The adorable Party Animals officially made its debut on Xbox Game Pass yesterday and it's clearly been proving a huge hit so far, but unfortunately it's also suffered its fair share of controversy - especially over on the Steam platform for PC.
Right now, Party Animals only has a "Mixed" review score on Steam, and it's primarily due to the always-online requirement that the game employs. You can still play the game locally with a few friends and AI bots without ever needing to matchmake with real people, but you have to be connected to the game's servers in order to play.
The backlash was so strong yesterday that the game's developer felt the need to address it, revealing why "offline" was originally mentioned in the game's description and why it was ultimately removed as well:
"Paw it out with your friends both online and offline. Our intention with this sentence was to convey that you can play with your friends remotely (online), or together in the same location using the same device (offline) through split-screen.
However, it seems this statement led some players to believe that Party Animals supports an offline mode. We regret the misunderstanding and wish to clarify that the game does not have, nor do we plan to introduce, an offline mode. Party Animals currently requires an online connection to play."
"To prevent further misunderstandings, we have revised the game description. The controversial sentence has since been replaced with the following: 'Paw it out with your friends remotely, or huddle together for chaotic fun on the same screen.' We sincerely apologize for any confusion our wording caused. It was never our intention to mislead our player base about the availability of an offline mode."
The always-online aspect of Party Animals definitely isn't going down very well, then, but the actual gameplay is at least getting a lot of positive feedback. We also had excellent things to say about it in our pre-launch review, dishing out a "Great" 8/10 score and calling it "one of the best party games available on Xbox Game Pass in 2023".
Sadly, PC Game Pass players can't join in the fun - at least for now. Party Animals is currently a console exclusive for Game Pass members, although there is also an Xbox Cloud Gaming version as part of the "Ultimate" subscription.
What are your thoughts on Party Animals so far? Tell us down in the comments below.
What Do You Think Of Party Animals So Far? (74 votes)
- It's amazing, I'm loving it!
- It's pretty good so far, yeah
- It's OK, not bad
- It's a bit disappointing to be honest
- It's terrible!
What Are Your Thoughts About The Always-Online Part? (138 votes)
- Who cares? I'm just enjoying the game
- It's a bit annoying, but I'm not that bothered
- Yeah, I definitely think it's a problem
- I refuse to play the game because of it!
[source store.steampowered.com]
Comments 13
I never understand these online controversies you have to be online to download the game anyway.
do people systematically turn off their internet after its downloaded
@trev666 Many people do not have ubiquitous and constant online connectivity at their house. Congrats on not having this problem.
@trev666 Internet, especially in the US and other third world countries, is woefully unreliable.
As for people like me, I travel with my Series X. So being able to play things offline is a must.
@Scummbuddy
Instead of paying $300 - 500 for a gaming system they should work out options to get better internet.
@ZuneTattooGuy Not everyone has the same options obviously.
@ZuneTattooGuy Are you saying your internet has never gone down for a period of time, not even once?
I don't particularly have a problem with an always online requirement requirement and if my internet does have an outage I'd just deal with it and play or do something else, but to suggest that the consumer is at fault is just wrong.
Party Animals is alright definitely an improvement over peers like Gang Beasts.
I often got stuck with team mates who don’t know basic controls. That said even as someone who went through the tutorial doing the right thing in the moment is hard to do.
The amount is people who tried to jump the ball in the goal in buzz ball was crazy. Throw it!
@ZuneTattooGuy I agree, instead of a dev just not having their game be always online for no reason to no benefit to any parties involved, people should have more money and move to another area for better internet. Just like how the homeless should just have homes, it's not that hard.
@ZuneTattooGuy Yeah, people should have to prove they have sufficient internet before even buying a console, and it shouldnt even be offered for sale in countries with patchy infrastructure.
People moaning about a game being always online when its been advertised as having an offline mode are clearly just delusional haters....
Returning to sanity for a brief moment, I havent had a chance to play this yet, but I reckon we will have some fun with this at the weekend if i can bare to stop starfield and motorfest for a while!
@InterceptorAlpha
Apologies if I misread your comment based on the exact wording you used, but as far as I know, the US is not a third-world country?
I've played this game 2 nights running with 6 to 8 people, it is very good, great production value, good maps, good animation and polish, the MP is very good with friends. It's hilarious a game I sweat playing as I get so into it ha-ha!
If a game is "always online" it should be always free
@AccessibleDaydream
I'm 43, I was born and raised here in the US.
I've also lived and worked all over the US.
The US is becoming more 3rd world each passing day!
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