2P game for years. It's not exactly innovative, and this is coming from someone who still subs to TOR. It just wasn't anything special other than the story and the dialogue, and there's a rather small demographic looking for that in MMOs. Most want endgame content and PVP, and TOR doesn't do either terribly well, even after this long. But I'm of the mindset that the story and dialogue are enough for me, and I don't play it enough that I'll burn through the game anytime soon. So as long as the story still interests me, and as long as my friends still play it, I'll still be around.

Wow, this sure digressed away from the comic, which was funny and cute. But then, it's Cory and Grey's fault for saying bioWare's made 3 bad games and not telling us what. I get some people may not like TOR because it feels more like a single player RPG with 1000's of other players, but that's why I like it and keep playing it. It tried something different by having some real story in it besides the usual grindtastic quests.
But back to the strip, it's rightous burn on the latest spit-shined turd that dares to carry the name ALIENS.

 

[MopBox]

I think what everyone likes to forget is that Borderland was a suprise hit. I liked the game, but it was made to be shovelware and it just took off by the grace of god. What else has gearbox actually made outside of the series?

A really good Half Life expansion and several Brothers in Arms games.

You know what? You're right. I completely forgot about Opposing Forces, primarily because it came out in 1999. But were any of the Brothers in Arms games better than mediocre?

 

[UnderGlass]

I don't mean to inflame, but I wonder how any of the last three Bioware games qualify as even remotely bad. One of them is technically The Escapist's latest Game of the Year. Nothing makes me more sad in the games industry today than the amount of shit Bioware gets for slight flaws in otherwise great games. Especially in the RPG genre which I always considered quite tolerant of big flaws in otherwise great games (see Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, any Fallout game). Especially especially when compared to stuff like DNF and (apparently) ACM that has the same price tag. But that's just me.

Thanks for the comment. Bad is relative in this case. I thought DA2 was alright, better than its predecessor in some ways, profoundly worse in others. Likewise ME3 and TOR have their merits, they're just massive letdowns.

I'm not a BioWare fan (they've actually never written a plot I'd call good. Characters, yes. Plot, no.) but I'd quite happily take on of their games over something from Capcom or Bethesda.

Me neither. I'm a huge fan of rpgs, old-school and otherwise, and appreciate Bioware's focus on writing. But I far preferred Black Isle's output for the infinity engine and would take an Obsidian, daring failure over a lukewarm Bioware game any day.

I really don't think they deserve the vile lashing they are receiving right now though. For me they simply peaked at KOTOR (until I played KOTOR 2) and Jade Empire (until I reached the end) and then I was all like, meh. Their games are polished, but competently average and the towering expectations (and subsequent rage) of their fans honestly baffles me.

Captcha: Radio, live transmission! Woo! Punk lives in the spambot filters of the world

EDIT: Clarification

 

[FrostyChick]

its one of those things, where the longer you watch it, the funnier it gets, yet the sadder it gets at the same time

Please tell me that isn't real. If it wasn't for the HUD I could just write it off as a Garry's Mod video. But why would someone release something like that? ._.

 

[Vault101]

I wonder, what are those 3 games they mentioned to have turned the fans against BioWare?
Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age 2 are obvious, but I have no idea what the third is.

mass effect 3 wasnt bad it just.....well thats kind of a complicated issue

 

[Vault101]

its one of those things, where the longer you watch it, the funnier it gets, yet the sadder it gets at the same time

NEEEARRRGGGHHH damn kids fir'n guns all round the place...where did I put my glasses!!??

 

[Triforceformer]

I think what everyone likes to forget is that Borderland was a suprise hit. I liked the game, but it was made to be shovelware and it just took off by the grace of god. What else has gearbox actually made outside of the series?

How exactly is Borderlands shovelware? I really wish to see your logic behind that. Gearbox also made the Half-Life expansions, which were well recieved, and the Brothers in Arms series which was a moderate success as far as I know.

 

[Vault101]

This is the funniest strip I have seen in a very very long time, but it's that one small Bioware portion of the post-strip comment that really makes me want to respond (first post ever, anywhere, yay!). And I apologise in advance for making a point that's probably been made a million times over.

I don't mean to inflame, but I wonder how any of the last three Bioware games qualify as even remotely bad. One of them is technically The Escapist's latest Game of the Year. Nothing makes me more sad in the games industry today than the amount of shit Bioware gets for slight flaws in otherwise great games. Especially in the RPG genre which I always considered quite tolerant of big flaws in otherwise great games (see Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, any Fallout game). Especially especially when compared to stuff like DNF and (apparently) ACM that has the same price tag. But that's just me.

Also I don't think it took three games for the fans to turn on Bioware, I felt like the vocal ones turned right after DA2 and they were already turned by the time ME3 came out. I almost think the players who like BioWare don't post on forums all that much (say like, for example, myself) - at least that's the only explanation I can find for ME3 being voted GotY here after nearly a year of ME3 rage in the threads.

I know..its getting kind of depressing, hell ME3 actually DID fulfill my expectations right up untill the ending

 

[Darks63]

If the aliens randomly dance in the game I'll Redbox it

its one of those things, where the longer you watch it, the funnier it gets, yet the sadder it gets at the same time

If you watch Angry Joe's review he shows a alien thats glitched so its doing the dance that the chestburster did in spaceballs.


Edit: whoops looks like frappe beat me to it

 

[Draconalis]

its one of those things, where the longer you watch it, the funnier it gets, yet the sadder it gets at the same time

"Oh no! Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go. Doing the pee pee dance! Cause I really gotta pee pee and I don't wanna do it on myself. It's called the pee pee dance!"

 

[Vivi22]

Gearbox also made the Half-Life expansions, which were well recieved

If we're going to get technical here, only Opposing Force was well received. Blue Shift wasn't completely terrible, but it was pretty mediocre compared to HL and OF. None of their other stuff for Valve got released except CS: Condition Zero, which they didn't start out developing, and which they didn't even finish before it got handed off to another company to complete.

So if we're going to use their collaborations with Valve to give credibility to their development history, I don't think one good expansion, one mediocre one, and one title that got passed off to another developer to complete is the greatest track record to be honest.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I haven't played the game or the demo, but judging by Jim Sterling's video it baffles me that they'd go to all the trouble to release a demo that is better than the finished product. I mean you can talk about cut content, but that doesn't account for having enemy AI that is better in the demo then it is in the finished product. This is why I've lost faith in the games industry.

Well, there have been (well founded) accusations that the demo was entirely scripted. Which means there was no AI present in the video at all.

Still seems like a waste of resources to me, but then what do I know about marketing?

 

[LordMonty]

This is why trade ins are good. Frankly I am massively disapointed but my friends love it because they really love aliens but i cannot even with love allow substandard crap to slip past me. Make a stand tell people to shove it and raise there standards!

 

[Treblaine]

The PC version of Halo was excellent, and the PS2 version of Half-Life was far ahead of console ports of the time (revamped graphics, good performance, USB mouse+keyboard support)...

Well that's nothing to do with game design, that's a port job and porting is not hard, you just have to have the source code available and not do the bare freaking minimum.

Also that was a long time ago.

I'm looking back at Gearbox's Opposing Force in a different light, standing on its own merits and not just coasting in on Half Life 1's coattails... it's awful.

Borderlands... ehhh, I haven't cared enough about it. The "quadrillion-squintillion weapons" comes across as a gimmick when you realise they are including every tiny permutation as a discrete weapon, anyone who knows any maths knows permutations can get HUGE with even a few variables. And it hardly sends the message that the weapons will be well balanced. I'd rather have 12 well balanced weapons than a random combination of weapon attributes.