Redfall is now officially available on Xbox Series X|S and Game Pass, and as you've probably seen it's shocking in all sorts of ways...
We've already shared our own review here on Pure Xbox - concluding Redfall is "not bad" with a six out of ten score:
"If you come at it looking for a chilled out bit of vampire hunting there's still plenty to enjoy here, but some irksome AI issues and a lack of clarity over what it really wants to be leave it feeling a little lost in a limbo of its own making."
So what did other outlets think of it? Here's the roundup so far:
VGC (4/5)
Starting off on a more positive note, our friends at VGC gave the game four out of five stars - calling it a refreshing loot shooter, even if it doesn't live up to Arkane's usual standards:
"Redfall is a compelling adventure with killer combat and an atmospheric setting in which you can easily lose a weekend. Even though it feels watered down by Arkane’s systemic standards, it’s an ambitious, primarily successful experiment full of narrative nuance and unique ideas."
GameSpot (4/10)
GameSpot labelled it "half-staked" and said it shouldn't have been released just yet:
"Ultimately, Redfall is a game that should not have been released yet. Its litany of bugs hampers the gameplay loop of exploring its world with friends, and that loop itself feels compromised by elements that are poorly executed and ill-suited to the team implementing them. I can't pretend to know whether Arkane chose to make a loot-shooter or was assigned to make a loot-shooter, but I can tell you what it feels like: one of the best game studios in the world suddenly made toothless."
Windows Central (3/5)
Windows Central awarded it 3 out of 5 (reviewer Jez Corden also mentioned it being a "6/10") and while it called it a "serviceable" open-world shooter, it admits Arkane is "very clearly" out of its depth:
"There are far too many similar shooters out there that simply do almost everything Redfall is trying to do, only far better. Redfall struggles to grasp an identity of its own in a very noisy market. While embers of fun do exist in Redfall, it's maddening that this is the product of the legendary studio that gave us Prey. Arkane is very clearly out of its depth with Redfall."
GamesRadar+ (2.5/5)
GamesRadar+ summed up Redfall as being "rushed, unfinished, and unsatisfying":
"Redfall is ultimately not up to Arkane's usual standards. It feels rushed, unfinished, and unsatisfying to play. Single-player is hampered by a squad-based open-world shooter structure, multiplayer held back by odd decisions, and decent gunplay is marred by uninspiring mission structures. It's a confusing game, full of contradictions, and the result is unfulfilling."
VG247 (3/5)
And to top it off, the team at VG247 gave Redfall 3 out of 5 stars - describing it as a "bloodless imitation of Arkane's best work":
"The sun is gone. Blotted out by a pantheon of vampiric gods who, in lieu of gleaming palaces and gothic castles, have laid claim to an unassuming island town off the coast of mainland Massachusetts. Low light is provided by the UV lamps and muzzle flare of private military contractors and cultists; a little warmth by the body heat of locals huddled together in resistance. If the internet worked, your weather app would tell you to expect lukewarm temperatures at best. Perhaps that explains why Redfall is slightly underbaked."
Currently, Redfall is sitting on a Metacritic score of 64 out of 100 for Xbox Series X|S, and on Open Critic the game currently has an average of 66 out of 100 from reviewers.
Will you be giving Redfall a go now that it's out? Are you surprised by the reception so far? Comment below.
Comments 85
I always knew this was going to give arkane fans trouble the second I found out it was four player (two seems reasonable for that classic arkane goodness). My metal picture was of something between deathloop, borderlands, and farcry which the reviews do seem to be indicating.
But man the bug reports and delayed features (more the diffculty than 60fps but that too). gives me major Halo Infinite flash backs, just how bad was this before the delay?
Urgh I know the idea with Game Pass and having big daddy Microsoft picking up the tab is that studios can take risks, but that should probably happen in the second or third Xbox exclusive, or using a smaller team.
The first ones should be more of what they know, most likely Dishonored 3 or Prey 2 - with this put on ice after the takeover till after that game with specialists from other studios coming in to help this one later.
Xbox can't afford too many first party games that aren't polished, fun and something everyone wants to play - HiFi Rush, Forza Horizon 5 and Pentiment are more the quality Xbox should be aiming for consistently.
I know this isn't bad for scores, but Sony first party would consider this set of reviews an absolute disaster and Xbox need to push for similar standards.
Really thinking they need to set up an internal team of Coalition, Playground and ID staff who go studio to studio helping with optimisation and maybe some Obsidian too to help with fun and story.
Starfield for example needs to be practically perfect given the expectations on it, as to be honest should all first party games - the smaller experimental ones can be Game Previews or being smaller should be able to be tested fully like Pentiment and HiFi Rush appeared to be.
How are they not catching these issues sooner?
Phil Spencer really needs to bring the hammer of scrutiny down on the first party studios. Generally disappointing review scores across the board highlights how the focus needs to move from acquisitions to more thorough management of the existing studios. Maybe it's time for Matt Booty to go?
Redfail it is then. I didn't expect much as I didn't like Dishonoured or Prey. Both games have great worldbuilding and characters, but flat gameplay (especially gunplay) IMO.
This puts so much more pressure on Starfield that I don't know if it'll live up to the hype either.
Sigh (goes back to playing Days Gone on PC, which is a banger).
Arkane please just stick to single player games ...so many great single player developers throwing there hat into this stupid online only 4 player co op plop.....got Rocksteadys disappointment to come yet...after what will be 9 years since it's last game
I hope now poeple will understand when i said MS management doesn't have the vision to pick winning projects or know how to menage there studios.... They got 24 studios and what we get is ok to good games as best... I will be honest... I didn't renew my ultimate gamepass and im planning to sub to pc gamepass only.... Xbox is a let down i hope my series X will get me a good price
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Currently at a 64 on metacritic, exactly the same as forspoken 😬
Saddest thing is, I feel, this game could have been delayed, polished, and shipped as a great Halloween title early October. Even in a poor state, at least Halloween would had given it a boost.
@TakeItEasy This game was already half been made when Xbox bought Bethesda
Oooof that's rough. I'm surprised that Arkane has come up with such a shoddy game. It would be forgiveable if the gameplay was solid but there are technical issues like Jedi Survivor but it seems like everything about the game is bad.
Comes back to the question that many of us Arkane fans had, did they really want to make this or were they forced to...
Apparently the game doesn't pause even in single player when you go into the menu, one of my biggest annoyances with live service games.
Clearly that's what this was meant to be, to earn cash for independent Bethesda - rather than stripping it out, this should have been iced in favour of a proper single player game, and come back to afterwards to see if it could be salvaged as the next project.
I'll probably give it a try but having just finished Hogwarts I'm fearing this won't compare well...
Cringe gland in overdrive
@UltimateOtaku91 I knew this would score roughly the same as Forspoken. Both games just never looked that good, even in trailers. I'm sure some people will enjoy it, just like Forspoken, but it's not for me
I'm seriously considering saving towards a ps5. Only first party I play on Xbox currently is Sea of Thieves on and off. I'm not into Forza and was put off getting Halo Infinite because of the lack of environments in single player. I mostly play third party due to the lack of actual decent first party games releasing on Xbox, especially with all the studios they have.
@Tharsman - brilliant suggestion, M$ should put you in charge.
The whole 30/60fps debacle meant it was obvious this was being pushed out the door before being complete.
I haven't downloaded and will wait for the 60fps patch (which will hopefully address the bugs, dodgy AI, pop-in and other mentioned glitches). Maybe then we'll have a decent game.
I just watched the Kinda Funny Xcast review, 2/5 from Parris Lily & Greg Miller, 3/5 (but leaning towards 2/5) from both Andy and Mike. Oof! they were so down on game throughout.
The one word they all agreed on was uninspired... never thought i'd hear that about an Arkane game.
@JON22 Sold mine for $450.00 with a couple games. Thankfully MS don't have any available so it sold pretty quick. Got a few months of PC gamepass because that is what MS wants anyway lol
It's even worse when you factor in that this is Arkane's first Xbox exclusive post acquisition.
If Starfield turns out to be bad then I think even the hard-core Xbox fan boys will have tough time defending the brand.
Sometimes Xbox's business strategy reminds me of the time my dad went to the gas station to go get cigarettes and never came back.
@Tharsman That's a great shout. Halloween would have been a much better fit.
However skim reading several reviews it seems polish and lack of 60fps seems to be the least of it's problems. 'Boring, dull, uninspired, repetitive' are all words i've heard in reviews, the problems seem more fundamental unfortunately.
@StylesT so took them another 2 yo to make this ok game...what about 343? Rare? and also thos studios that been working years on games we didnt even see a gameplay of and we keep hearing bad thing happening and developing hell (fable, perfect dark,everwild, contraband, indiana johns??) if you ask me turn10 and obsidian are the only studios that really should get their salaries, and phil strategy suc*s he almost do nothing but bla bla on interviews and im done with it
@GunValkyria They went for Deathloop over Dishonoured 3, I think it's also worth remembering there are two different Arkane studios at Bethesda, neither studio is even in the same country.
Not sure which Arkane made this but I wouldn't be suprised if its the "other" one.
I did notice A LOT of the reviews seemed to go into this in single player, trying to play it like a classic arkane title and then treated Co-op as an endgame thing. Which hey, I get, its an arkane game and they are known for very specific thigns but it dose feel a little like marking L4D or Vermintide down for not being great single player games.
Not that would address most of the problems the reviews have noted.
I said this months ago: this 4-player genre is so niche, it must be executed to perfection. But live service games "get better over time", or so they say. Read: you get an incomplete product. And it shows.
Boring combat, same old loot, dumb AI, a stupid stealth system, cutscenes that are just pictures with narration (no immersion), console copies that play at 30fps, and while I've played it on PC with my new RTX4070, I can confirm it stutters and fps drops to a point you can't even look around in the distance. Like I said MONTHS ago: Dead on arrival.
@StylesT one other thing i know that sony is playing dirty when bying 3rd party games i do hate it, but guess what? they are good at that too!! they are winning projects (FFremake,silenthill remake,SFV, FF16...) and guess what even their pick on exclusivity contents like they did with hogwards legacy and made PS the best place to play this juggernaut is smart,
in the other hand you thing xbox doenst pay for 3rd party exclusivity??? they do and they suck at it or they pick some niche game scorn?high on life? i bet even the game kojima is making (some experimental horror game) will suc* too!! after 10 years of waiting for xbox to do something i finally see the real problem which is the mentality, and you can never change someone mentality once its broken
@TakeItEasy Why are you talking like I attacked playstation or something ..I own both consoles and both have there pros and cons... I personally think alot of playstation exclusives are massively overhyped and distinctly average games ..prime example Horizon
@TakeItEasy i like to think of the situation like this:
Imagine inviting one of the most brilliant physicians (MS) and tell him to make a heart surgery to a patient....you can give him the best materiels (studios) and the best assistants (bathesda) to help him do it but he will still suck at it, why? because he doesn't know what his doing he doesn't have the knowledge (market) or the skills and only have general knowledge of the body (the targeted consumer) to do it and thats what happening with MS.
@StylesT im not talking like you attacked playstation but because your saying MS just bought bathesda, so i give you all the sh8t MS is doing, im a xbox fan by the way im having a conversation expressing my disappointment not arguing
It feels like a statement Phil Spencer made back in 2011 is ringing extremely true as time moves on through the Series X|S generation:
"If we lose our way with Halo, we lose our way with Xbox"
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@Chaudy
I have been with Xbox since day one.
Original Xbox and had all Xbox consoles on day of release.
I cannot defined such woeful incompetence anymore. I have now left Xbox brand.
And wish Xbox would hand back all studios and leave the gaming business.
This is such a missed opportunity, I was really hyped for this but then there was the 30FPS fiasco followed by these luke warm reviews.
I only have a few days left of GamePass and don't think I will be rushing out to resubscribe unless this grips my attention, there's just not enough exclusive content getting released to justify another subscription service atm.
@JON22 been saving a few months, 1 to go. I'd lost faith in Xbox during the barren 2022 anyway, but now....
How can anybody ever trust them again after all this? Letting a game leave the studio in such a mess as Redfall is? I now believe they have no standards whatsoever.
I'm going to get the God of war Ragnarok bundle, how about you?
@themightyant Sadly its every one of those thing and worse.
Sad to see it but I honestly never had any faith this one would turn out very good. It never looked like anything I'd even be remotely interested in.
Woof it's been a rough few weeks for Xbox. Really rough. Here's hoping the June showcase gives a good show.
While I thought it looked okay, pre-release, it was slightly worrying they weren't really explaining what it is. Unfortunately, this feels more like a Fallout 76 situation than it should.
Classic case of a developer being pushed out of it’s comfort zone and it seems like it was unwillingly… Rushed dev cycle and push out the door with no regard for quality after a long dev cycle and a massive delay so something went terribly wrong. MS needs to get their sh*t together as I am losing faith in the brand really fast. I’m not a big Sony fan, so if this is it for MS and they can’t get past mediocrity, I guess my interest in consoles and games will shift to indies and retro entirely (and nintendo, sometimes…). This is such a letdown and it definitely adds insult to injury for a fanbase that is already burnt and thirsting for a win for so long.
@Dezzy70 lol, I know how you feel. Its okay, Starfield might be good who knows
It feels like an early beta with a stupid required internet connection even for single player.
@Chaudy
Well they gone a long way in the wrong direction since my glory Xbox360 days for my personal preference.
It may suit others but not me.
The vast majority seem to be more concerned about the 'state' of the game at launch - rushed, unfinished etc. I think that also contributes to the 'lower' scores and certainly isn't going to help get immersed in the 'game-play' and 'world'.
Certain things were 'confirmed' before Launch - like the 30fps only, Always Online and even the Host being the ONLY person to earn mission progression - although everyone else does keep XP and gear acquired.
It probably could have done with more time and/or a 'beta' release - in fact, this seems like a Beta with the 'unfinished' state of the game with 'fixes/patches' expected. They said a 60fps Performance mode was coming after launch and were supposedly looking at removing the 'always online' in Solo play too - but as the game isn't really 'ready' to release, its unsurprising we have to 'wait' longer for these...
Lets hope they get patches out quickly. It seems like a 'Bethesda/Zenimax' decision to make a 'Live Service' game, like F76, sell MTX etc but when MS came in - plans 'changed'...
@themightyant that’s why I say, even in a poor state, at least being head Halloween would had given the fake a fighting chance. Even bad horror games can still be fun Halloween games.
Random tangent, I’m always puzzled by the triple-A horror games that insist launching in November…
@LoquaciousB Honestly, maybe Phil needs to go. Something is clearly not working. And it's frustrating as a gamer to see this over and over again.
Honestly i can't blame MS on this, the game was already being made when MS bought Bethesda and i'm guessing it would have come out the same even if MS never bought them.
@NeutronBomb No idea. I'm slowly going off gaming but it's the only real hobby I have. If I did get a ps5 it would only be to get the Earth Defence Force games or to play any retro games when Sony bothers to even add them. I'd probably try Demon Souls or something.
Based on my 3 hour session last night I would give it an upper 70s score.
@WallyWest MS have had 2years of management, Microsoft had to have the final say on releasing it in its state. 2years is enough time to get up to speed with it
Absolutely average game
Had my series x since release not one game I’ve played so far has made me feel like I’ve upgraded to next gen
Think it’s finally time to trade in and try out the ps5
Halo infinite was my first disappointment after waiting
Seems all Xbox do is get there fans hyped then consistently release mediocre games
And in between various different coloured controllers
I get that department isn’t games but it’s not a good look
Never had any interest in this one due to the fortnite characters designed to appeal to zoomers. That said, it'd have been nice for it to have not been a dumpster fire.
Theres also a ton of concern trolling in here, even for this site. Get a life, guys.
@Meehanuk_1987 If you don't feel like you have had a next gen experience with the series x...getting a ps5 won't solve that ...maybe only if you got a psvr 2 aswell perhaps
@BrilliantBill I think it has amazing potential - especially for Xbox Game Pass as it looks like it could be a lot of fun to play with friends. The fact that 'every' one of your GP friends can play together without you all needing to buy should really help.
I am not into online games as much as I used to be, partly down to my age (I think), but even when I was, there was always some of the group I played with that didn't own some of the games, especially not when 'new' games release. You'd buy the latest 'CoD/Battlefield/Halo/Gears' but most of your friends don't or won't be getting it for weeks/months. So you either play 'old' games to play together or go through each others 'games' list to try and find something you all share in common.
Not all games will appeal to ALL gamers. However, if you are not able to get immersed, whether that's because of technical issues or even just don't connect to the story/character you play as, you notice other 'flaws'. I couldn't get immersed in LoU, hated Joel and predicted the plot - therefore noticed numerous 'game-play' issues (dumb AI, doors 'unlocking' only when cleared, mission structure wasn't particularly special etc) but if you are immersed, those things don't jump out. One section I thought I'd 'cleared' every AI enemy but couldn't leave the area until I found the last remaining enemy stood in a dark corner near another 'dead' enemy I killed but never moved or reacted to all the commotion. Almost every mission has you meet someone that you know won't survive the chapter as they always 'die' before you move on to the next...
It does seem like a Legacy project and that Zenimax/Bethesda is a Separate group from Xbox - owned by MS, but independently managed - not part of Xbox Studios. Rushing a game out before it was really ready. If the game was a 'flawless' 30fps - just needed some minor tweaks/optimising to offer a 60fps mode, I think it would have reviewed better and perhaps wouldn't have been worth a delay, but the state of it is more indicative of a 'Project' in Development, not yet a 'Game' as a Game is the result of a 'finished' Project....
From what I've read Redfall was initially juts a bland, online loot shooter bethesda wanted to cash in on, and MS allowed them time to flesh it out and make it a bit more of the game they wanted to make so i'm not sure the blame actually is on MS. Still, yet another blow to team green. Something is going to have to change over there. Things are not going well.
@BrilliantBill And as for Sony, their games are generally more scripted and/or structured which enables them to 'fine tune' everything for essentially just one Spec hardware. If they see a long view tanks performance, they can just change their design, change the layout of the world to 'hide' that view. Tweak 'every' encounter so that you never have too many enemies, too many FX, too much AI etc and as they are all offline Single Player games too, no netcode/networking and/or the 'increased' player count leading to increased effects to sort out.
If you find 5 enemies at 'X' point in your PS5 game is too much, just remove an Enemy to make it hit the target - its 'design' is very much governed by the hardware and the targets. It maybe that 5 enemies is 'perfect' at 30fps, but in their 60fps mode, its one too many, so removing one - changes the 'encounter', the original design but at least it now runs 'perfectly' at 30 and 60fps. You can't change games, not that much between different platforms - although we do see numerous games that 'reduce' incidental objects (grass/foliage density for example) but you don't get 'different' encounters - only 6 enemies on screen instead of 10, different looking world with walls/boards blocking long distance views etc..
Its not releasing simultaneously on 'High End PC's' that could easily cope but also needs to scale down to Consoles and even low/mid tier PC's. You can't really change the 'layout' of the game for the Console or 'weaker' hardware, can't have 5 enemies on PC but only 4 (or less) elsewhere etc, you try and scale other things back - maybe Shadow quality, LoD draw distances, particle effects, resolution etc to get the 'game as designed/built' to work across a variety of Specs.
Sony can literally change everything in design specifically to meet their Hardware spec at a 'specific' target. Changing the environment, the enemies, everything to suit their one Hardware spec. You'll never know that 'X' was supposed to be 'very' different but had to be changed because 'hardware' limitations, where as multi-platform games seem to 'struggle' to be 1080 or 4k, a locked 30/60fps etc because they are 'trying' to optimise their 'vision' to the Hardware, not changing that 'vision' to suit a single spec SKU
The problem for me here is that these companies have gone from having a tight budget and timescale, which they have to adhere to or could be in trouble, to Microsoft just throwing a load of money at them and told them to make the game they've always wanted to. By the looks of things they've gone far too big with feature creep and then not been able to get it in a state that's fun to play, so now we'll all have to wait for 6-12 months for them to add what they initially wanted in
I'll check it out eventually just for the location.
It's the only way you can fire a gun in Massachusetts without worrying about a mandatory jail sentence! 😆
@PsBoxSwitchOwner Either way the game we got was always the intended result. This isn't like Jedi a great game let down by a dreadful technical state this a mediocre game that has a dreadful technical state on top of it.
Yep. Queue all the 60 fps haters and whiners
@StylesT hmmm don’t know about that god of war looks ragnarok looks absolutely stunning that combined with haptic feedback
@Savage_Joe
Yes, I got new Saints Row vibes from it.
@BrilliantBill Again though, those games were initially built with the PS4 as the minimum target - both also sequels to games on PS4 hardware so had the experience and knowledge of what exactly they needed to 'keep' to and how much they could 'embellish' the PS5 versions to that hardware.
The PC versions don't really offer much, if anything above the PS5 - just the option to play at higher frame rates. Its not as if they have fully path traced RT on PC but just reflections and/or shadows on PS5. Most of the settings on 'multi-platform' releases tend to offer higher settings on PC from the 'med/High' settings you get at best on consoles - and of course, these are 'ported' to PC months, if not longer after releasing on Playstation.
As I said, MS are not building games for a 'specific' hardware SKU in the first instance. Guerilla & Sony Santa Monica both started out making HFW & GoW:R to run at 1080/30 on a base PS4 and use whatever 'overheads' they had to raise the resolution and/or add embellishments that can be 'removed' if it doesn't hit the frame rate target. MS, at least since about 2016, have been 'committed' to releasing ALL their games on PC day and date, as well as Cloud too. Its a 'multi-platform' Publisher and not making games specifically to the 'weakest' (or ONLY) platform, but to run across a wide variety of specs.
If Redfall for example was 'built' for XB1 to run at 1080/30 'flawlessly', they'd have enough overhead to deliver (up to) 4k/30 on XB1X, 1080/60 and/or greater incidental density on XsS, and potentially more embellishments at 4k/60 on XsX - with PC ranging from a 'low' tier Minimum spec requirement and the 'beefiest' PC offering the highest resolution/frame rates and visual settings - and playable on Cloud too...
Point is, Sony is still building primarily for a 'single' Spec - either the base PS4 or PS5 and as such, can build a game to that hardware specifically, knowing that they can tweak the core game specifically for that hardware long before its 'ported' to PC or more capable Specs they can then turn up settings and add more incidental details - like NPC's (watching racing, walking about cities etc), traffic, Foliage etc all usually procedurally generated anyway, to use more of the overheads.
Its not an excuse. MS studio's could stipulate to their Studios that ALL their games must run a certain way on XSS as the 'minimum' spec and won't release until they 'lock' to 30/60fps, changing the way the game was 'designed' to be to 'fit' that hardware and just increase Res and/or a setting or two for XSX, but PC gets basically an 'unlocked' XSX version that can run at 120fps+ because it was built within the XSS 'container' first and foremost. But it seems they are more like a multi-platform game designer, building their game as they 'wanted' and then get that game running as 'designed' across a wide range of hardware, not changing the design or 'vision' between the multiple different hardware specs...
GoW:R is a great example of a game clearly built for PS4 hardware - hence it runs really well there and the PS5 version obviously runs well because it has much more overheads...
About 4 hours in and I agree with a lot of the criticism. Game just feels rushed and incomplete at times and downright broken occasionally. Loot is rather unexciting and as many have said it sorely needs 60 fps.
I don't know why but I had very high hopes for this game and was really hoping Arkane would smash it out the park. I'm not a huge dishonored fan but I loved prey and wish they made a prey 2. I was just hoping this game would be the vampire hunting game that I and others have been looking for but as I spoke to my bro today who has been majorly hyped for this, his words were "I can't believe how disappointed I am about this, they messed up what could have been such an amazing game" and that is a major statement from my bro who like I said was really really looking forward to this and wouldn't listen to my criticism about 30fps lol. As it's on GP I guess it's a wait and see what they do game rather than a I'm playing this ASAP game. Sad 😮💨
Typical Xbox exclusive. Starfield will likely be similar. It’s a fact Playstation devs make the best games! Proper hoping Starfield lives up to the hype but i’m kinda 70/30 that it’ll be average at best.
@Dezzy70 you know what’s hilarious at this point. Phil Spencer. Sony release a game he’s like ‘oh wow congrats on a stunning game’ on Twitter. Xbox release Redfall…. Crickets 🤣🤣
@Fenbops I was thinking this earlier. Jim Ryan himself might have to make a Twitter just to personally congratulate them. "Congratulations on releasing a game so bad, people barely want to play it for 'free'. That takes a truly remarkable talent."
@Fenbops
It’s all gone a bit strange at Xbox.
Definitely not the new generation and all the promises we thought we were going to get.
I should have seen the warning signs after Halo Infinite.
Don’t think I’ve seen such a self destructive demonstration of a brand, Xbox in all my very long gaming life.
Yes some ups and down etc but this Microsoft with Xbox is like nothing I’ve seen.
Especially with all the money they have.
At this moment in time I wish they would sell their studios and leave the gaming business, they have no purpose for my personal preferences gaming wise what so ever.
A few hours in here, and if there is a silver lining, it's the gavt that this game has highlighted exactly what the problem is at Microsoft: their quality control is abysmal. They have had years to look at this game and see it wasn't coming together properly, to either cancel it or push it out, or of nothing else to ensure that these fairly obvious problems are ironed out. We know they knew that the game wasn't very good because of the review embargo (usually the sign of a bad game). Whoever is responsible for making sure games under the Microsoft umbrella come out ON TIME and more importantly in good shape, is stealing money at this point.
All I can say is that Starfield better be good...
@Dezzy70 I wouldn’t go as far as you, gaming kind of needs them as competition to Sony, even if that competition is ****, it’s better than none. I’m finding it fascinating. As someone who loved the original Xbox and the 360 in particular, the levels of self destruction from one of the richest companies on the planet is a marvel to watch.
I really thought things would improve after the Xbox one, which I skipped completely, but you can argue they haven’t. I was thinking the other day, the Xbox one actually had a better line up of games in its first couple of years compared to what we’ve got on series. Unbelievable.
@SplooshDmg No fan of Big Jim but if he did that just to troll he’d be one of my favourite people instantly 🤣
@Fenbops
Yes I preferred the Xbox one days for sure.
And definitely the Xbox one x was great for me.
The problem is even some third party games now are leaning towards PS5 in performance, of course bigger install base.
In the Xbox one x days third party wise the one x was king for sure. At least Xbox had that going for it.
@Dezzy70 Xbox should be ashamed releasing this, it’s embarrassing. Some of the clips I’ve seen online are hilarious, even funnier when you realise this is a £70 game. I don’t care if it’s on Gamepass that’s not an excuse for a game being sh*t like Redfall.
@Fenbops
Will if ever a company wanted to put a nail in the coffin of a brand, Microsoft are certainly leading the way over the last 2.5 years.
@Dezzy70 I feel sorry for Starfield. That game now has an almost impossible task of redeeming the Xbox brand somewhat. If that game is another mess idk what happens.
@Fenbops
It may be past that point, I mean it would have to be GOWR and BOTW type universal status to give Xbox a glimmer of redemption and general public interest and momentum in the brand.
Even then I think with the other two riding pretty high, it still probably will be to little to late I’m afraid.
don't worry phil will emphasize the push on indie games being on game pass ...... hes showing his age and this is why he needs to step down and have a new and younger person take over . idk how did he oversee this and think its worth 70 bucks
@Feffster same I’ll see after that update but it better fix everything since that’s another delay
The issue is Xbox are telling their studios they want games with live service elements that have multiplayer/co-op elements….. ironically the one game people wanted co-op - halo - didn’t have it.
I believe you have to let studios do what they want. With Xbox owning so many and with the gamepass model. Let these studios be free. Forget the service elements to hook people into subscriptions. Good games will do it more.
Us Xbox owners are constantly trying to hype up these games in the face of reviews like this because we are invested but seriously…… it’s hard work.
The VGC review was painful. They are big big big Xbox fans over there. It’s basically an Xbox fan site and the review reads honestly and like a 2/3 and he then gives it a 4 just to stay on brand. I feel for him.
I want this game to be a 4 out of 5 too. But it’s just not.
Xbox studios and whoever oversees all the content and joins it up for GPU calendar needs to take a time out and realise it’s not working. We went a year without an exclusive. We got a seriously compromised Halo. We’ve waited for the promised pipe line of hits and when the first big hyped game comes along it isn’t even close to delivering.
Stop the 4 player nonsense. Stop the always online nonsense. Stop the live service.
Get 4 or 5 banging solo player games out of the pipe line and then add in and sprinkle those games with the extras.
Your fans and subscribers will thank you.
You have the studios and the talent to do it.
The Series X must be hard to develop games for. It is supposed to be the superior console but can't seem to match what the PS5 does. I don't think any of their AAA first party games have released in such bad states. I played Spiderman and Horizon Forbidden West on their release day and they ran really well and looked amazing. Something is lacking within the studios that MS owns.
'Good enough for Game Pass'
@TheSimulator I'm sure he is playing something on the PS5 and not even concerned with Xbox.
@Widey85 Yeah, played it a bit last night single player (not into multiplayer at all) and was irritated by not being able to pause. Otherwise in the couple of hours I played I found it quite atmospheric and fun. I'll see how I feel when I get more time in on it. Certainly would rather have had a proper single player game.
Lot of hopes pinned onto starfield from xbox gamers ,its a bit of a worry that they've gone for the procedural planet route ,I would have preferred maybe 20 massive hand crafted ones.
It’s embarrassing
After playing the game solo and with friends for a few hours now, heres my own thoughts for what its worth. Theres a few things that really dont help this game from the start. 1), Like with Ghostwire, you genuinely have to fiddle with the controls to even play the game normally as its waaaay off, the curser zips around in a wierd way like it gets a turbo after 1 sec of moving it. 2) The game starts so slowly, the game feels so bland and boring. The game does pick up most definitely, I played about 3 hours with another player and it was not bad. 3) The game def feels unfinished, very beta like. Character models and the environment seem very basic and unfinished. The game has a day and night cycle, but there is no indicator telling you if nightfall is coming, its bizarre. 4) 30fps?....the game is far from pushing the Xbox and its 30fps, this is a joke. At times it felt like 10fps. 5) Found lots of annoying bugs and problems, got kicked from game, especially in multiplayer. Also we found player floating and sinking and other environment glitches a fair bit which was annoying as hell. 6). They could have made the game way more immersive and creepy with better sound effects, its quite lifeless as it is. 7)The worst thing for me was no matchmaking, I mean for a multiplayer game...really? I felt this let the game down a lot imo. If this is the best Bethesda offer, we are screwed at Xbox.
@Gamerintent55 will do thank you for the advice god of war looks stunning !
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