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Xplay trashes Hellgate, 2 out of 5 rating
Samuraisword
Member Posts: 2,111
http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/1669/Hellgate_London.html
Put quite simply, Hellgate: London is a buggy mess. And that goes double for the multiplayer action. Crazy slowdown during battle; graphic issues where various on-screen elements completely disappear; and bugs that crash players right to the desktop are all issues in the retail version of this potentially awesome game. Patches will almost assuredly fix these problems eventually, but it’s still pretty disheartening to rip open that cellophane for the first time and realized you’ve basically paid full price for an unfinished, unpolished product.
Comments
Seems fair to me. I doubt many people are going to argue that the game was released early. However HGL is much better than at launch already. Like being able to use the Horodric Cube.
Is it in singleplayer and mulitplayer?
I haven't seen in the singleplayer( Though i have no idea if I have all the latest patches...)
<a href='http://eq2players.station.sony.com/characters/character_profile.vm?characterId=727954103'><img src='http://eq2players.station.sony.com/signature/727954103.png'></a>;
Well, to begin that review is a bit old. I saw it quite a while ago when it aired, and even then the info they spoke of was out dated, and much of it had already been fixed. I will admit, in fact gladly concede that HGL was a buggy mess at launch and should have been held back some. That said, I put VERY little into what Xplay has to say about any game. That show, and in fact that network are turning into a bunch of tools who have "fanboi" tendencies to specific companies. Whether that is because those company's are paying them for it (See recent firing of a not to be mentioned individual who lost his job over giving an honest "Negative" review to someone on the "Good" list) A perfect example is their inherent love for anything Xbox, and auto-hate mode for most things PS3, regardless of the true quality of the game.
Is it in singleplayer and mulitplayer?
I haven't seen in the singleplayer( Though i have no idea if I have all the latest patches...)
The horodric cube has another name and it arrived for subscribers only in the 0.7 patch.
I'm not sure if the patches are absolutely required to play HGL in single player, and if they aren't there are probably some people who don't download the patches.
I'm not sure if the patches are absolutely required to play HGL in single player, and if they aren't there are probably some people who don't download the patches.
So they cater to the stupid masses? God bless America.
Ummmm these are the guys that gave Tabula Rasa a four out of five...yeah that rating wasn't bought and paid for.
I gave up on poor little G4TV after only a few months of programming. Yep, just after a few month's time G4 did what MTV could had only dreamed of: They morphed themselves into utter content worthlessness and off-topic drivel shows that spew of reality shows. Honestly, I suspect there will be a G5, G6, G7, etc channel sometime soon, to make up for the fact that the channel doesn't actually cater to its original audience (just like MTV had to do, in order to actually play...music videos!).
G4 has turned into a totally bought and paid for walking and talking advertisement, when it actually has game content being shown and discussed. Their reviews are lop-sided and they tend to focus on the absolutely worthless aspects of a game.
With all of this being said, however, I would agree that HG:L is NOT worth investing into. Repeating tilesets are the bane of this title (how many times can you play through some newly named place with the same graphics before it becomes dull and absolutely boring), along with repetitive gameplay, an over-abundance of uninteresting skills, extremely poor launch and billing system, dumb monster AI, very limited item graphics, and a host of other annoyances.
Unfortunately for me, I pre-ordered the game and picked up the founders offer before most of these things came to my realization - Believe me, if I could take it back I would. I will say this: I formated my drive about 3 weeks ago and I have not bothered to reinstall the game. WoW has replay value. LORTO has replay value. Hell, Battlefield 2142 has replay value. HG:L has zero replay value.
I can't say I completely agree with this.
One of the features I enjoyed about this game was the way you could upgrade your kit to keep it contemporay throughout the game. I wasn't ever farming for the perfect kit, I had that right from the beginning and enjoyed maintaining it as the game progressed.
Essentially all the kit has a number of generic powers. Each drop has some assigned randomly, and you can upgrade both the number of generic powers an item can have, their strength, and modify which ones through a series of addons and by disenchanting your random drops into their component parts and incorporating them into your existing items.
You sort of craft your own improvements into your gear as you go along, rather than seek out new drops. The items are all level capped, so once you have upgraded your basic item into the ultimate uber you can have at your level it is as powerful as any item can possibly be for you in the game.
I liked that you didn't need to farm up your rare and epic drops as you did in Diablo. I thought this a good improvement. I cannot imagine going back and replaying to farm up new items. This would be, for the most part, pointless.
If you expected it to be like WoW (full MMORPG), you're not going to see the replay value.You mean if people expect it to be what the devs market it as?
You mean if people expect it to be what the devs market it as?
The devs do label it as an MMORPG and it does fit as in it's an RPG and many people are online on at once and have the ability to interact with each other. The tag can be misleading depending on the buyers expectations. I'll agree with that.
Honestly, no. I do not mean replay value = full-fledged MMORPG.
I never played Diablo.
Let me give what I believe is an excellent example of a game that has zero replay value (and some people will hate me for mentioning this): Guild Wars. Plainly put, it is boring for me. Don't get me wrong, I think it is an excellent title for some people (and obviously, lots of people enjoy the title). However, it doesn't hold my interest in the slightest way. Why? OK, so you play through the regions in a very linear fashion (just like HG:L) and run through the quests in those regions. Once you're done, now what? What if you do not belong to a guild and are not interested in PVP? Other than creating a new character of a different class and then running through the EXACT same content again, there just isn't any replay value. Sure you can pickup one of their expansions, but it is just more of the same linear gameplay (and, yes, I did pickup Factions and Night Fall in the hopes that something would change). That is what HG:L represents to me: Guild Wars, without the PVP, without the guild focus and perks, without the enormous amount of content, without the vast varying outdoor zone feel and graphics, and without the ability to skip past areas in the strict linear play. Sounds pretty boring, in my own opinion...
Honestly, no. I do not mean replay value = full-fledged MMORPG.
I never played Diablo.
Let me give what I believe is an excellent example of a game that has zero replay value (and some people will hate me for mentioning this): Guild Wars. Plainly put, it is boring for me. Don't get me wrong, I think it is an excellent title for some people (and obviously, lots of people enjoy the title). However, it doesn't hold my interest in the slightest way. Why? OK, so you play through the regions in a very linear fashion (just like HG:L) and run through the quests in those regions. Once you're done, now what? What if you do not belong to a guild and are not interested in PVP? Other than creating a new character of a different class and then running through the EXACT same content again, there just isn't any replay value. Sure you can pickup one of their expansions, but it is just more of the same linear gameplay (and, yes, I did pickup Factions and Night Fall in the hopes that something would change). That is what HG:L represents to me: Guild Wars, without the PVP, without the guild focus and perks, without the enormous amount of content, without the vast varying outdoor zone feel and graphics, and without the ability to skip past areas in the strict linear play. Sounds pretty boring, in my own opinion...
But you get to shoot things. The FPS aspect of the game adds to the replayability in my opinion. The RPG aspect gives a reason to continue on (leveling, skills, gear). Personally, I've gotten at least 60 hours of entertainment so far (meaning with the collector's edition, I've paid $1/hour). That seems like a good price to me. I've also got someone to play with (my GF) which makes a big difference, as with any online game.
Good points, and while I agree to them in principle I have to say (personally speaking) that the game just fails on both the FPS and RPG aspect of the game.
Actually I game with my girlfriend as well (we play side-by-side in our house together). We both bought HG:L and had high expectations for it. She gave up on it after about two days worth of playing and countless technical issues. I have to admit that having a significant other playing a game with you is a huge draw, and it should not underestimated. However, the draw is just as strong when your significant other dislikes a game - And I suppose that helped influence my ultimate decision, as I saw how FSS/Ping0 almost completely ignored technical problems for weeks on the forums after the game released.
Nonetheless, for my playstyle and interest, the game just falls very hard and very flat on both the FPS and RPG elements.
The Intro movie was worth the £18 i paid for it.
I don't play the game with them (no LAN capability) but I show the intro to all my gamer mates every time.
Sadly, that's the feature that would have kept me from returning the game and getting my money back. I think they really killed alot of sales potential by not including LAN.
I used to spam a lot on the developer forums during the making of the game. They had a pretty sour attitude towards LAN gamers. We are all trying to rip them off and steal from them was the general mood.
2007 was a dismal year for LAN gaming. All the titles we play here were 2006 releases.
That's because that's what LAN gaming has resorted to these days. Blame it on hamachi, blame it on pirates, blame it on whoever. But now that lan is a easy to access network with no verification that doesn't even require lan anymore that it just isn't a sound decision for developers to allow it anymore, while still wanting to keep pirates limited(Which they should be). And frankly these days your more likely to find computers with internet then without(heck even phones have internet these days lol). Sorry people =( I can feel your pain, but blame pirates, don't blame developers.
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And for Replay value.... I'm sorry. I still play d2, i still play d2 mods, i play titan quest, i play throne of darkness(well i did, i lost my cd key and i don't pirate).
That's why i liked hellgate, and honestly, thats why i accepted it's major failings at release. Heck that's why i wrote a comprehensive guide to the summoner, a indepth review of all his skills, and various ways to build a summoner(not builds, but general guides to suit playstyles, since the summoner does not have a set build to follow to be good, but rather a general outline for the various duties he's capable of)
Why have i not logged onto it and played it in ages?
The Tilesets of the areas. The fanboys will write it off "But it's london! It can't be that different." But that's just not true. There are ton's of options to creation, and heck, walk down any city irl, you won't be as bored as the entire game of hgl.
At first it won't bother you, heck you may not even care by the time you beat normal on your first character. But the fact still remains.
Then theres the Area layout, each individual tileset of the game has very very few different rooms or styles. So when you play it, you'll be able to tell what type of room your going in, and what exactly it will be like by the time your level 25. For every single tileset. It leads to a feeling of boredom. Then theres the fact that the entire game is basically on rails, the areas are all just one giant line.
Then Theres the randomization. Yes it is supposed to create more replay value, but the fact the tilesets and room pieces are so limited, that it doesn't help, but in fact, makes it worse. If there were multiple paths in maps(which were actual paths, not just a room with nothing in it besides 5-10 mobs) That the randomization doesn't help, but in fact, makes the linear paths even more generic then they would with preset designs.
The worst part is progression, theres no progression through the game. Act 1 vs act 5? It's not different enough. Act 1 2 3 4 5? Why not just call it act hellgate, theres no acts, theres just more hubs and more of the same stupid story.
Look at D2, as you went through the game, each act had it's own areas, it's own mobs, it's own bosses, it gave you a sense of progression through the game, which gave you more replay value, since it enabled you to not get tired of one specific tileset and still have to see it for the rest of your time in the game. If in d2, we had to go through the cold plains, every other area, we'd get tired of cold plains forever. Unfortunately thats the situation with hellgate.
Then we get into the skills and classes. There simply are too few skills, they justified it by saying "the weapons replace the skills" Heck even i said it. But after a playthrough on a marksman, and then about 5 different alts, you'd realize that most of the weapons for marksman are worthless(such as grenade launchers and the like). All laser items are worthless, field items are worthless. Sniper rifles seemed to be great when i first got them, but once you get rapid fire high, and the crit skills you'll end up just clearing things faster and more efficiently then a sniper ever would. the one use it did have, as in normal sniping hard to kill mobs, but even with a sydonai sniper rifle legendary it just doesn't hold up in higher difficulties.
The fact is that Cabalist, Hunter, and Templar, should have been classes, not base archetypes. With the current classes skills as trees, such as the templar having a aura tree, a shield/heal tree, and a attack tree. Look at mythos, you can turn a archetype into a melee class, a pet class, or a caster. or even a hybrid. It leads to a large amount of diversity. Where it stands now, marksman for example have basically one real build to go with, the grenades aren't worth it(they do have uses don't get me wrong, but only as extra points).
Then theres the items, this is the only real part of the game which is acceptable, and even then only partially. The game at this moment still lacks any real way to farm. Shulgoth is not what i'd call end game farming. I hear stonehenge is going to remedy this solution, i hope so.
But then we get into hellgates content updates. This patch was supposed to come out in december, and now we will be lucky to see it in January. But even then, stonehenge is not going to be enough content. It's a few zones at the end of the game, in order to salvage hellgate stonehenge should not have been developed yet, but instead a sweeping patch to the entire game that gives the entire game more diversity more tilesets, more room layouts. Bosses redesigned, retooled, and drop tables updated.
Because as it stands now, new players are going to play hellgate, get bored of it though the early content, and if they don't subscribe they won't even go to stonehenge. And people who have got bored and left, probably won't want to waste 10 bucks to see if this one content patch changed the game into something that would be truely worth playing. Stonehenge is coming too late, and being subscriber only is going to limit its ability to save the game.
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Truely hellgate had potential... But as it stands now theres just no way to save it. The population is so extremely low, and it's not selling, stonehenge isn't going to give the game a new breath of air, and i don't see them having enough funds coming in to sustain the type of development they had planned for this game.
They managed to ruin the only thing they really had going for them, their reputation.
They are nickle diming and trying to force people to subscribe, I mean I have to subscribe for hardcore which was available at launch? We almost didnt get elite and its the only thing even slightly playable? Giving subscribers extra respecs when they say how against respecs they are, its all ridiculous.
That's because that's what LAN gaming has resorted to these days. Blame it on hamachi, blame it on pirates, blame it on whoever. But now that lan is a easy to access network with no verification that doesn't even require lan anymore that it just isn't a sound decision for developers to allow it anymore, while still wanting to keep pirates limited(Which they should be). And frankly these days your more likely to find computers with internet then without(heck even phones have internet these days lol). Sorry people =( I can feel your pain, but blame pirates, don't blame developers.
Pirates are my heroes. The saviours of LAN gaming. They take games that deliberately obstruct the use of LAN play, and they crack them so that they work again.In my opinion games designers should stop catering for those who don't buy their goods and pay more attention to those that are willing to.
In the end it's not a blame game. People either make games with features I am looking for, or I don't buy them.
Each patch effectively breaks something else. 1.0 goes live, servers go to crap with massive lag. Patch to fix lag, semi worked except now players that beat normal mode cannot create elite mode characters.
(Normal mode stinks, real easy, bad loot, basically just a boring runthrough of the game. Everyone zergs to elite mode so now many cannot even play the game. So their answer is to do a 12 hour maintenance on the forums that have worked fine to this point.)
IF you do pick up this game... DONT become a subscriber, not worth paying monthly for this game. It has a long ways to go.
My 1st impressions out of the box went bad at all, although i only played single player at the time. I play the multiplayer with a friend and had major issues with downloads form the company itself.
as for G4 tech TV they lost my viewership when they changed thier format several times. Most of thier shows have nothing to do with video games or latest technology. i dont take thier reviews seriously as anyone elses. its my perception of the game that counts.
Although I love to see Morgan Webb, Layla Layleigh, and Olivia munn! 3 Hotties and gamer chicks!!!
Played : WOW, LOTRO, COH/COV, EQ2, SWG, and WAR.
Playing EVE Online and AOC.
Wtg for SW:TOR and WOD
I started playing when it was launched now after all those months most instance and mobs still looking same from lvl 1 up to lvl40, for me that is, no this game is terrible i think they cant chance this, not wurth playing.
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit
This is completely fair in my opinion. Hellgate London looks and feels like a cheap Korean import. I don't mean to be a dick, but there are never any "Wow!" moments, plus when it was reviewed the game WAS buggy as hell.
I play HGL alot when I'm bored, but I would by no means say this belongs in the better top half of gaming. Diablo 2 offers more variety in it's levels, gear, and monsters.