14 replies to this topic

[Cougar_DK]

Another review.... from Games Domain

First he praises the game:

quote:

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Universal Combat is loaded with features. The series has always been about what you can accomplish, but actually completing those tasks is less than thrilling. For example, you can destroy a planet colony from space or on foot, you can visit up to 250 planets with your spaceship, act out your Star Wars-meets-Star Trek fantasies, and pretend to be a member of one of nine different races. And you can -- finally -- compete in a multiplayer gameworld. There are tons of missions and plenty of instant action scenarios.

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And then he says:

quote:

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There's something wrong with the game, though, which comes down to two fundamental problems: interface and gameplay.

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I really can't see whats wrong with the interface and gameplay. You have so many options so its pretty hard to make an interface that just some buttons along the screen like an RTS or FPS could do justice.
Gameplay what more do he want? You can do what you want.... where do you want to go today....

He continues:

quote:

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Annoying interface problems persist: Why do you have to press Alt-Q to quit, as though this is a DOS-based game from 1995? Why in first-person mode can't you just press a number key to access different weapons? And why can't you use something like right-click to toss a grenade?

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Have he tried the game? My 1-6 keys works perfect....
What has this key combination anything to do with a review of the game. Should it pull down the score....?!?!?

And it just keeps on... A VERY POOR REVIEW.

But again if you normally play CS then UC can seem kinda dull

[ 02-25-2004, 08:58 PM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

[Extinct_Reptilia]

man... it really feels like this guy only took an hour or so just playing the game and then got fed up, because he didn't read the manual, and went right into writing the review.. He didn't even include his own screenshots, he just ended up using the ones that were sent out months ago.

Most reviewers use their own screenshots.

It's a shame this guy has no brain...

[PTBlues]

Honestly I really think a lot of these guys are younger and were brought up on console games.
Its obvious he never really played it. These guys can't handle more then the number of commands that can fit the buttons of a gamepad.
IMO of course!

[Supreme Cmdr]

I have no idea what game he was playing, because the only option you have to change fp weapons, are number keys. And he calls vegetation, a few trees.

He didn't play it. I hope he didn't get paid to do it.

And WHY the hell was this posted in the tech support forum?

*topic moved*

Cougar, your posting rights on the board have been revoked for a week. I am SICK and TIRED of warning your n00bies about screwing up my boards.

[ 02-19-2004, 08:16 AM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

[Supreme Cmdr]

I sent email to the Dreamcatcher media person who handles this sort of thing, since I didn't send GD a review copy. DC responded that they will contact GD

quote:

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Nick, Tara,

I have just read this review by Games Domain.

Normally, I don't pay too much attention to reviews where it is
evident that the reviewer didn't spend any time with the game (e.g.
ActionTrip), but this one struck me as someone who just wrote a
review based on another review, grabbed shots from my site, and
ended up getting paid for it.

Since you were the folks who sent them a copy (I'm speculating here),
I would like you to find out from them how on Earth this guy claims
to have played the game, when in fact :

1. ALL the HUD elements have pop-up tooltips which tell you what
they are.

2. You can either use the ALT+Q hotkey or a menu command (in the
COMMAND menu) to quit the game. Q = Quit. doh!

3. In fp mode, only the number keys are used to select/cycle
weapons

4. And you can't use right-click to toss grenades because (1) its not
conventional (2) right-click is used for something else (3) grenades,
like weapons, use number keys (7,8,9) and the left-mouse click to
fire. Thats conventional

5. He describes vegetation "as a few trees plopped down". There are
between 1000K - 1250K randomly seeded trees (of 11 different species,
not including the three types of grass) covering an area that is 800km
squared. Sure, the tree billboards are not as advanced as middleware
solutions (e.g. such as this which I am planning on using for UC:E2E),
but thats till not "a few trees"

6. The interface has text because, well, they are menus. Just like
the Windows operating system.

This guy didn't play this game for more than, maybe, ten minutes

So, if you guys don't want to rock the boat and contact them, I will.
And you won't like my email, so don't say I didn't tell you first. If
I don't hear from you by the end of today, I will assume that I can
go ahead with my email to them.

cheers

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[Bandus]

SC, on a side note, the trees you plan to use for UC:E2E look awesome as hell.

All these reviews are really pissing me off. These people aren't even giving the game a chance for God's sake.

[Elric_Sloan]

Great e-mail SC! What you point out should be obvious to anyone who reads that "review".

BTW, are there any pics or info on UC:E2E? I did a search on the forums but found nothing.

[Scrivener]

quote:

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(e.g. such as this which I am planning on using for UC:E2E), but thats till not "a few trees"

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*Jaw drops to the floor* Holy cow, those trees are bloody awesome. Wonder how efficient they are in practice, tho.

As for the review, I need only point to my post in this thread.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Elric_Sloan:
BTW, are there any pics or info on UC:E2E? I did a search on the forums but found nothing.

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No, there's nothing on it at this time.

[Extinct_Reptilia]

Woah, wait a second..... UC:E2E?

Sorry to sway everything off the issue here, but I'd like a little more information on something which was posted by SC in this topic.

Alright, what's UC:E2E people? I typed it in the forum search fields and nothing, besides from this discussion, came up.

Is it the next addition of the series!?

[Supreme Cmdr]

The first person to take this thread off-topic, wrt to an unannounced project, is getting banned.

Go ahead Extinct_Reptile, do it. I dare you. In fact, I double dare you.

[Elric_Sloan]

Oooops!

That was my fault SC!
I started the collapse.


Back to the regularly schdeduled topic!

Have you heard back from DC? I am seriously interested in hearing GD's response to your points. From reading his "review" I doubt if he even read the game at all!

[Supreme Cmdr]

Actually no, it was my fault. I should have censored out the reference in the email.

But I still want to ban someone over it though. Can I ban you? Please? Or how about I ban myself?

[Elric_Sloan]

[DeepFreeze]

I think a large part of the negative reviews probably comes from the suspicion that reviewers fire up UC for 5 minutes, say "Oh, this is just a BCM rehash," turn it off and write the review. The borrowed screenshots surely points to that, I think.