<!--quoteo(post=2015838:date=Nov 9 2012, 10:11 AM:name=Wilson)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Wilson @ Nov 9 2012, 10:11 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2015838"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I don't understand what all the fuss is about. NS2 is only a 6/10 or 7/10 game. It is far from perfect. Anyone who thinks it deserves higher is deluded. Flame away...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
agree with this guy ^^
havent played for 3 days since keep getting dropped/failed to join servers or if I get it, its marine rollTing the aliens in the first 5 mins that its just no fun and boring, I miss the beta days when people knew what to do. Always kinda knew it'd be like this in pub games cling to the hope a mod will come out for people who just want to join a pubgame and play for fun instead of making it an uber competition serious matter.
<!--quoteo(post=2015969:date=Nov 8 2012, 10:39 PM:name=Scubbo)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Scubbo @ Nov 8 2012, 10:39 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2015969"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->agree with this guy ^^
havent played for 3 days since keep getting dropped/failed to join servers or if I get it, its marine rollTing the aliens in the first 5 mins that its just no fun and boring, I miss the beta days when people knew what to do. Always kinda knew it'd be like this in pub games cling to the hope a mod will come out for people who just want to join a pubgame and play for fun instead of making it an uber competition serious matter.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
so you give it a 6-7 because the players suck?
tbh you're one of the unlucky ones, i've seen plenty of inexperienced and noob pub players - but i've still had a lot of epic games with people who actually use voice comms tactically (even more voice comms than you get in counterstrike pubs).
also, i've had no blackscreen and no issue with the server browser failing to connect/find servers. only technical issue i've had is framerate, because my piece of crap computer can barely handle it at 1920x1080 (though my fps is still a lot better than gw2, witcher2 and maxpayne3, all of which look far worse than NS2 at desired fps settings).
edit: load times... what freakin load times? i have a 3-year-old HDD and 4gb ram and 1gb vram... but it loads faster than 90% of other games i own. if you're loading slower on a faster system or SSD then surely your computer is clogged with crap and needs a defrag or something.
<!--quoteo(post=2015969:date=Nov 8 2012, 05:39 PM:name=Scubbo)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Scubbo @ Nov 8 2012, 05:39 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2015969"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->agree with this guy ^^
havent played for 3 days since keep getting dropped/failed to join servers or if I get it, its marine rollTing the aliens in the first 5 mins that its just no fun and boring, I miss the beta days when people knew what to do. Always kinda knew it'd be like this in pub games cling to the hope a mod will come out for people who just want to join a pubgame and play for fun instead of making it an uber competition serious matter.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> It's better than that for an indie game at the pricepoint it's in.
There were 3 things that bothered me about the review.
#1 - 5 minute load times. This is the biggest giveaway of a guy that spent maybe an hour or two playing this and nothing more. As I recall, he's correct about the 5 minute load times, but it only happens the first time you load into a map. I mean he has a point, that's a ridiculous amount of time to wait. However, it's not like every map load is like this, and if he spent maybe a day playing this he would've realized this.
#2 - Matchmaking. I'm not sure what that would accomplish in NS2. If you've played first person shooters before, there's really not much else to learn about playing as a Marine. Aliens are a little more complicated, but it doesn't take a genius to learn 2 or 3 abilities per form. Plus, if you're matched up with other newbies, you're probably going to have a newbie commander too... and a newbie commander really doesn't work well in NS2. You can cry about a lack of matchmaking in any competitive multiplayer game, but I don't think it's a fair point to make for a game like this. It's at most in a grey area, and it's certainly not industry-standard right now.
#3 - Graphics. First of all, this is an indie game. It's not fair to judge an indie game against games that have 100+ staff members behind them in an area like graphics. Having said that, by indie game standards the game looks very good... shoot, even by industry standards NS2 is at least passable-looking. Not the prettiest looking game on the block, but not on the level of Revelations 2012 either.
He did make some good points, like the Youtube tutorials. Sorry UWE, I love you, but a lot of the videos are <u><b>ASTRONOMICALLY</b></u> long for the points they're trying to get across. If you're not going to do interactive tutorials, at least make the videos watchable. I believe I saw a Fade video clocking in at around 5 or 6 minutes. I mean really, is playing a Fade that complicated? That might seem small, to have a 5 minute video of something you can do in 1 or 2 minutes, but when every video is like this, it adds up very quickly.
In fairness, I'm not really sure that you need interactive tutorials for anything other than commanding anyway, NS2 really isn't that complicated from a non-commander perspective. This game's commander role has the same problem as Battlefield 3's flying vehicles, it's an important part of the game but you can't practice offline at all so you have to mess up real games trying to learn it, and that means ruining the game for 7 other people in an intended team size of 8.
<!--quoteo(post=2016001:date=Nov 8 2012, 10:57 PM:name=Hyperforms)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Hyperforms @ Nov 8 2012, 10:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016001"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->#3 - Graphics. First of all, this is an indie game. It's not fair to judge an indie game against games that have 100+ staff members behind them in an area like graphics. Having said that, by indie game standards the game looks very good... shoot, even by industry standards NS2 is at least passable-looking. Not the prettiest looking game on the block, but not on the level of Revelations 2012 either.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
NS2 looks a lot better than BF3 does, which usually gets praised for its graphics...
<!--quoteo(post=2016001:date=Nov 8 2012, 10:57 PM:name=Hyperforms)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Hyperforms @ Nov 8 2012, 10:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016001"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->There were 3 things that bothered me about the review.
#1 - 5 minute load times. This is the biggest giveaway of a guy that spent maybe an hour or two playing this and nothing more. As I recall, he's correct about the 5 minute load times, but it only happens the first time you load into a map. I mean he has a point, that's a ridiculous amount of time to wait. However, it's not like every map load is like this, and if he spent maybe a day playing this he would've realized this.
#2 - Matchmaking. I'm not sure what that would accomplish in NS2. If you've played first person shooters before, there's really not much else to learn about playing as a Marine. Aliens are a little more complicated, but it doesn't take a genius to learn 2 or 3 abilities per form. Plus, if you're matched up with other newbies, you're probably going to have a newbie commander too... and a newbie commander really doesn't work well in NS2. You can cry about a lack of matchmaking in any competitive multiplayer game, but I don't think it's a fair point to make for a game like this. It's at most in a grey area, and it's certainly not industry-standard right now.
#3 - Graphics. First of all, this is an indie game. It's not fair to judge an indie game against games that have 100+ staff members behind them in an area like graphics. Having said that, by indie game standards the game looks very good... shoot, even by industry standards NS2 is at least passable-looking. Not the prettiest looking game on the block, but not on the level of Revelations 2012 either.
He did make some good points, like the Youtube tutorials. Sorry UWE, I love you, but a lot of the videos are <u><b>ASTRONOMICALLY</b></u> long for the points they're trying to get across. If you're not going to do interactive tutorials, at least make the videos watchable. I believe I saw a Fade video clocking in at around 5 or 6 minutes. I mean really, is playing a Fade that complicated? That might seem small, to have a 5 minute video of something you can do in 1 or 2 minutes, but when every video is like this, it adds up very quickly.
In fairness, I'm not really sure that you need interactive tutorials for anything other than commanding anyway, NS2 really isn't that complicated from a non-commander perspective. This game's commander role has the same problem as Battlefield 3's flying vehicles, it's an important part of the game but you can't practice offline at all so you have to mess up real games trying to learn it, and that means ruining the game for 7 other people in an intended team size of 8.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
oh no... did he really call for a 'matchmaking' system? i missed that part...
if you play against noobs, you're going to be forever noob.
it's like a boxing trainer taking his students to a creshe to spar against toddlers.
Complaints about graphics set off my bull###### alarm really quickly, because a lot of what makes NS2 look pretty is interactive. Still shots of NS2 don't show off the dynamic lightning system. "Outdated graphics" critiques reek of "I didn't play this game, I just looked at some screenshots and made something up." But hey at least that's subjective. I can see how people might want more, you know, if it were made by a huge publisher and had a giant budget.
The thing that really irritates me is when reviewers start just imagining up entire systems or features that "should have been included." That's just awful journalism. Imagine if Ebert reviewed a movie and started knocking it for not including a third act or more characters? That would just be silly.
<!--quoteo(post=2016005:date=Nov 8 2012, 04:01 PM:name=antacid)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (antacid @ Nov 8 2012, 04:01 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016005"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->NS2 looks a lot better than BF3 does, which usually gets praised for its graphics...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's simply wrong even though it's an opinion. I don't mean to be an ass, but really? In fairness, NS2 is kind of stuck indoors with a crazy amount of metal corridors. It's a totally different environment. If there were an outdoor map to compare, it would be a little more clear cut.
<!--quoteo(post=2016011:date=Nov 8 2012, 11:04 PM:name=Hyperforms)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Hyperforms @ Nov 8 2012, 11:04 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016011"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->That's simply wrong even though it's an opinion. I don't mean to be an ass, but really? In fairness, NS2 is kind of stuck indoors with a crazy amount of metal corridors. It's a totally different environment. If there were an outdoor map to compare, it would be a little more clear cut.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=2016052:date=Nov 8 2012, 06:30 PM:name=antacid)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (antacid @ Nov 8 2012, 06:30 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016052"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Implying BF3 has no indoor environments.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I think he's more going for the, "BF3 looks better" implication but that's just me....
Wtf is your problem OP? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If i had never played NS1 I might have given this a higher score but after having played NS1 for hundreds of hour I wouldn't give this game more than 65/100
Also I call BS on your "5 year old" computer running this perfectly. Perfect = 60 fps and I doubt you even have 30 consistently
schkorpioI can mspaintJoin Date: 2003-05-23Member: 16635Members
<!--quoteo(post=2015687:date=Nov 9 2012, 05:37 AM:name=Apreche2)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Apreche2 @ Nov 9 2012, 05:37 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2015687"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->There is one thing that is very true in this review. A lack of interactive tutorial is really bad. The videos do not cut it. Most people just TL;DW (too long, didn't watch). Explore mode is not sufficient. An interactive tutorial that really teaches people the game is needed very badly.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
are people really finding this game hard to play? i mean REALLY?
I could understand if you have never used a computer, or played an FPS - but common the basics of the game are the same of any FPS game - move the mouse and click it to shoot/bite.
sure it can take practice to get good at it, but you don't need read a manual to start playing.
there are so many games that are waaaaaaaaaaaaay more complicated than ns2.
<!--quoteo(post=2016114:date=Nov 8 2012, 07:15 PM:name=schkorpio)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (schkorpio @ Nov 8 2012, 07:15 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016114"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->are people really finding this game hard to play? i mean REALLY?
I could understand if you have never used a computer, or played an FPS - but common the basics of the game are the same of any FPS game - move the mouse and click it to shoot/bite.
sure it can take practice to get good at it, but you don't need read a manual to start playing.
there are so many games that are waaaaaaaaaaaaay more complicated than ns2.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Agree that it picks up pretty easily. Tutorials give you good basics. There are things it cannot cover that vary on play style. Any decent gamer should be able to pick it up after a few games. Took me around 5-6.
Am I the only one that thinks having gamespot pull the review makes UWE look a little childish? The guy didn't like your game... a lot of people aren't going to like your game... you have a GOOD game, and sure it probably deserves a 6.5 or a 7, but do you guys really think you knocked it out of the park and made this game GREAT? You guys have admitted to releasing the alpha and beta too early, and you did the same thing with the release client. It's not finished yet. You have bugs, you have a lack of maps, you have extraordinarily long loading times, it's balanced based on Alien VS Marine win rate but there's seemingly no balance between the alien life forms (one super strong one, one that's weak but has a lot of utility, one that's kind of "meh" and two that are largely useless). There's a lot of work to be done still.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE NS2! It's got the potential to be one of the greatest games of all time. But it's just not there yet. This guy was clearly uninformed and uneducated about this game and didn't spend enough time with it. But that doesn't mean he was wrong. Him getting the names of features wrong doesn't imply that he didn't spend enough time with the game, it implies that he wasn't interested by it enough to learn what the proper names were.
Maybe you missed the part where he pointed out issues that are outright untrue if he played past the first match. Really. Five minute load, time, seriously? I have a glitch with my map loading time and load the slowest out of all the friends I play with, and I can assure you that other than the very first map load the loading time is never anywhere near five minutes.
To those who defend the reviewer and feel the need to drag Hugh into this: This was done by a person who works for Gamespot. Not a blog, Gamespot, that gets includuded in the Metacritic scores. One expects a certain caliber and appreciation. It's not a flawless game, but that guy clearly didn't play enough to even understand or find annoyance in the mechanics, choosing to pick a fight with the game engine which was very likely played on a low end PC or laptop.
Those of you bitter with the game is understandable because you comprehend it and have spent time with it.
<!--quoteo(post=2016123:date=Nov 8 2012, 05:22 PM:name=hate)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (hate @ Nov 8 2012, 05:22 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016123"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Am I the only one that thinks having gamespot pull the review makes UWE look a little childish? The guy didn't like your game... a lot of people aren't going to like your game... you have a GOOD game, and sure it probably deserves a 6.5 or a 7, but do you guys really think you knocked it out of the park and made this game GREAT? You guys have admitted to releasing the alpha and beta too early, and you did the same thing with the release client. It's not finished yet. You have bugs, you have a lack of maps, you have extraordinarily long loading times, it's balanced based on Alien VS Marine win rate but there's seemingly no balance between the alien life forms (one super strong one, one that's weak but has a lot of utility, one that's kind of "meh" and two that are largely useless). There's a lot of work to be done still.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE NS2! It's got the potential to be one of the greatest games of all time. But it's just not there yet. This guy was clearly uninformed and uneducated about this game and didn't spend enough time with it. But that doesn't mean he was wrong. Him getting the names of features wrong doesn't imply that he didn't spend enough time with the game, it implies that he wasn't interested by it enough to learn what the proper names were.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I, for one, hope that the review stays harsh. The problem with the review wasn't that it was a low score, it was that the review was poorly written and had factual inaccuracies about the game. Low scores are not a bad thing. They tell the user what they are going in to at a glance (based on the opinion of the writer) and they also tell the developer "Hey, here is where your game is lacking and where you can improve." Since, UWE got some amazing sales out of launch they can actually take the negative points from each review and weigh them in to continue to create a better and better game for all of us.
That said, I personally do not like scoring systems. I'd rather watch gameplay footage or read the full review to understand if it is a game I should look in to or if it is something I should steer clear from. The text is where the real feelings about the game are going to come out, not the arbitrary number or letter value they assign to it.
<!--quoteo(post=2016129:date=Nov 8 2012, 04:30 PM:name=Makenshi)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Makenshi @ Nov 8 2012, 04:30 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016129"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Maybe you missed the part where he pointed out issues that are outright untrue if he played past the first match. Really. Five minute load, time, seriously? I have a glitch with my map loading time and load the slowest out of all the friends I play with, and I can assure you that other than the very first map load the loading time is never anywhere near five minutes.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It took me a little less than 5 minutes to load into a map the first time I played. That would have DEFINITELY been enough to make me write about it in a review. In order to get a first impression on the game play, I have to play a game. And if it takes me that long to load in? Time that should have been spent getting an impression of game play is instead spent sitting at a waiting screen. That's a buzz kill. After paying money for a game, waiting for it to download and install, and getting my settings configured, having to wait an abnormal amount of time to load into an actual map is going to immediately give me a bad impression on the game.
<!--quoteo(post=2016123:date=Nov 9 2012, 12:22 AM:name=hate)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (hate @ Nov 9 2012, 12:22 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016123"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Am I the only one that thinks having gamespot pull the review makes UWE look a little childish? The guy didn't like your game... a lot of people aren't going to like your game... you have a GOOD game, and sure it probably deserves a 6.5 or a 7, but do you guys really think you knocked it out of the park and made this game GREAT? You guys have admitted to releasing the alpha and beta too early, and you did the same thing with the release client. It's not finished yet. You have bugs, you have a lack of maps, you have extraordinarily long loading times, it's balanced based on Alien VS Marine win rate but there's seemingly no balance between the alien life forms (one super strong one, one that's weak but has a lot of utility, one that's kind of "meh" and two that are largely useless). There's a lot of work to be done still.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE NS2! It's got the potential to be one of the greatest games of all time. But it's just not there yet. This guy was clearly uninformed and uneducated about this game and didn't spend enough time with it. But that doesn't mean he was wrong. Him getting the names of features wrong doesn't imply that he didn't spend enough time with the game, it implies that he wasn't interested by it enough to learn what the proper names were.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What has this git to do with UWE? It is being pulled because of the negative comments and emails of complaint from the community.
I think it would say a lot about gamespots integrity if the new review had a higher score. That would just send the message, scream loud enough and we'll give you a better review. Big deal he got the price wrong and called it creep instead of infestation. It's not like those things change his experience of the game in any way. The fact that he got some superficial things incorrect just makes it easy for people belittle his opinion. Of course many of the people on these forums are going to praise ns2 and think it is the GOTY...go to any other games site and you'll see the same types of fans.
just feels like in beta I felt oh yeah that kinda sux at the moment but it'll probably be fixed before release, I can see others are posting rage forum threads so surely itl be out before retail... nope, thats what you got + now you cant easily join servers and now they're full of new players who rather go marines because their skills transfer so easily.
just feels like lost potential (maybe that will be improved upon in the future) just hope it's not to burning right now that people come back once its better
still credit where its due, self made engine (cheaper? and full control), Mod support, continued development? for $25 usd is not bad at all
<!--quoteo(post=2016152:date=Nov 8 2012, 04:44 PM:name=Runteh)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Runteh @ Nov 8 2012, 04:44 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016152"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->What has this git to do with UWE? It is being pulled because of the negative comments and emails of complaint from the community.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=2014568:date=Nov 7 2012, 02:47 PM:name=Strayan (NS2HD))--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Strayan (NS2HD) @ Nov 7 2012, 02:47 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2014568"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->This is one of those situations in which I feel like a loyal dog whose master has been harmed. I've tied my rage hand behind my back and am now proceeding to do battle in the comments with my argument hand.
Anyone who wants to join me in there would be very welcome. We can start a fire, toast some marshmallows, and chant slogans.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Update from gs own website. Looks like trolling is being taken serious and I applaud Kevin VanOrd for taken such steps in making sure a bad review with many inaccuracies gets its attention it deserves.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Review pulled due to inaccuracies; replacement in the works.
Hi GameSpot readers!
Yesterday, we posted our review of Natural Selection 2--but unfortunately, it's come to our attention that the review contained several inaccuracies. We take our reviews seriously, and we stand by our reviewers' critical analyses and writing abilities. However, our greatest responsibility is to you, our readers and viewers. We own up to our mistakes, and in light of the errors in the Natural Selection 2 review, we have chosen to remove the review and assign it to another author.
I apologize for the inaccuracies in the review. We look forward to publishing a replacement review once we have had a chance to fully explore Natural Selection 2.
Sincerely,
Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I am so happy that this poor review was pulled. The team deserves far more than this shabby treatment. Thank you all for your support in this. Our community rocks!
<!--quoteo(post=2016160:date=Nov 8 2012, 06:52 PM:name=hate)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (hate @ Nov 8 2012, 06:52 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016160"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->^^^ That's what it has to do with UWE.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It's getting pulled because they couldn't even manage to get the game's price right within a 20% margin of error. Quit white knighting the freelance reviewer who shat out that article; noone is trying to censor his freedom to have awful opinions. We just want a well-written article that maybe spends enough time learning the basics of the game to understand, for instance, that the game costs $24.99 and it's called "infestation" and not "creep," among other things.
Don't worry, Gamespot is putting a staff reviewer on the assignment and we'll get something good out of it. I doubt it's going to be some crazy hyperinflated score but at least the article will read like it was written by an engaged, competent human being and not a bored school-aged kid who is being compelled to vomit words onto a page for a passing grade.
<!--quoteo(post=2016107:date=Nov 8 2012, 08:11 PM:name=Cane)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Cane @ Nov 8 2012, 08:11 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016107"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->If i had never played NS1 I might have given this a higher score<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
but the reviewer didn't play NS1 either. Or NS2 past a couple hours, as evidenced by his writing.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Of course many of the people on these forums are going to praise ns2 and think it is the GOTY...go to any other games site and you'll see the same types of fans.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> actually you'll find 99% whining on other forums. true facts.
<!--quoteo(post=2016123:date=Nov 9 2012, 12:22 AM:name=hate)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (hate @ Nov 9 2012, 12:22 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016123"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Am I the only one that thinks having gamespot pull the review makes UWE look a little childish? The guy didn't like your game... a lot of people aren't going to like your game... you have a GOOD game, and sure it probably deserves a 6.5 or a 7, but do you guys really think you knocked it out of the park and made this game GREAT? You guys have admitted to releasing the alpha and beta too early, and you did the same thing with the release client. It's not finished yet. You have bugs, you have a lack of maps, you have extraordinarily long loading times, it's balanced based on Alien VS Marine win rate but there's seemingly no balance between the alien life forms (one super strong one, one that's weak but has a lot of utility, one that's kind of "meh" and two that are largely useless). There's a lot of work to be done still.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE NS2! It's got the potential to be one of the greatest games of all time. But it's just not there yet. This guy was clearly uninformed and uneducated about this game and didn't spend enough time with it. But that doesn't mean he was wrong. Him getting the names of features wrong doesn't imply that he didn't spend enough time with the game, it implies that he wasn't interested by it enough to learn what the proper names were.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> No one at UWE contacted Gamespot, as far as I know. They must have pulled the review solely based on the public outcry from the community.
We know the game is far from perfect, and fully expect reviewers to not give it a perfect score, but we certainly prefer them to spend more time with the game and put in a bit more effort then this guy had done, since that is, you know, their job.
Comments
agree with this guy ^^
havent played for 3 days since keep getting dropped/failed to join servers or if I get it, its marine rollTing the aliens in the first 5 mins that its just no fun and boring, I miss the beta days when people knew what to do. Always kinda knew it'd be like this in pub games cling to the hope a mod will come out for people who just want to join a pubgame and play for fun instead of making it an uber competition serious matter.
havent played for 3 days since keep getting dropped/failed to join servers or if I get it, its marine rollTing the aliens in the first 5 mins that its just no fun and boring, I miss the beta days when people knew what to do. Always kinda knew it'd be like this in pub games cling to the hope a mod will come out for people who just want to join a pubgame and play for fun instead of making it an uber competition serious matter.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
so you give it a 6-7 because the players suck?
tbh you're one of the unlucky ones, i've seen plenty of inexperienced and noob pub players - but i've still had a lot of epic games with people who actually use voice comms tactically (even more voice comms than you get in counterstrike pubs).
also, i've had no blackscreen and no issue with the server browser failing to connect/find servers. only technical issue i've had is framerate, because my piece of crap computer can barely handle it at 1920x1080 (though my fps is still a lot better than gw2, witcher2 and maxpayne3, all of which look far worse than NS2 at desired fps settings).
edit: load times... what freakin load times? i have a 3-year-old HDD and 4gb ram and 1gb vram... but it loads faster than 90% of other games i own. if you're loading slower on a faster system or SSD then surely your computer is clogged with crap and needs a defrag or something.
havent played for 3 days since keep getting dropped/failed to join servers or if I get it, its marine rollTing the aliens in the first 5 mins that its just no fun and boring, I miss the beta days when people knew what to do. Always kinda knew it'd be like this in pub games cling to the hope a mod will come out for people who just want to join a pubgame and play for fun instead of making it an uber competition serious matter.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It's better than that for an indie game at the pricepoint it's in.
#1 - 5 minute load times. This is the biggest giveaway of a guy that spent maybe an hour or two playing this and nothing more. As I recall, he's correct about the 5 minute load times, but it only happens the first time you load into a map. I mean he has a point, that's a ridiculous amount of time to wait. However, it's not like every map load is like this, and if he spent maybe a day playing this he would've realized this.
#2 - Matchmaking. I'm not sure what that would accomplish in NS2. If you've played first person shooters before, there's really not much else to learn about playing as a Marine. Aliens are a little more complicated, but it doesn't take a genius to learn 2 or 3 abilities per form. Plus, if you're matched up with other newbies, you're probably going to have a newbie commander too... and a newbie commander really doesn't work well in NS2. You can cry about a lack of matchmaking in any competitive multiplayer game, but I don't think it's a fair point to make for a game like this. It's at most in a grey area, and it's certainly not industry-standard right now.
#3 - Graphics. First of all, this is an indie game. It's not fair to judge an indie game against games that have 100+ staff members behind them in an area like graphics. Having said that, by indie game standards the game looks very good... shoot, even by industry standards NS2 is at least passable-looking. Not the prettiest looking game on the block, but not on the level of Revelations 2012 either.
He did make some good points, like the Youtube tutorials. Sorry UWE, I love you, but a lot of the videos are <u><b>ASTRONOMICALLY</b></u> long for the points they're trying to get across. If you're not going to do interactive tutorials, at least make the videos watchable. I believe I saw a Fade video clocking in at around 5 or 6 minutes. I mean really, is playing a Fade that complicated? That might seem small, to have a 5 minute video of something you can do in 1 or 2 minutes, but when every video is like this, it adds up very quickly.
In fairness, I'm not really sure that you need interactive tutorials for anything other than commanding anyway, NS2 really isn't that complicated from a non-commander perspective. This game's commander role has the same problem as Battlefield 3's flying vehicles, it's an important part of the game but you can't practice offline at all so you have to mess up real games trying to learn it, and that means ruining the game for 7 other people in an intended team size of 8.
NS2 looks a lot better than BF3 does, which usually gets praised for its graphics...
#1 - 5 minute load times. This is the biggest giveaway of a guy that spent maybe an hour or two playing this and nothing more. As I recall, he's correct about the 5 minute load times, but it only happens the first time you load into a map. I mean he has a point, that's a ridiculous amount of time to wait. However, it's not like every map load is like this, and if he spent maybe a day playing this he would've realized this.
#2 - Matchmaking. I'm not sure what that would accomplish in NS2. If you've played first person shooters before, there's really not much else to learn about playing as a Marine. Aliens are a little more complicated, but it doesn't take a genius to learn 2 or 3 abilities per form. Plus, if you're matched up with other newbies, you're probably going to have a newbie commander too... and a newbie commander really doesn't work well in NS2. You can cry about a lack of matchmaking in any competitive multiplayer game, but I don't think it's a fair point to make for a game like this. It's at most in a grey area, and it's certainly not industry-standard right now.
#3 - Graphics. First of all, this is an indie game. It's not fair to judge an indie game against games that have 100+ staff members behind them in an area like graphics. Having said that, by indie game standards the game looks very good... shoot, even by industry standards NS2 is at least passable-looking. Not the prettiest looking game on the block, but not on the level of Revelations 2012 either.
He did make some good points, like the Youtube tutorials. Sorry UWE, I love you, but a lot of the videos are <u><b>ASTRONOMICALLY</b></u> long for the points they're trying to get across. If you're not going to do interactive tutorials, at least make the videos watchable. I believe I saw a Fade video clocking in at around 5 or 6 minutes. I mean really, is playing a Fade that complicated? That might seem small, to have a 5 minute video of something you can do in 1 or 2 minutes, but when every video is like this, it adds up very quickly.
In fairness, I'm not really sure that you need interactive tutorials for anything other than commanding anyway, NS2 really isn't that complicated from a non-commander perspective. This game's commander role has the same problem as Battlefield 3's flying vehicles, it's an important part of the game but you can't practice offline at all so you have to mess up real games trying to learn it, and that means ruining the game for 7 other people in an intended team size of 8.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
oh no... did he really call for a 'matchmaking' system? i missed that part...
if you play against noobs, you're going to be forever noob.
it's like a boxing trainer taking his students to a creshe to spar against toddlers.
The thing that really irritates me is when reviewers start just imagining up entire systems or features that "should have been included." That's just awful journalism. Imagine if Ebert reviewed a movie and started knocking it for not including a third act or more characters? That would just be silly.
That's simply wrong even though it's an opinion. I don't mean to be an ass, but really? In fairness, NS2 is kind of stuck indoors with a crazy amount of metal corridors. It's a totally different environment. If there were an outdoor map to compare, it would be a little more clear cut.
Implying BF3 has no indoor environments.
I think he's more going for the, "BF3 looks better" implication but that's just me....
Also I call BS on your "5 year old" computer running this perfectly. Perfect = 60 fps and I doubt you even have 30 consistently
are people really finding this game hard to play? i mean REALLY?
I could understand if you have never used a computer, or played an FPS - but common the basics of the game are the same of any FPS game - move the mouse and click it to shoot/bite.
sure it can take practice to get good at it, but you don't need read a manual to start playing.
there are so many games that are waaaaaaaaaaaaay more complicated than ns2.
I could understand if you have never used a computer, or played an FPS - but common the basics of the game are the same of any FPS game - move the mouse and click it to shoot/bite.
sure it can take practice to get good at it, but you don't need read a manual to start playing.
there are so many games that are waaaaaaaaaaaaay more complicated than ns2.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Agree that it picks up pretty easily. Tutorials give you good basics. There are things it cannot cover that vary on play style. Any decent gamer should be able to pick it up after a few games. Took me around 5-6.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE NS2! It's got the potential to be one of the greatest games of all time. But it's just not there yet. This guy was clearly uninformed and uneducated about this game and didn't spend enough time with it. But that doesn't mean he was wrong. Him getting the names of features wrong doesn't imply that he didn't spend enough time with the game, it implies that he wasn't interested by it enough to learn what the proper names were.
Those of you bitter with the game is understandable because you comprehend it and have spent time with it.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE NS2! It's got the potential to be one of the greatest games of all time. But it's just not there yet. This guy was clearly uninformed and uneducated about this game and didn't spend enough time with it. But that doesn't mean he was wrong. Him getting the names of features wrong doesn't imply that he didn't spend enough time with the game, it implies that he wasn't interested by it enough to learn what the proper names were.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I, for one, hope that the review stays harsh. The problem with the review wasn't that it was a low score, it was that the review was poorly written and had factual inaccuracies about the game. Low scores are not a bad thing. They tell the user what they are going in to at a glance (based on the opinion of the writer) and they also tell the developer "Hey, here is where your game is lacking and where you can improve." Since, UWE got some amazing sales out of launch they can actually take the negative points from each review and weigh them in to continue to create a better and better game for all of us.
That said, I personally do not like scoring systems. I'd rather watch gameplay footage or read the full review to understand if it is a game I should look in to or if it is something I should steer clear from. The text is where the real feelings about the game are going to come out, not the arbitrary number or letter value they assign to it.
It took me a little less than 5 minutes to load into a map the first time I played. That would have DEFINITELY been enough to make me write about it in a review. In order to get a first impression on the game play, I have to play a game. And if it takes me that long to load in? Time that should have been spent getting an impression of game play is instead spent sitting at a waiting screen. That's a buzz kill. After paying money for a game, waiting for it to download and install, and getting my settings configured, having to wait an abnormal amount of time to load into an actual map is going to immediately give me a bad impression on the game.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE NS2! It's got the potential to be one of the greatest games of all time. But it's just not there yet. This guy was clearly uninformed and uneducated about this game and didn't spend enough time with it. But that doesn't mean he was wrong. Him getting the names of features wrong doesn't imply that he didn't spend enough time with the game, it implies that he wasn't interested by it enough to learn what the proper names were.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What has this git to do with UWE? It is being pulled because of the negative comments and emails of complaint from the community.
just feels like lost potential (maybe that will be improved upon in the future) just hope it's not to burning right now that people come back once its better
still credit where its due, self made engine (cheaper? and full control), Mod support, continued development? for $25 usd is not bad at all
<!--quoteo(post=2014568:date=Nov 7 2012, 02:47 PM:name=Strayan (NS2HD))--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Strayan (NS2HD) @ Nov 7 2012, 02:47 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2014568"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->This is one of those situations in which I feel like a loyal dog whose master has been harmed. I've tied my rage hand behind my back and am now proceeding to do battle in the comments with my argument hand.
Anyone who wants to join me in there would be very welcome. We can start a fire, toast some marshmallows, and chant slogans.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
^^^ That's what it has to do with UWE.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Review pulled due to inaccuracies; replacement in the works.
Hi GameSpot readers!
Yesterday, we posted our review of Natural Selection 2--but unfortunately, it's come to our attention that the review contained several inaccuracies. We take our reviews seriously, and we stand by our reviewers' critical analyses and writing abilities. However, our greatest responsibility is to you, our readers and viewers. We own up to our mistakes, and in light of the errors in the Natural Selection 2 review, we have chosen to remove the review and assign it to another author.
I apologize for the inaccuracies in the review. We look forward to publishing a replacement review once we have had a chance to fully explore Natural Selection 2.
Sincerely,
Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It's getting pulled because they couldn't even manage to get the game's price right within a 20% margin of error. Quit white knighting the freelance reviewer who shat out that article; noone is trying to censor his freedom to have awful opinions. We just want a well-written article that maybe spends enough time learning the basics of the game to understand, for instance, that the game costs $24.99 and it's called "infestation" and not "creep," among other things.
Don't worry, Gamespot is putting a staff reviewer on the assignment and we'll get something good out of it. I doubt it's going to be some crazy hyperinflated score but at least the article will read like it was written by an engaged, competent human being and not a bored school-aged kid who is being compelled to vomit words onto a page for a passing grade.
but the reviewer didn't play NS1 either. Or NS2 past a couple hours, as evidenced by his writing.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Of course many of the people on these forums are going to praise ns2 and think it is the GOTY...go to any other games site and you'll see the same types of fans.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
actually you'll find 99% whining on other forums. true facts.
i dont think its childish to complain when someone/something is obviously wrong.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE NS2! It's got the potential to be one of the greatest games of all time. But it's just not there yet. This guy was clearly uninformed and uneducated about this game and didn't spend enough time with it. But that doesn't mean he was wrong. Him getting the names of features wrong doesn't imply that he didn't spend enough time with the game, it implies that he wasn't interested by it enough to learn what the proper names were.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No one at UWE contacted Gamespot, as far as I know. They must have pulled the review solely based on the public outcry from the community.
We know the game is far from perfect, and fully expect reviewers to not give it a perfect score, but we certainly prefer them to spend more time with the game and put in a bit more effort then this guy had done, since that is, you know, their job.
--Cory