Mad as a Hatter at PC Gamer's Review

[Archived Post]

I have a subscription to PC Gamer and just got the December edition. There's a review in it of Champions Online where the reviewer complains that quests give you items to high for you to equip - a problem that was fixed last week.

The pictures they used were pretty crummy too. :mad:

[Archived Post]

I have a subscription to PC Gamer and just got the December edition. There's a review in it of Champions Online where the reviewer complains that quests give you items to high for you to equip - a problem that was fixed last week.

The pictures they used were pretty crummy too. :mad:

Your review of the review is some what lacking as well :) So what did they give CO overall?

[Archived Post]

magazines likley take longer than a week to print and distribute. PC gamers reviews games as they are, not as they are expected to be.

[Archived Post]

I have a subscription to PC Gamer and just got the December edition. There's a review in it of Champions Online where the reviewer complains that quests give you items to high for you to equip - a problem that was fixed last week.

The pictures they used were pretty crummy too. :mad:

Reviews and articles are written in advance and can't be as up to date as this week.

I love PC Gamer, my favorite magazine I give them a 9.7.:)

[Archived Post]

Your review of the review is some what lacking as well :) So what did they give CO overall?

74% and a so so review.

[Archived Post]

74% and a so so review.

mostly accurate number imo. maybe take off 2-3 points.

[Archived Post]

74% and a so so review.

Hmm seems a bit high. Especially if he was reviewing from a few patches ago.

[Archived Post]

Dunno what you guys are talking about, I'm having fun. If you're not, play something else.

[Archived Post]

I have a subscription to PC Gamer and just got the December edition. There's a review in it of Champions Online where the reviewer complains that quests give you items to high for you to equip - a problem that was fixed last week.

The pictures they used were pretty crummy too. :mad:

They only fixed the tutorial and early desert/canada ones according to the notes IIRC. There's still a lot of quests that give level locked rewards. There's also a lot of bind on acquire drops from quest bosses that are level locked.

[Archived Post]

Why is this even a problem? just level up a couple levels and use it?

[Archived Post]

I'm a big fan of CO, and I'm a big fan of PC Gamer. I'd have to say that, for the mainstream audience, their review is spot on. For the former CoXers like me who are familiar with playing an MMO from startup, it's a little different, but that's not PC Gamer's prerogative.

[Archived Post]

Dunno what you guys are talking about, I'm having fun. If you're not, play something else.

Agreed. Despite some needed changes in certain areas, I find this game to be great. A 74% PC Gamer review is not too shabby. Personally, anything under 60% reviewed by them is a warning sign to me. Of course, PC Gamer has a new section in their magazine where they do regular updates for MMO's - so keep watch on future issues I suppose, and see how things fare.

[Archived Post]

Agreed. Despite some needed changes in certain areas, I find this game to be great. A 74% PC Gamer review is not too shabby. Personally, anything under 60% reviewed by them is a warning sign to me. Of course, PC Gamer has a new section in their magazine where they do regular updates for MMO's - so keep watch on future issues I suppose, and see how things fare.

People can have all the fun in the world and still be realistic. I am loving the game, but the game does not deserve anything above a 70%

[Archived Post]

This game is mediocre at best.

[Archived Post]

They only fixed the tutorial and early desert/canada ones according to the notes IIRC. There's still a lot of quests that give level locked rewards. There's also a lot of bind on acquire drops from quest bosses that are level locked.

Dropped items still have level requirements, but my quest rewards up to Monster Island have all been ready to equip.

[Archived Post]

I agree the review score is higher than it deserves to be for the audience and function they are reviewing for. And people settling on scores in the 70's... if the dev's are the same way it explains why we're at this point.

[Archived Post]

74% isnt bad :)

[Archived Post]

I have a subscription to PC Gamer and just got the December edition. There's a review in it of Champions Online where the reviewer complains that quests give you items to high for you to equip - a problem that was fixed last week.

The pictures they used were pretty crummy too. :mad:

PCGamer's review wasn't that bad given they would have been reviewing the game just after launch; I think 74% is a fair score - in another 6 months, this game could be a solid 8/10, but it's not there yet.

Interestingly that same issue of Gamer has an article which basically declares CoH dead, and although a lot of the critisms could be levelled at this game too, it doesn't mention CO in that.

PCGamer's sister magazine on the other hand, PCZone; the review in that was just awful - not just the score of 64% - the review itself was just poor; Zone has been going downhill for a while but that was the last straw for me, we just don't enjoy the same games anymore.

[Archived Post]

I have a subscription to PC Gamer and just got the December edition. There's a review in it of Champions Online where the reviewer complains that quests give you items to high for you to equip - a problem that was fixed last week.
If you have the magazine today, then the FINAL layout went to the printers at least ten days ago. Which means the article was written at least TWO WEEKS ago. And thus, at the time the article was written ... and even when the magazine went to the printer ... the information related therein was still correct.

Instead of getting angry - write a letter. Point out that at least one of the reviewer's negative points has since been fixed. Play up the rate of fix-stuff patching Cryptic has sustained.

The pictures they used were pretty crummy too. :mad:
Send them some better pictures, then. :)

[Archived Post]

The Swedish edition of PC Gamer gave CO a 60% rating, saying it's not finished yet and more like a paid beta.

Main gripes: NPCs with program code names (Undefined value, etc), follow-ups that are lower level than the starter quest, cumbersome and badly explained crafting system, nerfs and revamps, Cryptic still struggling to find the balance.

On the plus side: Lots of action, fun combat, the almost total freedom when it comes to character creation, travel skills.

All in all, the reviewer thinks it's a beta released too early that's fun for a while and shows promise, but she also asks whether there are enough superhero fans to keep the game afloat once Cryptic are finished tweaking it.

[Archived Post]

gripes: NPCs with program code names (Undefined value, etc), follow-ups that are lower level than the starter quest, cumbersome and badly explained crafting system, nerfs and revamps, Cryptic still struggling to find the balance.

...

All in all, the reviewer thinks it's a beta released too early that's fun for a while and shows promise, but she also asks whether there are enough superhero fans to keep the game afloat once Cryptic are finished tweaking it.
To throw out a few more things ...

Not enough PvE content -- there's little to no replay value content-wise, and the game's a relatively quick run to 40.

Teaming is very, very poorly done, and the devs hold off on lairs for /far/ too long.

The stat system is non-intuitive -- WTH is up with Presence affecting the damage on Fire Form and endurance gain from Thermal Reverb? Duh wha'? Tool tips for Presence, I'm pretty sure, mention the stat being useful for generating / shedding hate.

The SG system is weak.

What's fascinating is that Cryptic learned from some of the mistakes in CoH, and incorporated some of the "wouldn't it be nice to haves", but buggered up much of what made CoH good.

I'm on the fence about whether or not my lifetime sub was a worthwhile investment.